Week of May 19, 1997
God's Punishment In The Dark!Nikolai Emelyanov, program director at Kamov,  tells AeroWorldNet readers
about the latest turn in the development of the Ka-50 new-generation combat
helicopter 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 Black Shark helicopter capable of night flying. Although the fact that Kamov tried to make the Ka-50 able to fly in the dark was not a secret, until recently some specialists had believed that the design bureau would concentrate major efforts on the Ka-52 Alligator, a two-seat derivative of the basic single-seat model. As it stands 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 project development, Nikolai Emelyanov said, "From the very outset the Ka-50 was ordered as a round- the-clock machine. However, at the time the specification was issued, we did not have FLIRs [forward-looking infra-red sensors]. That is why the project was divided into two stages - day helicopter first, night helicopter second." Following this, Kamov created the Ka-50, which successfully passed state acceptance trials and entered 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 for combat helicopters over the battlefield. Simultaneously, Mikheev ordered to start working on the Ka-50N, a round-the-clock version of the basic single-seater, which should be used together with the "daylight" Ka-50. As a result, the Ka-50 project has brought to life three different choppers - the Ka-50 for anti-armour missions in daylight, the Ka-50N for night assault sorties and the Ka-52 for battlefield observation, 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 a completely different design compared to the basic anti-tank helicopter. He continued, "Some people do not understand this and get fooled by the speculation that Mikheev failed to create the single-seater and now tries to replace it with the two-seater. I asseverate this claim is a lie. Mikheev initiated the two-seater only after the single- seater had successfully passed the whole range of trials and become operational." Kamov has three major tasks for the Ka-52, namely round-the- clock battlefield surveillance and reconnaissance for the Land Forces and the Air Force; acquisition and identification of targets with their distribution to attack helicopters and other combat means; information exchange with and intelligent support for infantry and armored units on the battlefield. According to a written report, in the case of necessity, the Ka-52 may be used for close fire support of front- line units. Ka-50N: round-the-clock attack aircraft After the successful passing of the state acceptance trials on the Ka-50 in 1995, the work on the daylight version of the single-seater came to an end, and the designers shifted to its night version. "We continued working on the single-seater, fitting it with modern systems to make it capable of flying in the dark and all weathers," Emelyanov said. The first Ka-50N development prototype was assembled at the Kamov pilot plant this year and was revealed to the public at the IDEX'97. The first piece of evidence that Kamov wanted to make the Ka-50 capable of night flying came almost two years ago during MAKS'95. On display at the show was a Ka-50 fitted with an under-wing pod, housing a French FLIR. According to Emelyanov, this particular aircraft has passed a series of trials performed by the pilots from Kamov design bureau and military centers. The trials were successful and the general designer ordered to move the FLIR from the under-wing pod into the nose of the helicopter. Visually, the Ka-50N development prototype differs from a series-built Ka-50 in having a mast-mounted radar antenna and a 640-mm "ball" in the upper part of the nose containing a new electro-optical system from the Urals Optico-Mechanical Plant and a French heat sensor. According to Emelyanov, the pilots qualified on the Ka-50 should not feel much difference when flying the Ka-50N. The bulk of instruments in the cockpit remains in place. They were modified, however, to provide good readings at night. The existing TV screen working in conjunction with the Shkval electro-optical aiming complex is now supplemented with another one, displaying data from the heat sensor. "Modern FLIR have a very good quality so that the TV picture and heat picture are almost similar," Emelyanov said. In daylight, the pilot is meant to use the electro-optical complex, shifting to FLIR when flying in the dark. Among other new systems in the Ka-50N's cockpit is one from Geofizika, providing a wide angle of vision for the pilots attempting to land at night. Emelyanov said that the FLIR, intended primarily for target-acquisition, can not be effectively used at 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 combat aircraft should have enough design potential to accommodate additional on-board equipment and weapons, otherwise the rapid development of air defense systems would soon turn a predator into an easy prey. Although the Ka-50 is relatively compact for its weight, the internal volumes are big enough to accommodate additional equipment and systems. "Beyond any doubt, the helicopter has reserves for further evolution", Emelyanov states. Outlining the further steps in the Ka-50 development he states the majority of components in its current avionics suit were developed 10 to 25 years ago and that replacing them with modern ones could allow the designers to empty the place for additional equipment. Kamov designers are not in a hurry to take advantage of the