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Ka-52M ‘Alligator’ combat helicopter © Artur Lebedev/TASS MOSCOW, May 28. /TASS/. The upgraded Ka-52M ‘Alligator’ combat helicopter will get more capabilities for using weapons against targets in the air and on the ground, the press office of Russian Helicopters rotorcraft maker said in a press release circulated on Tuesday. "Work is underway to further increase the range of detecting and identifying targets and, correspondingly, to boost the capabilities of employing weapons against both ground and air targets," the press office quoted Russian Helicopters CEO Andrei Boginsky as saying in a comment on improvements in the upgraded version. On the instruction...

Russian Helicopters corporation has confirmed that the Ka-52K Katran attack helicopter remains the company's priority project for the Russian Navy, given that it is much better suited to Navy tasks than its Mi-28N and Ka-52 cousins. Military observer Andrei Kotz explains what's so special about the chopper. The Ka-52K, the naval variant of the Kamov Ka-52 Aligator assault helicopter, was originally designed for use aboard the Mistral-class amphibious assault ships ordered by the Russian Defense Ministry in 2010. The compact ship-borne chopper design features folding rotor blades and wings, a specialized life-support system (including immersion suits for crew), and advanced...

Russian Ka-52K rivals America’s AH-1Z Russia’s latest naval attack helicopter just might be the most fearsome ever. Moscow means to deploy the navalized adaptation of the coaxial-rotor Kamov Ka-52 aboard the Russian navy’s controversial, French-built amphibious assault ships. Without doubt, the current gold standard for maritime attack helps is the U.S. Marine Corps’ Bell AH-1Z Viper, the latest and most capable iteration of the classic HueyCobra—the pioneering gunship that first saw combat during the Vietnam War. Distinguished from its predecessors chiefly by its four-blade main rotor, the Viper gained entered front-line service in February 2011. The Boeing AH-64 Apache is...

The design bureau and Russian Helicopters offer to help the Indian Navy meet its shortage of helicopters by supplying Ka-52Ks. Ka-52k is the navalised derivative of the Ka-52 (photo). Source: www.russianhelicopters.aero Russia’s Kamov helicopter design bureau and Russian Helicopters are ready to jointly supply modern seaborne helicopters for the Indian Navy on request, Kamov Chief Designer Sergei Mikheyev said on Tuesday. “Upon request from the Indian Navy, we are ready to supply jointly with Russian Helicopters the necessary number of seaborne helicopters and offer the latest developments to the Indian side, including the Ka-52K helicopters,” Mikheyev said. Helicopters operational in...

Kamov Working On Naval Alligator Turning heads at Le Bourget whenever it takes to the skies is Kamov’s Ka-52 helicopter. Its co-axial rotor blades and comprehensive weapons suite mark it out from the herd and, amazingly for a helicopter, it even has ejection seats. With the Ka-52 now in Russian army service and being touted for export, the design bureau is busy working on a maritime version for the Russian navy. Kamov has championed the co-axial layout for many years, arguing that it increases agility and performance (particularly vertical climb) while making the helicopter safer by removing any torque problems...

HELI-EXPO: Chinese WZ-10 attack helicopter based on Kamov design The Changhe Aircraft WZ-10 attack helicopter is based on a Russian design commissioned by the Chinese, Kamov's chief design engineer says. In 1995, Kamov developed a preliminary design in the 6t weight class under a contract with the Chinese government, says Sergey Mikheev, Kamov's chief design engineer, speaking at the Heli-Expo trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada. "Due to understandable reasons, this information was kept secret," he says. Dave Majumdar/Flightglobal The Project 941 design was not based on any Soviet-era attack helicopter project and was strictly designed for China's unique requirements,...

At least five people, including three Russians, were killed in a helicopter crash in Turkey Thursday, according to Russian Federal Air Transport Agency Rosaviatsia. The Kamov Ka-32 helicopter hit a mountainous slope before it crashed into a valley during a firefighting mission, killing all five people on board, Xinhua quoted a spokesperson for Rosaviatsia as saying. The other two killed were Turkish citizens, the spokesperson said. The accident would be investigated by Turkish authorities with assistance from Rosaviatsia and Interstate Aviation Committee, an organisation authorized to oversee the use and management of civil aviation in the Commonwealth of Independent States,...

