Unguided missile weapons of a helicopter. Modern Russian attack helicopters
The helicopter is made according to the classic single-rotor design with a fixed landing gear and an auxiliary wing with attachment points for combat load.
The fuselage of the Mi-28NE is a semi-monocoque of mixed construction, made primarily of aluminum alloys and composite materials using riveted and adhesive-welded joints. Technologically, it is divided into bow and central parts, keel and tail booms.
In the bow there are two armored cabins, separated by an armored partition, for the navigator-operator (in front) and the pilot (in the rear). Armor protection includes titanium armor and ceramic tiles glued to the frame of the forward fuselage, and silicate bulletproof glass that can withstand hits from 12.7 mm armor-piercing incendiary bullets and 23 mm caliber shells. The navigator's door is on the left side, the pilot's door is on the right. The doors are equipped with emergency release mechanisms. During an emergency exit from a helicopter, special ladders are inflated under the doors to protect the crew from hitting the landing gear.
In front, under the nose of the fuselage, there is a stabilized platform of the combined observation and sighting station KOPS and an artillery mount.
Under the floor of the pilot's cabin there are blocks of electrical equipment, sighting and flight-navigation systems.
In the tail boom there is a rear compartment of radio equipment, the free volume of which allows you to transport airfield equipment necessary for the redeployment of a helicopter, or transport up to three people in special cases. Access to the compartment is through a hatch and a folding ladder on the left side.
The lower position of the tail boom eliminated the possibility of the main rotor blades colliding with it.
The tail rotor and the controlled stabilizer are located on the keel beam in the form of a single console.
Cable wiring for controlling the tail rotor and stabilizer is located inside the keel and tail booms.
The helicopter wing, with a span of 4.88 m, is cantilevered with four pylons designed for hanging missiles, small arms, guns, bombs and other weapons, additional fuel tanks and KMGU-2 containers. Devices for creating passive interference are placed at the ends of the wing. The wing of the caisson structure is made of aluminum alloys, with the exception of the nose and tail sections, which are made of composite material.
The landing gear is a three-wheel non-retractable one. The main racks are equipped with brake wheels measuring 720x320 mm. The chassis track is 2.29 m, the base is 11.0 m. The rear support is equipped with a wheel measuring 480x200 mm. The design of the chassis supports includes hydropneumatic shock absorbers with additional (emergency) travel.
The crew rescue system ensures reduction of overloads upon impact to a physiologically tolerable level. It includes energy-absorbing seats with increased shock absorption travel of up to 30 cm and a system for attaching seat belts to the pilot and navigator's seats, allowing an emergency landing at vertical speeds of up to 12 m/s. The rescue system is activated manually, but if for some reason the pilot is unable to do this, then, thanks to the appropriate sensors, the automation is activated.
At high altitudes, the crew can leave the helicopter with a parachute, having first shot off the wing.
In addition, constructive measures are provided to prevent the crew members from coming into contact with the controls and interior elements of the cabins at the moment of impact, as well as to reduce the likelihood of an explosion, fire and significant deformation of the cabin, precluding their independent exit on the ground.
The power plant includes two TVZ-117VMA turboshaft engines produced by Motor Sich OJSC (Ukraine). The engine control system allows you to adjust takeoff power in the range from 2000 to 2500 hp. (depending on the type of helicopter), power in emergency mode for all engine modifications is 2800 hp. Water injection ensures stable operation of engines during launches of unguided rockets. The power plant is equipped with dust filters and screen-exhaust devices. Thanks to the improved characteristics of the TVZ-117V series 02, the speed and ceiling increase (by almost 1000 m), the load capacity increases by more than 1000 kg, and the maneuverability of the helicopter improves. In the future, it is planned to replace the engines with VK-2500, developed at JSC Klimov on the basis of TVZ-117VMA.
In the engine compartment of the gearbox compartment, above the ceiling panel of the central part of the helicopter fuselage, there is a fan and an oil cooler. The TA-14 engine is used as an auxiliary power unit, used as a source of compressed air necessary to start the TVZ-117VMA (the prototypes had an AI-9V with a power of 3 kW, dry weight 70 kg).
The Mi-28 fuel system consists of two independent systems to power each engine with automatic cross-feed of fuel.
