Week of May 19, 1997
God's Punishment In The Dark!Nikolai Emelyanov, program director at Kamov,  tells AeroWorldNet readersabout the latest turn in the development of the Ka-50 new-generation combathelicopter project, which was outlined in the January 13 issue of AeroWorldNet.At IDEX'97 the Russians unveiled the Ka-50N, a new version of the Ka-50 BlackShark helicopter capable of night flying. Although the fact that Kamovtried tomake the Ka-50 able to fly in the dark was not a secret, until recently somespecialists had believed that the design bureau would concentrate majorefforts onthe Ka-52 Alligator, a two-seat derivative of the basic single-seat model.As itstands now, the Ka-50 project goes in two directions. Ka-50N: a logical step forward Explaining the situation with the current state of the Ka-50 projectdevelopment,Nikolai Emelyanov said, "From the very outset the Ka-50 was ordered as around-the-clock machine. However, at the time the specification was issued, wedid nothave FLIRs [forward-looking infra-red sensors]. That is why the project wasdividedinto two stages - day helicopter first, night helicopter second." Followingthis,Kamov created the Ka-50, which successfully passed state acceptance trials andentered service with the Russian Army Aviation. Upon completion of the first stage, Kamov's General Designer, Sergei Mikheev,decided to create a two-seater battle-management helicopter. Designated"Ka-52", the new aircraft will provide command and control functions forcombathelicopters over the battlefield. Simultaneously, Mikheev ordered to startworkingon the Ka-50N, a round-the-clock version of the basic single-seater, whichshould be used together with the "daylight" Ka-50. As a result, the Ka-50 project hasbrought to life three different choppers - the Ka-50 for anti-armourmissions indaylight, the Ka-50N for night assault sorties and the Ka-52 for battlefieldobservation, reconnaissance and control functions -- a sort of highly-mobile all-weather C3 (communications-command-control) combat vehicle. Ka-52: intelligent target seeker "The Ka-52 is going to be relatively expensive for it carries numerous state-of-the-art systems, including a battle management system," Emelyanov pointeed out,adding that this machine is not simply a two-seat derivative of the Ka-50,but acompletely different design compared to the basic anti-tank helicopter. Hecontinued, "Somepeople do not understand this and get fooled by the speculation that Mikheevfailed to create the single-seater and now tries to replace it with thetwo-seater. Iasseverate this claim is a lie. Mikheev initiated the two-seater only afterthe single-seater had successfully passed the whole range of trials and becomeoperational." Kamov has three major tasks for the Ka-52, namelyround-the-clock battlefield surveillance and reconnaissance for the Land Forces andthe AirForce; acquisition and identification of targets with their distribution toattackhelicopters and other combat means; information exchange with and intelligentsupport for infantry and armored units on the battlefield. According to awritten report,in the case of necessity, the Ka-52 may be used for close fire supportof front-line units. Ka-50N: round-the-clock attack aircraft After the successful passing of the state acceptance trials on the Ka-50 in1995,the work on the daylight version of the single-seater came to an end, and thedesigners shifted to its night version. "We continued working on thesingle-seater,fitting it with modern systems to make it capable of flying in the dark andallweathers," Emelyanov said. The first Ka-50N development prototype wasassembled at the Kamov pilot plant this year and was revealed to the publicat theIDEX'97. The first piece of evidence that Kamov wanted to make the Ka-50 capable ofnightflying came almost two years ago during MAKS'95. On display at the show was aKa-50 fitted with an under-wing pod, housing a French FLIR. According toEmelyanov, this particular aircraft has passed a series of trials performedby thepilots from Kamov design bureau and military centers. The trials weresuccessfuland the general designer ordered to move the FLIR from the under-wing pod intothe nose of the helicopter. Visually, the Ka-50N development prototype differs from a series-builtKa-50 inhaving a mast-mounted radar antenna and a 640-mm "ball" in the upper part ofthe nose containing a new electro-optical system from the UralsOptico-MechanicalPlant and a French heat sensor. According to Emelyanov, the pilotsqualified onthe Ka-50 should not feel much difference when flying the Ka-50N. The bulk ofinstruments in the cockpit remains in place. They were modified, however, toprovide good readings at night. The existing TV screen working in conjunction with the Shkval electro-opticalaiming complex is now supplemented with another one, displaying data from theheat sensor. "Modern FLIR have a very good quality so that the TV picture and heat picture are almost similar," Emelyanov said. In daylight, the pilotis meant touse the electro-optical complex, shifting to FLIR when flying in thedark. Among other new systems in the Ka-50N's cockpit is one from Geofizika,providinga wide angle of vision for the pilots attempting to land at night.Emelyanov saidthat the FLIR, intended primarily for target-acquisition, can not beeffectively usedat the approach and landing because of a narrow angle of vision. Reserves and innovations Nikolai Emelyanov agrees that in order to be long-livers, modern combataircraftshould have enough design potential to accommodate additional on-boardequipment and weapons, otherwise the rapid development of air defense systemswould soon turn a predator into an easy prey. Although the Ka-50 is relativelycompact for its weight, the internal volumes are big enough to accommodateadditional equipment and systems. "Beyond any doubt, the helicopter hasreserves for further evolution", Emelyanov states.Outlining the further