The most powerful helicopter in the world?
The Ka-52 "Alligator" combat helmet, Ka-50's two-seater version, debuted at the Paris Xpress Air Show in June last year.
The Ka-52 "Alligator" was built using state-of-the-art technologies, with an avionics and a last-generation war load. The widespread use of composite materials will at the same time ensure a high level of flight safety. "The Alligator" is a combat helicopter every now and again, designed to support the operations of special wards. It was designed to destroy armed and non-ground targets, low speed aircraft and enemy infantry, and to engage in reconnaissance missions.
The "Alligator" is equipped with stealth technologies and electronic disturbances - the latter give it a certain amount of electronic warfare.
The two-seater Ka-52 can be controlled by both pilots. Its coaxial rotors give it advanced flight capabilities, with a very tight maneuvering capacity, ideal for guaranteeing a favorable attack position. Two VK-2500 gas turbines allow the helicopter a tangency of more than five thousand meters, at a maximum speed of 390 km / h, with a climb rate of 12 meters per second.
The "Arbalet" radar system is considered immune to current Western threats. Avionics also include the "Okhotnik" system for the launch of laser-guided weapons with video-processing for missile guidance. Thanks to these systems, the helicopter can quickly locate and engage two targets simultaneously. The Ka-52 has powerful offensive weapons that can be configured for different missions. Six fixing points for a total weight of two thousand kilograms. Other benefits of the Alligator include a high degree of protection for the crew with an armor that can withstand shocks from 23 mm, automated systems for easier driving, extreme ease of ground maintenance and eligibilous seats. Ordained 52 Ka-70, 210 machines are already in service, initially thought to support GRU Specnaz missions alone, leaving the Mil Mi-28 task to side up regular troops. The Navy, however, has decided to equip its new force of rapid attack (when and if it will receive the Mistral) with the best helicopter available, opting for the Naval version of the Alligator.
To date, if not for the small number of samples produced (the US has about 700 Apache), the Ka-52 could rightly be called the best attack helicopter on the planet.
Franco Iacch
(photo: MoD Russian Fed / Kamov Design Bureau)