Three tanks (two consumables, one for each engine, and one common), with a volume of about 1900 liters, are located in a protected container under the floor of the central part of the fuselage. As they are emptied, they are filled with polyurethane foam, which protects them from explosion. For maximum range flights, additional fuel tanks can be attached.
The main rotor is five-bladed, with a diameter of 17.2 m, the steering rotor is four-bladed with a diameter of 3.84 m, made in an X-shaped pattern. The main and tail rotor blades are rectangular, with a chord of 0.67 m and swept tips. The blades are made of polymer composite material; structurally, the blade consists of a nose part, to which the tail sections, also made of polymer composite materials with honeycomb core, are attached. The rotor rotation speed is 242 rpm, the peripheral speed of the blade tips is 216 m/s. The main rotor blades can withstand hits of 20 - 23 mm caliber projectiles without destruction.
The main gearbox, fan, auxiliary power unit and other units are mounted on the ceiling panel of the central part of the fuselage. Power from the engines is transmitted to the main rotor through gearboxes: two corner UR-28 and the main VR-29. In addition, the main gearbox drives two alternating current electric generators with a voltage of 208 V.
The main rotor hub is a titanium housing with five remote spherical elastomeric hinges. In the movable joints of the bushing, fluoroplastic and fabric bearings are widely used, which do not require constant lubrication.
The elastomeric bushing not only reduced labor costs for maintaining the helicopter, but also increased the maneuverability and controllability of the machine.
The tail rotor has a diameter of 3.84 m, its blades are installed at angles of 45° and 135° relative to each other to reduce noise levels. The blades are rectangular in plan with a chord of 0.24 m. Structurally, the tail rotor is made of two modules connected by an elastomeric bearing. The main and tail rotor blades are equipped with an electrothermal anti-icing system.
The helicopter control system is mechanical, with four combined steering actuators installed on the main gearbox and performing the functions of hydraulic boosters and autopilot steering gears. The stabilizer control is kinematically connected to the rotor collective pitch handle.
The hydraulic system of the Mi-28 consists of two independent systems designed to power the combined steering actuators of the helicopter and the hydraulic damper in the track control system.
The helicopter equipment also includes a pneumatic system and air conditioning device, as well as oxygen equipment.
The Mi-28NE is equipped with a set of instrumentation equipment that allows you to pilot a helicopter and solve air navigation problems at any time of the day and in any meteorological conditions. Onboard radio-electronic and instrumentation equipment includes an ATGM radio command line with an antenna located under a radio-transparent fairing in the forward part of the fuselage.
Below it is the operator’s gyro-stabilized combined viewing and sighting station (COPS) with optical, infrared and television channels for monitoring and controlling missile weapons. COPS has wide and narrow direct optical fields of view (3- and 13-fold magnification). The COPS also includes a laser rangefinder-target designator and a pilot's television and infrared stations. On board there are control and display systems, color multifunctional liquid crystal displays, flight navigation equipment and communications equipment.
The most important element allowing round-the-clock and all-weather use of the helicopter is the NO-25 all-round radar above the hub, operating in the millimeter range. This station allows you to detect air targets at a distance of over 20 km, as well as ground obstacles, providing flight in automatic terrain following mode.
The crew is required to use night vision goggles. The cockpit instrumentation includes a head-up display (HUD) and a helmet-mounted sight for aiming the gun.
The helicopter's armament consists of a fixed mobile installation NPPU-28N with a 2A42 30 mm cannon (rate of fire 550 rounds/min against air targets and 200 - 300 rounds/min against ground targets). Deviation range of NPPU-28: in azimuth from +110° to -110°; by elevation angle from +13° to -40°. The gun's ammunition capacity is 250 rounds.
The combat load weighing 1605 kg is placed on four hardpoints under the wing. External beam holders provide suspension in transport and launch containers for up to 16 anti-tank guided supersonic missiles 9M120, 9M120F or 9A-220O of the Ataka-V complex with tandem cumulative, high-explosive or rod warheads or 9M114 missiles of the Shturm-V complex with radio command guidance systems.
It is also envisaged to use the “Sturm” - “Attack” combined missile weapons system with a maximum firing range of 6000 m, which has high noise immunity and a rate of fire of two to three launches per minute.
In addition, the Mi-28N arsenal includes up to eight 9M39-2 air-to-air missiles with a thermal seeker of the Igla-V complex and two blocks of 9M123 anti-tank missiles of the Khrizantema-V complex, which are a further development of the Ataka. . This complex also includes a guidance radar suspended in a container under the wing of a helicopter.