modern technologies in this field, though. They believe the old, but reliable, equipment should remain in place until it is really necessary to find space for something important. Flying and firing in the dark By its optical nature, the Shkval can work well only in daylight, providing acquisition of a tank and firing at it at a distance of up to 6 miles. At night, the target-acquisition and 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 suit contains a global-positioning system receiving signals from both GLONASS and NAVSTAR satellites. The helicopter retains the tactical information-exchange system. A new color, liquid-crystal display in the cockpit displays a digital map. According to Grigory Yakimenko, chief designer with Kamov, the Shkval aiming complex has been integrated with the heat sensor. Nikolai Emelyanov puts in that unlike the Ka-50N's avionics suit, the Ka-52's on-board flight/weapons management complex has been developed as a highly-integrated one from the very beginning. Aerial fights Thanks to the coaxial-rotor system, Kamov's helicopters are extremely agile, both at low and high speeds. Comparative trials between the Ka-50 and its rival featuring "main rotor + tail rotor" layout showed a better maneuverability of the former. This enables specialists to expect that the Black Shark will fare well in aerial combat against hostile rotor-craft. "The high agility, specially phrased during the state acceptance trials, allows us to make a good dog-fight helicopter out of the Ka-50", Emelyanov stated. Admittedly, Kamov does not see a reason for combat helicopters to cross the battlefield to and fro in a search for aerial targets. Emelyanov explained, "The General Designer has formulated a different task. Our helicopters should be the 'God's punishment' - they should appear over the battlefield for a very short time, launch a missile and quickly fly away so that the enemy would not have a chance to fight back. Everything should be made so that the helicopter appears in sight for a very short time." This tactics reduces the chance of meeting a hostile helicopter, but does not eliminate it. If it does happen, the Ka-50's enemy has very few chances to score a hit. The Black Shark is not only highly-agile, it is also very fast. The highest speed achieved on a fully-armed helicopter in a shallow dive is as much as 390 kilometers an hour. If the Ka-50 pilot is not in the mood to fight, it can simply escape engagement. "The speed is important, but not everything," Emelyanov said, adding that the high speed alone is not the only way to victory. "Our helicopter is one among the world's fastest," Emelyanov explained, "but it does not mean it will dash flat out over the battlefield." Vikhr: new-generation versatile weaponry The chances of the Ka-50 to defeat hostile helicopters increase when it carries Vikhr supersonic missiles. The firing range is achieved with the help of a two-stage configuration and a relatively small share of flight-control equipment in the missile's overall weight. Although the major task for the Vikhr is to destroy armored vehicles, the missile is, in fact, a new-generation versatile weapon able to cause considerable damage to any real target, including fortified positions, helicopters, airplanes, radars and so on. In one sort, the Black Shark can destroy 12 targets with Vikhr missiles, be it helicopters, tanks or any combination of those. Using a two-position selector switch ("aerial target"/ "ground target"), the pilot 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 with laser beam all the time until the impact. This obvious disadvantage is well compensated for with short in-flight time, thanks to high speed, low cost (due to absence of expensive sensors for tracking the target) and high protection against jamming. On its way to the target, the Vikhr is guided with help of a laser beam generated by the Shkval electro-optical aiming complex. Upon launching, the Vikhr's sensors, located in the rear part of the missile, keep the missile close to the line of the beam until the target is hit. The Shkval aiming complex, installed under the Black Shark's nose, helps the pilot find and identify the target and aim weapons at it. For the pilot the scenario of a combat mission was simplified as much as possible - all the human being has to do is to find a target, frame it, press the lock-on button and fire a selected weapon, be it the 30-mm 2A42 cannon, Vikhr or X-25ML laser-guided missiles. After the lock-on is obtained, the system automatically keeps the target in sight and guides the selected weapon. In the case of the 30-mm cannon, the fine adjustment of the barrel is provided within a corridor of +10 to -45 degree in evaluation and up to 15 degrees in azimuth. New qualities out of old designs Admitting that the power plant of the Ka-50 is not the world's newest, Emelyanov skeptically looks at the possibility of replacing the long-serving TV-3-117 with a more efficient Russian engine. Here are his words, giving a hint of the current strategy of the world's best manufacturer of rotor-craft. "Our country is not in a position to afford development of such high-tech things like modern aero-engines. Generally speaking, in today's Russia, everything that is somehow or other connected to high technologies experiences a certain type of difficulties. Seeing this, our General Designer has tasked us with saving every single piece of what we still possess, trying to pull new qualities out of the existing designs." | |
