Did Russia build the best attack helicopter ever - Ka-52

[dexter]

The Ka-52 is billed as an armed reconnaissance and combat platform able to take on the roles of assault, Close-Air Support (CAS), convoy protection, and armed patrolling.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

The Ka-52 is billed as an armed reconnaissance and combat platform able to take on the roles of assault, Close-Air Support (CAS), convoy protection, and armed patrolling.

Definitely an impressive piece of machinery.
Hats off to the Russians for pulling this off. You earn a salute

Not sure why it is not standard. I'm guessing it is considered way too complexly engineered to be repaired in the field.

 

[aziqbal]

Russian MOD released this photo 2 days ago

the Ka-52M it can fire the fire and forget ATGM

and it will change the game in Ukraine

https://twitter.com/x/status/1696128778894774479

https://twitter.com/x/status/1695035690650845598

 

[Gomig-21]

Definitely an impressive piece of machinery.
Hats off to the Russians for pulling this off.

Not sure why it is not standard. I'm guessing it is considered way too complexly engineered to be repaired in the field.

No doubt a hell of an attack chopper. Armored cockpit to add additional protection for the side-by-side pilots...

...and dual rotors eliminating the need for the tail rotor to control the torque spinning of a single main rotor.

I don't think it's the best out there since there are other models that I think are probably just as good, certainly the Apache and others. A reason why Egypt went out and purchased 46 of them with special modifications to be able to use them on the two Mistral helicopter carriers.

Carries quite the payload including the giant KH-35 missile.

Sensors all over the place including MAWS (Missile Approach Warning Sensors or Systems) including rear facing.

I was told that "suitcase" on the starboard winglet has a pilot 'repair kit' with a bunch of essential tools and small spare parts incase of a relatively minor breakdown in-field so the pilots can make the quick repair and return to base. I had looked all over the internet to find out what those things were (as well as people in the know) and that was the only constant answer I got. Good idea for certain missions.

Helmet-mounted target designation system and display for a helicopter pilot.

Comes with the Crossbow Arbalet FH01 pulse radar.

Egypt was the first export customer purchasing 46 Alligators later dubbed "Nile Crocodiles" and were slated to purchase another 30+ Ka-52 Katrans, the naval version suited for salty & wet sea-born operations. In the meantime they've been able to occasionally use the Crocs on the two carriers.

The only military operating both attack helicopters, the Crocodile and Apache.

And the Mi-24 Hind.

Egypt's helicopter is a modified version of the basic Ka-52 Alligator that serves in the Russian Aerospace Forces. Unlike the basic model, the Egyptian Ka-52 utilizes anti-corrosion materials and has a reinforced fuselage structure. It received new landing gear and wheels, designed for the increased takeoff weight of the helicopter. The Egyptian model features updated avionics and a new cooling system for operating in hot climate. Dmitry Rogozin, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia on defense and space industry, proposed to name it the "Nile Crocodile"

 

[Gomig-21]

It's also the first (and I think still the only) attack helicopter with zero altitude ejection seats.

The glass cockpit has detonation cords to blow off the glass once the rotor blades -- which are equipped with explosive charges -- are blown off at their connections and cleared out of the way, then the seats eject. It happens relatively quickly.

The renowned, Russian Zvezda K-37-800 rocket-assisted
"EXTRACTION" system,

 

[KAL-EL]

Damn fine piece of Machinery I must say! Although I don't quite match it up with Airwolf. Very close though

 

[K_Bin_W]

Amazing machine, one of the best.......not just on paper.

 

[Nasr]

Funny how on this very forum, quite a few members were running their mouth like rabid dogs on Russian military hardware is pathetic and useless. And now when the Russians are whooping the West all over Ukraine and Western military hardware is being trashed by the Russian Military ... some of those same members are all praises.

I did not forget how I used to get attacked when I would suggest Pakistan buy Russian military hardware and to develop close economic and political ties with Russia.

The stench of hypocrisy is all too apparent.

Jahils will always be what they are ... JAHILS. No matter how many degrees they may have under their belt.

 

[KaiserX]

Russian MOD released this photo 2 days ago

the Ka-52M it can fire the fire and forget ATGM

and it will change the game in Ukraine

https://twitter.com/x/status/1696128778894774479

https://twitter.com/x/status/1695035690650845598

It will be interesting to see how the russia-ukraine war turns out but I am almost certain Russia will gain invaluable experience in this war the likes of which no modern army has. For all its early failures and issues (which every military force will have) the russians have been quick learners.

I see Russia becoming a extremely militarized state. Like a Pakistan on steroids or a modern Prussia. They will continue to invest heavily in indiginous defende production and becoming more self sufficient in modern technologies such as drones, chips, guidance systems, etc…

Even if Russia is severely damaged short to medium term…

 

[jhungary]

Funny how on this very forum, quite a few members were running their mouth like rabid dogs on Russian military hardware is pathetic and useless. And now when the Russians are whooping the West all over Ukraine and Western military hardware is being trashed by the Russian Military ... some of those same members are all praises.

I did not forget how I used to get attacked when I would suggest Pakistan buy Russian military hardware and to develop close economic and political ties with Russia.

The stench of hypocrisy is all too apparent.

Jahils will always be what they are ... JAHILS. No matter how many degrees they may have under their belt.

That's because it's not the machine that is the problem, it's the person behind the machine.

Any equipment is only as good as the person who use it, if you use a state of the art machine stupidly, it will still be stupid

On the other hand, I wouldn't say Russia "whooping" Western arse, because.