Up to four B-8V20-1 NAR units with 20 S-8 80 mm caliber missiles in each or up to four B-13L1 (five S-13 122 mm caliber NARs each) or KMGU-2 small cargo containers with mines and small caliber bombs. The holders could also carry 250 and 500 kg aerial bombs or additional fuel tanks. It is possible to install two UPK-23-250 containers with 23-mm GSh-23L cannons and ZB-500 incendiary tanks. The helicopter is equipped with devices for laying mines from the air.
To protect against damage from guided missiles, the Mi-28NE is equipped with equipment for jamming radar stations and guided missiles with infrared and radar homing heads; equipment for warning of helicopter irradiation by enemy radar stations and laser target designators; device for firing UV-26 jamming cartridges for protection against missiles with thermal homing heads.
This machine can be piloted both from the cockpit and from the cockpit of a pilot-operator serving as an instructor. “Night Hunter” with dual controls will significantly simplify and speed up the process of training combat crews, which will open up new export opportunities for the Mi-28NE, representatives of the aircraft plant noted in a conversation with an RG correspondent. Indeed, in addition to the acquired training function, the vehicle must retain the entire arsenal of an all-weather attack helicopter aimed at destroying enemy armored vehicles, defeating low-flying low-speed air targets, aerial reconnaissance - not only during the day, but also - justifying its name - at night, including in difficult weather conditions.
At the moment, the manufacturer’s portfolio includes two contracts for the supply of Mi-28NE with dual controls abroad, the company said. Representatives of the company did not specify which countries will receive the new helicopters and in what quantities.
Let us recall that earlier, in particular, Algeria, India, Kenya and Iraq expressed interest in purchasing the “Night Hunter”. The latter signed a contract for the purchase of more than 40 Mi-35 and Mi-28N helicopters from Russia back in 2013, and the first batch of Mi-28NE was delivered to this country in the fall of 2014. Algeria, according to some information, planned to receive helicopters with dual controls.
Among the most valuable advantages of the dual-control Mi-28NE are not only its maneuverability and the ability to be used around the clock, but also its firepower. The helicopter's arsenal includes guided and unguided missile weapons, as well as a mobile gun mount, which is equipped with a 30 mm caliber cannon. All vital systems and assemblies of the helicopter are duplicated. The crew cabin is reliably armored - it is not afraid of armor-piercing bullets and shells of up to 20 mm caliber.
The “impenetrability” of the helicopter became possible thanks to the use of the latest materials and design solutions. The Mi-28NE main rotor blades with dual control are made of composite materials, and the design of the fuel system prevents explosion or combustion of fuel.
In addition, the new “Night Hunter” will be very difficult to detect by ground-based air defense systems. The helicopter is equipped with an integrated set of avionics, which, among other things, allows you to find and recognize ground and air targets, determine their coordinates and transmit target designations to ground and air command posts.
In 2014, a prototype Mi-28NE with dual control was manufactured. At the end of 2015, State joint tests were completed.
Characteristics of “Night Hunter”
Normal take-off weight – 10900 kg;
Maximum flight speed – 300 km/h. Cruising flight speed – 265 km/h.
Main weapons
Ataka-V air-to-surface guided missile system;
Strelets air-to-air guided missile system;
Fixed movable gun mount with a 30 mm caliber gun;
Units of unguided aircraft missiles (UAR) B-8V20A with an S-8 missile of 80 mm caliber;
Blocks of unguided aircraft missiles (UAR) B-13L1 with a missile of the S-13 type, 130 mm caliber.
All are sensitive to load, and therefore the emphasis when choosing weapons for them is invariably placed on the weight of the helicopter. However, while multi-role helicopters require weapons for 360-degree self-defense, attack helicopters require forward-firing weapons that can destroy hardened targets from a safe distance, as well as a cannon in a mobile mount for engaging less difficult targets.
On the lighter end of the weapons spectrum, machine guns are not typically found on attack helicopters, although the Bell AH-1G Cobra began life with an Emerson Electric TAT-102A forward pod carrying a six-barrel 7.62mm GAU-2B/A Minigun from General. Electric. Similarly, it was originally equipped with a four-barreled 12.7 mm Yakushev-Borzov (YakB-12.7) 9A624 machine gun in a remotely controlled mount.