steps in the Ka-50 development he states themajority ofcomponents in its current avionics suit were developed 10 to 25 years agoand thatreplacing them with modern ones could allow the designers to empty theplace foradditional equipment. Kamov designers are not in a hurry to takeadvantage ofthe modern technologies in this field, though. They believe the old, butreliable,equipment should remain in place until it is really necessary to find spaceforsomething important. Flying and firing in the dark By its optical nature, the Shkval can work well only in daylight, providingacquisitionof a tank and firing at it at a distance of up to 6 miles. At night, thetarget-acquisitionand navigation functions are provided by the mast-mounted radar and the FLIR,which can detect both ground and aerial objects. The Ka-50N's navigation suitcontains a global-positioning system receiving signals from both GLONASS andNAVSTAR satellites. The helicopter retains the tactical information-exchangesystem. A new color, liquid-crystal display in the cockpit displays adigital map.According to Grigory Yakimenko, chief designer with Kamov, the Shkval aimingcomplex has been integrated with the heat sensor. Nikolai Emelyanov puts inthatunlike the Ka-50N's avionics suit, the Ka-52's on-board flight/weaponsmanagement complex has been developed as a highly-integrated one from thevery beginning. Aerial fights Thanks to the coaxial-rotor system, Kamov's helicopters are extremelyagile, bothat lowand high speeds. Comparative trials between the Ka-50 and its rival featuring"main rotor + tail rotor" layout showed a better maneuverability of theformer. Thisenables specialists to expect that the Black Shark will fare well in aerialcombatagainst hostile rotor-craft. "The high agility, specially phrased during thestateacceptance trials, allows us to make a good dog-fight helicopter out of theKa-50",Emelyanov stated.Admittedly, Kamov does not see a reason for combat helicopters to cross thebattlefield to and fro in a search for aerial targets. Emelyanov explained,"TheGeneral Designer has formulated a different task. Our helicopters should bethe'God's punishment' - they should appear over the battlefield for a veryshort time,launch a missile and quickly fly away so that the enemy would not have achanceto fight back. Everything should be made so that the helicopter appears insight fora very short time."This tactics reduces the chance of meeting a hostile helicopter, but does noteliminate it. If it does happen, the Ka-50's enemy has very few chances toscore ahit. The Black Shark is not only highly-agile, it is also very fast. Thehighestspeed achieved on a fully-armed helicopter in a shallow dive is as much as390 kilometers an hour. If the Ka-50 pilot is not in the mood to fight, itcan simply escapeengagement. "The speed is important, but not everything," Emelyanov said, adding thatthe highspeed alone is not the only way to victory. "Ourhelicopteris one among the world's fastest," Emelyanov explained, "but it does notmean it willdash flat out over the battlefield." Vikhr: new-generation versatile weaponry The chances of the Ka-50 to defeat hostile helicopters increase when itcarriesVikhr supersonic missiles. The firing range is achievedwith the helpof a two-stage configuration and a relatively small share of flight-controlequipmentin the missile's overall weight. Although the major task for the Vikhr isto destroyarmored vehicles, the missile is, in fact, a new-generation versatileweapon ableto cause considerable damage to any real target, including fortifiedpositions,helicopters, airplanes, radars and so on. In one sort, the Black Shark candestroy 12 targets with Vikhr missiles, be it helicopters, tanks or anycombinationof those. Using a two-position selector switch ("aerial target"/ "groundtarget"), thepilot can choose what sort of target to engage next. Unlike most of modern guided weapons, the Vikhr does not feature the"fire-and-forget" capability. Instead, it requires illumination of the target withlaser beam allthe time until the impact. This obvious disadvantage is well compensatedfor withshort in-flight time, thanks to high speed, low cost (due to absence ofexpensivesensors for tracking the target) and high protection against jamming. Onits way tothe target, the Vikhr is guided with help of a laser beam generated by theShkvalelectro-optical aiming complex. Upon launching, the Vikhr's sensors,located in therear part of the missile, keep the missile close to the line of the beamuntil thetarget is hit. The Shkval aiming complex, installed under the Black Shark's nose, helpsthe pilotfind and identify the target and aim weapons at it. For the pilot thescenario of acombat mission was simplified as much as possible - all the human being has todo is to find a target, frame it, press the lock-on button and fire aselected weapon,be it the 30-mm 2A42 cannon, Vikhr or X-25ML laser-guided missiles. After thelock-on is obtained, the system automatically keeps the target in sight andguidesthe selected weapon. In the case of the 30-mm cannon, the fine adjustmentof thebarrel is provided within a corridor of +10 to -45 degree in evaluation andup to 15degrees in azimuth. New qualities out of old designs Admitting that the power plant of the Ka-50 is not the world's newest,Emelyanovskeptically looks at the possibility of replacing the long-serving TV-3-117with amore efficient Russian engine. Here are his words, giving a hint of the currentstrategy of the world's best manufacturer of rotor-craft. "Our country isnot in aposition to afford development of such high-tech things like modernaero-engines.Generally speaking, in today's Russia, everything that is somehow or otherconnected to high technologies experiences a certain type of difficulties.Seeingthis, our General Designer has tasked us with saving every single piece ofwhat westill possess, trying to pull new qualities out of the existing designs." | |