A.) The west is not in this fight.
B.) There are only limited Western Equipment in Ukraine to gauge the efficiency of Russian stuff, most of this war is about Russia stuff against older Russian stuff. And
C.) The War for Russia is going nowhere, for an attacker to do defensive infrastructure when they are supposed to be invading, that mean that's the end, or high-water mark of what they can go, because all those defensive infrastructures the Russian build on the frontline have to be overcome by the Russian themselves if they want to make any progress.

Damn fine piece of Machinery I must say! Although I don't quite match it up with Airwolf. Very close though

It does share a fatal flaw with Airwolf tho.

It basically blinded on the 4 to 8 oclock position because of it's double breasted configuration. The Pilot can't see the threat coming out from behind because their view is blocked by the cockpit, unlike western helicopter, where the cockpit is long and narrow, you get a better viewing angle of the threat coming from behind you. And if you can't see a threat, you can't manuver against it.

I read some report saying around 60% of Alligator was down because the Ukrainian wait until the helicopter went past them and fire behind them and have the missile chase the chopper.

 

[Gomig-21]

I did not forget how I used to get attacked when I would suggest Pakistan buy Russian military hardware and to develop close economic and political ties with Russia.

I know what you mean. The anti-Russian sentiment is rampant and I think it's really unfortunate. I've always been of the mindset that instead of constantly labeling Russia as a potential enemy after the cold war, the US should have reached out to Russia and created a worldly partnership to ease the tensions and help broker a better relationship with Europe. Instead, the US has really put an emphasis on keeping Russia labeled as a villain that needs to be depleted into an insignificant entity.

As a result of that, the Europeans -- and specifically NATO -- have pushed their way into making Russia more and more isolated and paranoid about the West's intentions. Ukraine and the Baltic states have been a huge point of contention for Russia with NATO's pushing for military meddling in those countries that one can't blame Russia for being pissed off that it could lose the safe buffer zone at its western border. I can just imagine what the US would do if the roles were reversed.

Then there's all the financial and military aid pouring into Ukraine making you wonder what if Russia did the same thing for Iraq in 2003 and on? But it has never assisted US & NATO enemies in times of wars the way they have in Ukraine. And it's only going to get worse. The attack on Pskov and destroying the 2 IL-76s will most likely draw a vicious retaliation from Moscow. And if it doesn't, Russia's reputation will suffer even more. It really has no choice, but it needs to be certain if it came from Ukraine, or Lithuania or any of the other Baltic states first.

But hey, at least Pakistan also has a couple of the world's best attack choppers in the Z-10 and the AH-1 Cobra. Too bad the AH-1Z Viper was rejected. That would've been something but from my understanding, Pakistan Army has gone for the CZ-10 and maybe the Turkish T-129. The Mi-35 is also a mean beast.

It will be interesting to see how the russia-ukraine war turns out but I am almost certain Russia will gain invaluable experience in this war the likes of which no modern army has. For all its early failures and issues (which every military force will have) the russians have been quick learners.

I couldn't understand how they were very sloppy in the early months of the war, sending single Ka-52s into hot zones without cover or recon and pre-clearing of potential hazardous ambushes knowing quite well the Ukrainians are loaded with MANPADS & SAMs. Rarely using the defensive capabilities of the Ka-52 which did work on several occasions, particularly the President-S early warning and flares but they didn't use them to their fullest potential it seemed. At least they've come to their senses and have since used better tactics to avoid such heavy losses.

They could've easily seen what the US went through in Iraq and then switched to flying "wolf packs" and never sending one helo into a hot zone all by itself without any recon or clearing house.

In Sinai, the EGY military would send in F-16s & MiG-29s to target intel targets and soften them with heavy bombing before sending a minimum of 6 Apaches at a time with ground forces in classic combined arms tactics to clear out more delicate and dense areas. 3 helos would cover the other 3 that would target and destroy cretin vermin hideouts and positions. Worked out well. They're yet to use these guys, though, from my understanding.

 

[KAL-EL]

It does share a fatal flaw with Airwolf tho.

But Airwolf was revolutionary because it could approach the speed of sound and take on fighter jets

 

[jhungary]

But Airwolf was revolutionary because it could approach the speed of sound and take on fighter jets

That ability only appear when it was piloted by Jan-Michael Vincent..........

RIP

 

[LeGenD]

Funny how on this very forum, quite a few members were running their mouth like rabid dogs on Russian military hardware is pathetic and useless. And now when the Russians are whooping the West all over Ukraine and Western military hardware is being trashed by the Russian Military ... some of those same members are all praises.

I did not forget how I used to get attacked when I would suggest Pakistan buy Russian military hardware and to develop close economic and political ties with Russia.

The stench of hypocrisy is all too apparent.

Jahils will always be what they are ... JAHILS. No matter how many degrees they may have under their belt.

Your assessment is off the mark. Have a look at Russian hardware losses in Ukraine:

Attack On Europe: Documenting Russian Equipment Losses During The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine

www.oryxspioenkop.com

NATO-supplied hardware is doing well in the war, but Ukrainian forces still have significant capability gaps and not equipped to rout Russian forces in the war. Ukrainian jets cannot defeat Russian jets and help turn the tide of the war either.

War in Ukraine has rather shown that Russian military is not equipped to fight NATO.

First Photos of Destroyed Leopard and Bradley’s, confirmed

 

[KAL-EL]

That ability only appear when it was piloted by Jan-Michael Vincent..........

RIP

Indeed RIP Jan-Michael Vincent AKA Stringfellow Hawke