Triple-barrel 20 mm M197 cannon from General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products in the ventral gondola of a Bell AH-1 W SuperCobra helicopter
Four-barreled 12.7 mm Yakushev-Borzov machine gun (YakB-12.7)
Cannons almost universally replaced machine guns as gondola weapons. One of the few exceptions is the German Army's Eurocopter Tiger UHT, which can currently only carry automatic weapons in the form of fixed weapons containers.
In December 2012, Tiger UHT helicopters in service with the German KHR36 helicopter regiment in Afghanistan were equipped with FN Herstal HMP400 containers, each with a 12.7 mm M3P machine gun and 400 rounds of ammunition. The container weighs 138 kg, and the machine gun has a rate of fire of 1025 rounds per minute.
Modified by Eurocopter to Asgard-F (Afghanistan Stabilization German Army Rapid Deployment - Full) standard, these Tiger helicopters are also armed with 19-round 70mm rocket launchers and guided missiles. MBDA Hot.
Another attack helicopter that still has a machine gun turret is the Iranian Hesa Shahed (Witness) 285. This is a very light (1450 kg) single-seat aircraft - a modification of the Bell 206 JetRanger. The helicopter, designated AH-85A, is armed with a single-barrel 7.62 mm PKMT machine gun in the front turret; it is reportedly in limited service with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Air Force.
A gun
The displacement of machine guns by cannons as helicopter weapons has a completely rational explanation. America discovered in Vietnam, and later the USSR in Afghanistan, that helicopter-mounted machine guns can easily be “fired” from the ground by heavy automatic weapons.
In ground-air operations, the 7.62 mm machine gun is only effective at a distance of approximately 500 meters and only against unarmored targets, such as personnel in open space. The 12.7 mm machine gun increases the firing range to 1000 meters and can deal with a wider range of targets. The gun (capable of firing high explosive ammunition) starts at 20mm; it is quite effective at distances of up to 1,700 meters and can destroy light armored vehicles.
A turret mounted in front allows the gun to be raised above the fuselage line. In the case of the French Army's Eurocopter Tiger HAP helicopter, the Nexter Systems 30M781 30mm cannon in the THL30 turret can rotate 30 degrees up and down and 90 degrees in each direction
A Hungarian Army Mi-24V helicopter painted to look like a moose shows the original front gondola with a four-barreled 12.7 mm 9A624 (YakB-12.7) machine gun.
Romanian IAR-330L Puma helicopter with Nexter Systems THL20 nacelle with 20M621 single-barrel gun
One example of a 20mm weapon for an attack helicopter is the Nexter Systems THL20 pod with a single-barrel 20M621 cannon. It is installed on the Romanian IAR-330L Puma aircraft, and was also selected for the Indian HAL Light Combat Helicopter (LCH). Another forward ventral installation GI-2 from the South African company Denel Land Systems is intended for modernization of Mi-24 helicopters of the Algerian Air Force. The GI-2 is also installed on the Denel Rooivalk (Kestrel). Such guns usually have a rate of fire of 700 - 750 rounds per minute.
If a high rate of fire is required (which, in general, is not necessary when firing at ground targets, but may be preferable when firing at aircraft and speedboats), then in this case a gun with several barrels is advisable.
Close-up of an M197 20mm Gatling gun in the nacelle of an AH-1Z helicopter
A typical example is the M197 tri-barrel 20mm Gatling gun from General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, which can fire at rates of up to 1,500 rounds/min and is pod-mounted on the Bell AH-1J/W helicopter, the new AH-1Z helicopter, and on AgustaWestland A129. One of the reasons for choosing the A129 helicopter as the basis of the Turkish Atak program was the superior accuracy of its M197 gun mounted in the Oto Melara TM197B turret.
When developing the Mi-24 in the 1980s, in order to meet operational requirements in Afghanistan, Mil Design Bureau first of all replaced the original four-barreled YakB-12.7 machine gun with a double-barreled 23-mm GSh-23L cannon on a movable turret. Only 25 Mi-24VP were manufactured, but the scope of application of the GSh-23L cannon was not limited to this helicopter; it is installed in a cannon container with 250 rounds (UPK-23-250) under the wings of various Russian helicopters.