Kamov vs. Mil: prospects for Russian chopper fleet By the end of this year, Russia’s Far East air base of Chernigovka will be fully reequipped with new Mi-8AMTSh and Ka-52 attack choppers that will replace the obsolete Mi-8s and Mi-24s. Designed as a special forces' support helicopter, the Ka-52 is gradually growing to become the army’s main attack gunship. Plans to launch Ka-52 batch production were announced as early as in 2006. Under the modernization initiative, Ka-52s were to make up only a small portion of the 300 attack helicopters – just several squadrons of 70 to 80 choppers –...

First Ka-52K Alligator helicopters for Mistral LHDs to be built in Russia in 2012 The first experimental batch of the Ka-52K Alligator attack helicopters for the Mistral class helicopter carriers will be built in Russia in 2012. This was announced September 3 by the Managing Director of the Progress Helicopter Holding, Yury Denisenko. All the Mistral LHDs, the first of which is to enter service in the Russian Navy in 2014, are planned to be equipped with helicopters Ka-52K and Ka-29. "The Ka-52K helicopters shall be industrialized in 2014, while the pilot batch is going to be produced in 2012",...

Russian Air Force to get dozens of helicopters if Mistral deal agreed The Russian Air Force will receive dozens of Ka-class helicopters if Russia buys a Mistral-class helicopter carrier from France, a deputy head of a Russian aviation production firm said on Monday. Russia is negotiating the purchase of at least one French-built Mistral-class amphibious assault ship and plans to build three more vessels of the same class in partnership with the French naval shipbuilder DCNS. "During a visit by Mistral to St. Petersburg [in November], we tested the landing of our Ka-27 Helix and Ka-52 Alligator helicopters on the...

India approves deals for Ka-31, AW101 helicopters By Radhakrishna Rao India's cabinet committee on security has approved the planned purchase of another five Kamov Ka-31 airborne early warning helicopters from Russia for an estimated Rp9.5 billion ($198 million). To join the Indian navy's five AEW-configured Ka-31s in providing radar picket services, the new aircraft will be equipped with E-801M Oko sensors, which can track up to 40 airborne and surface threats simultaneously. New Delhi has also finalised a plan to acquire 12 VVIP-configured AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters. The aircraft will be delivered with self-protection equipment capable of warding off missile threats.

Russia's Air Forces to Buy Dozens of Black Sharks, Alligators Russia is planning to purchase several dozens of the Ka-50 Black Shark and Ka-52 Alligator helicopters to boost operations of special forces, the ITAR-TASS news agency said Wednesday. Series manufacture for Ka-50/52 helicopters resumed at a plant in Arsenyev last year after a lengthy downtime. Choppers of the Kamov design and construction bureau lost a tender to the Mi-28N of Milay design bureau to develop the main helicopter for Russian air forces. Kamov, however, has been chosen to construct choppers for Russian special forces. A Ka-50 and a Ka-52 are...

Russia Commits to Multi-Year Buy of 67 Mi-28 Attack Helicopters Posted 20-Jul-2006 05:52 The Mi-28A "Havoc" first appeared at the Paris Air Show in 1989, but was never produced in numbers due competition from the Ka-50 "Black Shark" and Russia's financial situation in the aftermath of communism. An improved Mi-28N (see also Rostvertol profile) with full day/night capabilities was introduced as a prototype in 1996, but the Mi-28N would wait until 2004 for the first flight by an improved second prototype, and only began flight testing with the Russian Air Force in June 2005. Defense-Aerospace relays a July 18 Rostvertol...

Turkey shortlists Rooivalk attack chopper Cape Town – It is an awe-inspiring sight, watching a nine-ton attack helicopter perform a loop and barrel rolls – the aeronautical equivalent of Luciano Pavarotti performing a perfect pike on the diving board. But this is exactly what Denel Aviation‘s CSH-2 Rooivalk attack helicopter can do – although that is not part of its operational flying capabilities. The Rooivalk was designed to fly in all weather conditions day or night at extremely low level, sometimes at an altitude of 10m, to avoid being detected. Developed in the 1990s, the Rooivalk (“Red Hawk”) is used...

MOSCOW, November 28 (RIA Novosti) - Spanish company Helisureste will purchase two fire fighting helicopters from Russia's Kamov producer under a contract signed late last week, the Russian company said Monday. "Considering Helisureste's last contract, the Kamov will supply four Ka-32 helicopters in 2006," the company said. The Spanish company has been operating Ka-32 helicopters since 1995. In 2004 and 2004, the company received four Ka-32 helicopters and has successfully employed them since then to put out fires in Europe, the company said. Helisureste's technical director said the 2005 fire-fighting season proved the Ka-32 helicopters to be the best...