Ka-52 Alligator combat helicopter

The Ka-52, or as it is also called, the Alligator is a Russian combat attack helicopter designed to destroy enemy personnel and equipment on the battlefield. Ka-52 is the modernization of the Ka-50.

Story

In the 50-60 years of the last century, helicopters showed their high efficiency on the battlefield. First, as a vehicle, and then as a formidable weapon, capable of effectively working directly on the battlefield, fighting with partisans and destroying enemy armored vehicles. The experience of the Korean War, and then the results of the conflicts in Vietnam and the Middle East, was taken into account by the Soviet military, and soon the USSR had an excellent attack helicopter - the Mi-24, the famous crocodile.

This wonderful helicopter was conceived not only as a shock. Due to the presence of the landing compartment, he could also deliver fighters to the battlefield and evacuate the wounded to the rear - a kind of “flying infantry fighting vehicle”. Then there was the Afghan war, and not only it. Soviet "crocodiles" were involved in conflicts all over the planet, and everywhere they showed themselves from the best side. But this helicopters had their shortcomings. The concept of the helicopter itself was not entirely successful: the Mi-24 was very rarely used to deliver the fighters, and the landing bay was clearly overweight. The military set a new task for the designers: to build a new fully attack helicopter that would exclusively deal with the destruction of the enemy on the battlefield.

At the same time, the development of a second-generation attack helicopter began in the United States, and in the mid-80s, the Apache mass-produced model already appeared. This helicopter significantly exceeded in performance characteristics of the Mi-24.

During the operation of the Milev machine, its flaws were revealed, which were to be eliminated in the new car; a great experience was gained in the production and use of helicopters in real combat conditions. There are changes in the tactics of using rotorcraft. In 1973, Israeli helicopters destroyed 90 Egyptian tanks with guided missiles in one day and returned to the base without casualties. The Soviet military took into account this fact. Therefore, one of the main requirements for the new helicopter was the ability to deal with enemy armored vehicles.

The competition was attended by the design office Mil and Kamov. Milevtsy went on the already beaten track and offered a deep modernization of the same Mi-24, which removed the cargo compartment and seriously modernized the nose of the body, installed new control systems and weapons. In the updated helicopter, a lot of modern electronics appeared, in general, it now strongly resembled the American Apache - only it was cheaper.

Design Bureau Kamov went the other way. They presented drawings of the helicopter, made according to a coaxial scheme (Kamovtsev’s favorite solution), guided by one pilot, who had powerful armor protection and armed with guided missiles with a range of damage of more than ten kilometers. In many ways, Kamov’s car turned out to be revolutionary - perhaps even too much. Moreover, the designers suggested changing the tactics of using helicopters in combat. One of the helicopters (lighter and more maneuverable) was supposed to perform the functions of a scout and gunner-spotter, and behind it attack helicopters were to fire from the enemy’s inaccessible distance for the enemy’s anti-aircraft defense. Alas, these plans have not become a reality.

Black Shark and Alligator

In the mid-80s, the winner of the competition was announced: it turned out to be the Kamov Design Bureau and its K-50 Black Shark helicopter. The coaxial scheme of this machine has its advantages and disadvantages. Such helicopters are more complicated and more expensive than classic ones; their maintenance is also more expensive. On the other hand, the use of two main rotors makes it possible to remove the tail rotor and thereby seriously increase the efficiency of the engine, to make the helicopter more maneuverable and mobile. The weight of the machine also becomes less compared to the helicopters of the classical scheme. But to manage such a helicopter more difficult, requires high skill pilot.

The problem with the K-50 was that only one man flew this helicopter. Effectively driving and directing weapons at the same time is very difficult, especially in difficult conditions (mountains, flying at low altitude), so in the mid-90s the development of a new machine began - it was the Ka-52 combat helicopter. In fact, this machine is a modernization of the "Black Shark", and many components and assemblies of these helicopters are identical.

The birth of "Alligator"

Drawings of the new car appeared in the early 90s. For the first time a car called the Ka-52 was shown to journalists in 1996, a little earlier this helicopter received the terrible name "Alligator". In 2008, the mass production of this machine began. The Ka-52 military helicopter is very similar to the Ka-50, but there are still differences. First of all, a different, streamlined shape of the nose catches the eye. It has better aerodynamic characteristics and is less noticeable for radars. The new helicopter is equipped with more advanced electronic equipment, but most importantly, there is a place in the cockpit for the co-pilot.

Speed ​​and maneuvering characteristics have become somewhat better. The engine, propellers, wings, chassis and almost the entire fuselage are completely identical with the Ka-50. The pilots are sitting in the cockpit next to each other, the control is duplicated, many devices are replaced by liquid crystal screens. The refusal of tail rotors made the "Alligator" significantly shorter than the same Mi-24, but the second rotor made its silhouette higher. Although it is still a very big question - what is more preferable for the attack helicopter.

Helicopter performance characteristics

The Ka-52 attack helicopter is coaxially designed, it has two rotors and does not have a steering one. The most important components of the aircraft are securely armored, protected by armor and cockpit. The chassis can be removed, which significantly improves the aerodynamic characteristics of the machine. On the helicopter are modernized engines VK-2500 with a capacity of 2400 hp each. The large ceiling of the vehicle allows it to efficiently perform combat missions in high altitude conditions. The engines of the car are equipped with special devices that dissipate the exhaust of the car and reduce its visibility in the infrared range. In the cockpit there are two special seats, the K-37-800, which, if necessary, can be catapulted. Before the ejection occurs shooting helicopter blades.

The Ka-52 attack helicopter was created to fight armored vehicles and enemy manpower, and it can fight against enemy helicopters. These objectives are perfectly consistent with the armament system of the machine and the complex of its electronic equipment. In this case, the helicopter can be used in all weather conditions and at any time of the day.

The Ka-52 is equipped with a hydrostabilized optical-electronic system (GOES) "Samshit-E", with which the aiming and target selection takes place. It consists of a thermal imager, a laser designator and a laser beam direction finder. The vehicle is also equipped with the Arbalet-52 radar, one of the channels of which serves to search for ground targets, and allows the helicopter to maneuver at low altitudes at high speed. The second channel provides missile defense. The helicopter is equipped with an electronic protection system and active countermeasures.

The helicopter is armed with a 30 mm movable gun and a whole set of guided and unguided rockets, the main of which are the Whirlwind. Total helicopter can take on board 2000 pounds of various missiles and bombs.
Thanks to the upgraded engines with improved technical characteristics, its speed has not decreased, despite the increased weight of the machine. The table below shows the performance characteristics of the Ka-52 helicopter.

Currently, there are two versions of the Ka-52 helicopter. This is the basic version and the Ka-52K is a ship version of the car. It has the ability to fold the blades, reinforced landing gear, as well as increased anti-corrosion protection. It was planned that these helicopters should become the main weapon of the Mistral-type helicopter carriers that Russia wanted to buy in France.

The Ka-52 attack helicopter impresses with its maneuverability. Thanks to the use of two rotors, it can perform maneuvers inaccessible to single-rotor machines. The helicopter can perform the famous "dead loop", which is unthinkable for the ordinary rotorcraft. Ka-52 is quite convenient for maintenance.

Video about Ka-52

Watch the video: Russian Helicopters - Ka-52 Alligator Attack Helicopter Capabilities 1080p (April 2024).