During the production of the Mi-24P, the front turret was abandoned in favor of a double-barreled 30-mm GSh-30 cannon mounted on the right side of the fuselage. However, the GSh-23 ventral gondola (NPPU-23) returned in the export version of the Mi-35M, which is in service with Brazil and Venezuela.
The 30mm Chain Gun, with a rate of fire of 625 rounds per minute, is an integral visual element of the Apache attack helicopter's silhouette. The gun has since been adapted for other applications, including shipborne remote-controlled installation
With a few notable exceptions (AH-1 and A129 series), most attack helicopters are equipped with a 30 mm cannon. The leader was a Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter with an Alliant Techsystems (ATK) M230 Chain Gun in a pod under the forward cockpit.
Another example is the Eurocopter Tiger ARH/HAD/HAP with a Nexter Systems 30M781 cannon in a THL30 ventral turret. As was said earlier, the Tiger UHT helicopter of the German army does not have a turret, but the installation of a 30 mm Rheimetall/Mauser RMK30 (Rueckstossfreie Maschinenkanone 30) recoilless revolver cannon in a flexible suspension firing caseless ammunition with a rate of fire of 300 rounds/min is being considered.
During further development of the Soviet Mi-24 helicopter from the BMP-2, the proven single-barrel 30-mm 2A42 cannon with double feed was borrowed. The gun's rate of fire is selectable between 200 and 550 rounds per minute.
In the case of the Mi-28N, the 2A42 cannon is installed in the NPPU-28N gondola under the front cockpit, but on the Ka-50/52 helicopter this cannon is installed in trunnions on the right side of the fuselage and can be rotated vertically by 40.5 degrees.
This night hunter Mi-28N illustrates three types of weapons: a 30 mm 2A42 dual-fed cannon in the NPPU-28N ventral gondola, 80 mm S-80 missiles in 20-round B8V20-A mounts and radio-controlled armor-piercing missiles in eight-tube guides
NPPU-28N ventral gondola close-up
Unguided rockets
The guns discussed above are economical means of combating a wide range of targets identified at large angles of deviation from the aircraft axis. However, helicopter guns are easily “beaten” by modern air defense systems. For example, the widely used four-barreled 23-mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun ZSU-23, firing at a speed of up to 4000 rounds/min, has an effective slant range of 2000 meters. Whereas MANPADS have a maximum range of 4000 - 6500 meters.
Unguided air-launched missiles can, in turn, outrange ground-based automatic weapons. The most common Western unguided missiles are the 68mm SNEB from Thales/TDA Armements and the 2.75in/70mm Hydra-70 from General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, the FZ90 missile from Forges de Zeebrugge and the CRV7 missile from Magellan Aerospace.
Hydra-70 family of missiles
The Hydra-70 missile is a modification of the FFAR (Folding-Fin Aircraft Rocket) that was developed in the late 40s as an unguided air-to-air missile, mainly to quickly and reliably hit a Soviet bomber carrying atomic bomb. It served as a stopgap until guided missiles such as the AIM-7 entered service.
The modern Hydra-70 is produced with nine different warheads, including the M151 (4.5 kg high explosive), M229 (7.7 kg high explosive) and M255A1 (with submunitions), plus smoke, illumination and practical options. Over four million Hydra-70 missiles have been produced by GDATP since 1994. It is charged into 7- and 19-pipe installations.
The Canadian CRV7 missile is said to have superior performance with a valid range of up to 8,000 meters. Over 800,000 of these missiles were manufactured for 13 countries.
The Russian 57 mm S-5 missile is currently being replaced by the 80 mm S-8 missile, which weighs 11.1 - 15.2 kg and is mounted on helicopters in a 20-tube B8V20-A launcher. It has a maximum peak speed of Mach 1.8 and has a maximum range of 4,500 meters. The S-8KOM has an armor-piercing cumulative warhead, and the S-8BM is designed to destroy personnel in fortifications.
It can also carry two B-13L1 launch units, each with five 122-mm S-13 missiles, which are practically the most powerful missiles fired from helicopters. The S-13T, weighing 75 kg, has a tandem warhead capable of penetrating one meter of reinforced concrete or six meters of soil. The 68-kg S-13OF has a high-explosive fragmentation warhead, which creates a cloud of 450 diamond-shaped elements of 25-30 grams each.
