By Vovick Karnozov
AWN Moscow-based columnist

Kamov has a large exposition at MAKS '99. Statically and in the air the company displays the Ka-31, Ka-32A and Ka-32C, Ka-226, Ka-60 Kasatka, Ka-50Sh1 and the Yellow 014. The latter is a new version of the Ka-50 Black Shark, making its public debut at the show.

Vladimir Subbotin, deputy chief designer with Kamov, who is in charge of the Yellow 014 program, told AWN that the aircraft is an experimental airframe. It is meant to be a specimen for the primary night version of the single-seat Black Shark for the Russian Army Aviation. Outwardly, the Yellow 014 differs from a series-built Ka-50 in having a reconfigured nose section with two ball-like gyro- stabilized sighting platforms from Urals Optics Mechanical Plant (UOMZ).

The Yellow 014 has new instrumentation in the pilot's cockpit. It includes three large liquid-crystal color multifunctional displays (MFDs), two control panels with digital displays and a GEC Marconi helmet. One of the MFDs can display a digital map. Avionics integrator for the Yellow 014 is said to be Ramenskoye Instrument Design Bureau (RPKB).

Historically, the Yellow 014 is a new model in the KA-50N family (N for Night). Unlike the initial Ka-50, which was accepted in service in 1995, the N has night-flying capability. At MAKS '97 Kamov unveiled the Ka-50Sh-1. By now, the first example of this aircraft - the Blue 018 - has undergone manufacturer tests and state acceptation trials, Subbotin said.

Subbotin claims that the Ka-50Sh-1 has been accepted in service with the Russian Land Forces. Inadequate military budget, however, does not allow for building it in numbers to equip line military units. So far, the Russian Army Aviation has received only a dozen of the Ka-50s. They form a special squadron based in Torzhok. All line Ka-50s are daylight airframes, but the Russian MoD intends to give them night flying capability via avionics upgrades.

Subbotin said that the Yellow 014 was built using the existing airframe, namely the fourth Ka-50 operable prototype. He added that that the rotor system and on-board systems remained the same, with changes being confined to avionics and sighting systems.

Comparing the Yellow 014 with the Ka-50-2 Erdogan being developed jointly by Kamov and IAI of Israel for the Turkish tender, Subbotin said that the former is primarily intended for the Russian Land Forces, whereas the latter is for export. The portion of foreign components in the Yellow 014 avionics suit is minimized. In fact, it is confined to the FLIR (forward-looking infrared) sensors. The maker of the sensors has not been chosen yet. According to Subbotin, Kamov has tried several models of FLIRs, including those made in France and Sweden.

The Yellow 014 carries the same weapons as the basic Black Shark. The main guided weapon remains the Vikhr supersonic laser beam riding missile with a firing range in excess of 8 km. It can be used against ground and airborne targets. In the future the Ka-50 might be outfitted with a new missile system guided by a radar beam, Subbotin said.

Flight tests on the Yellow 014 are planned to begin at the end of this year. Now the aircraft is used for ground testing. Subbotin said that once the aircraft was built on the basis of the already-flown airframe, he does not expect technical problems with the Yellow 014 in terms of flight performance.