The Mi-28N is capable of carrying two 240 mm S-24B missiles weighing 232 kg each. It may be noted that Russian attack helicopters use bombs weighing from 50 to 500 kg and the KMGU-2 universal small-sized cargo container for dropping submunitions.
It should be noted that due to their special nature, laser-guided missiles will be discussed in the following reviews. They were developed relatively recently and are intended, in particular, to provide new effective weapons for light universal helicopters, which are much cheaper to operate compared to specialized attack helicopters.
On the Ka-50 helicopter, the 30-mm Shipunov cannon, mounted in trunnions on the starboard side of the fuselage, has elevation angles (vertical) from +3.5 degrees to -37 degrees. The photo shows the Ka-50 with 20-tube B8V20-A units for 80-mm S-8 missiles and six-tube UPP-800 units for 9M121 Vikhr armor-piercing missiles
The MBDA Mistral 2 IR-guided missile, weighing 18.7 kg, has slightly greater firepower compared to missiles launched from MANPADS. On the Eurocopter Tiger helicopter, missiles are installed in a twin Atam (Air-To-Air Mistral) launcher.
Air-to-air missiles
The heaviest air-to-air guided weapons are the 105 kg Vympel R-73 missile or NATO classification AA-11 (on the Mi-28 and Ka-50/52) and the 87 kg Raytheon AIM-9 Sidewinder ( on AH-1W/Z). Both have excellent range by short-range missile standards; the stated figure for the basic R-73 missile (when launched from jet aircraft in a frontal combat) is 30 km. The choice of the AIM-9 missile by the US Marine Corps for the Cobra series helicopters was apparently determined by the need to minimize the number of different types of missiles on one aircraft.
The Vympel R-73 missile is installed on Mi-28 and Ka-50/52 helicopters
It has been suggested that Brazilian Mi-35M helicopters could be equipped with MAA-1B Piranha II Mectron or Darter-A Denel/Mectron air-to-air missiles.
The desire to minimize the weight of on-board weapons contributes to the adaptation of man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) as helicopter air-to-air self-defense weapons. The leaders here are the 18.7 kg MBDA Atam (Air-To-Air Mistral, installed on the Tiger), and even the lighter 10.6 kg 9K38 Igla or SA-18 missiles (on the Mi-28 and Ka-50/52 ) and 10.4 kg Raytheon AIM-92 Stinger (on an AH-64 helicopter). The Atam complex is based on the Mistral 2 missile and is a twin launcher. It has impact and remote fuses and a maximum range of 6,500 meters.
Air-to-surface missiles
Attack helicopters were designed primarily to destroy armored fighting vehicles, and therefore the most important type of weapon for them has traditionally been anti-tank guided weapons. In the early 1940s, Germany was a pioneer in the field of wire-based missile guidance. In the early post-war period, Britain conducted several tests and concluded that the concept was too prone to failure and damage. And as a result, Britain subsequently missed out on an entire generation of anti-tank missiles.
The very first missiles used manual command guidance, which gave poor accuracy. In general, it was decided to instead adopt the so-called Saclos guidance (semiautomatic command to line-of-sight - semi-automatic control signals along the line of sight). Here the operator keeps his sights on the target, and the system automatically tracks the rocket's exhaust stream and generates corrective signals to return it to the line of sight.
The world's first helicopter-mounted air-to-ground missile was the French Nord AS.11 (adapted from the SS.11 ground-launched missile), which had manual fly-by-wire control and was adopted by the US Army under the designation AGM-22. It was installed on two UH-1B helicopters and was first used by the Army in real conditions in October 1965. The AGM-22 was later replaced by the (Hughes) BGM-71 Tow, which was also fly-by-wire but used Saclos optical tracker guidance. It was first used in combat conditions in May 1972, where it destroyed T-54 and PT-76 tanks.
The most widely used fly-by-wire missiles are the 12.5 kg 9M14M Malyutka-2 or AT-3, the 22.5 kg Raytheon BGM-71 Tow and the 24.5 kg Euromissile Hot. Wire guidance is limited to a range of about 4,000 meters, but this fit well into the Warsaw Pact concept of the last century for an armored attack on the northern German plain. It was then believed that viewing targets at long ranges was unlikely due, as a rule, to poor visibility and smoke on the battlefield.
Radio guidance eliminates this range limitation, but may be vulnerable to jamming. As for wire-based guidance, the line of sight on the target must be maintained throughout the missile's flight.
Radio-controlled anti-tank missile 9M114 "Cocoon"
One of the first examples of a radio-controlled anti-tank missile was the widely used 31.4 kg 9M114 “Cocoon” or AT-6; this missile was used as part of the 9K114 “Sturm” complex. The basic weapon, which entered service in 1976, had a range of 5,000 meters.
In the 90s, the 9K114 began to be replaced by the 49.5 kg 9K120 Ataka-V or AT-9 complex. The complex retained the launch guides and sighting system 9K114, but at the same time it received a supersonic missile (Mach 1.6) 9M120, which in its basic version has a range of 5800 meters. can carry 16 of these missiles in two eight-tube blocks.
The 9M120 has a tandem warhead to combat armored targets, while the 9M120F has a thermobaric warhead to destroy lightly armored targets, buildings, caves and bunkers. The 9A2200 variant has a warhead with a larger anti-aircraft core.
The 13 kg laser-guided Lahat missile can be fired from a tube launcher from an aircraft or from a 105/120 mm tank gun. A fully equipped four-tube helicopter launcher weighs less than 89 kg. Lahat has a range of over 8000 meters
Launch container for four MBDA Pars-3 LR missiles installed on a Eurocopter Tiger helicopter. Pars3-LR has infrared guidance with automatic recognition, which allows target acquisition after launch
Laser beam guidance ensures accuracy regardless of target range. A coded laser beam allows you to designate a target using another source, airborne or ground-based. This makes it easier to acquire a target from cover or outside the operator's visual line of sight and minimizes the exposure time of the helicopter from which the missile is launched.
A prime example of a laser-guided missile is the 43-kg AGM-114 Hellfire from Lockheed Martin, which has a range of 7,000 meters in direct sight mode and 8,000 meters in indirect fire. The missile is supersonic, which reduces its exposure time for enemy interception weapons in launch mode with target illumination. The AH-1Z and AH-64 helicopters can carry 16 Hellfire missiles. The lighter A129 and Tiger can carry eight of these missiles.
Hellfire was first used in real conditions in Operation Just Cause in Panama in 1989. Traditionally, it has been used with three types of warheads: the AGM-114K with a tandem warhead for armored targets, the AGM-114M high-explosive fragmentation for unarmored targets, and the AGM-114N with a metal charge for the destruction of urban structures, bunkers, radar stations, communications centers and bridges.
AGM-114 Hellfire missile on a Predator UAV pylon
Beginning in 2012, the Hellfire missile became available with the AGM-114R multi-purpose warhead, which allows you to select its impact on the target (high-explosive fragmentation or armor-piercing) right before launch. Depending on the target type, the AGM-114R also allows you to select the encounter angle, from almost horizontal to almost vertical.
Other examples of laser-guided armor-piercing missiles are the 13 kg Lahat from Israel Aerospace Industries and the 49.8 kg Mokopa from Denel Dynamics, which have a maximum range of 8,000 and 10,000 meters respectively.
The AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire, mounted on the AH-64D/E Longbow Apache helicopter, has a radar guidance system; millimeter-wave radar provides fire-and-forget capabilities day and night and in any weather.
The Soviet Union, in turn, decided that laser guidance was too susceptible to traps and instead developed flight along a laser beam, although in this case the miss distance increases with range. A prime example of such a system is the 45kg 9K121 Whirlwind missile, or AT-16, which has a peak speed of over Mach 1.75 and a range of 8,000 meters when launched from a helicopter. The Whirlwind is housed in two six-pipe UPP-800 installations on a Ka-50/52 helicopter. The missile has a remote fuse for firing at air targets.
The next Russian missile in this category is KBP's Hermes-A, a two-stage missile that flies at Mach 3 to a maximum range of 20 km.
Infrared guidance
Laser beam guidance allows you to hit specific targets, but in some circumstances (for example, in urban combat) target designation may become impossible, despite the known general location of the target. In such situations, a precise attack is still possible through a combination of inertial and infrared guidance. When combined with sophisticated target recognition algorithms, infrared guidance provides fire-and-forget capabilities and allows for salvo launches against multiple targets.
German Tiger UHT helicopter and its weapons. White rocket in the foreground - Pars-3 LR
The leader in the infrared guidance category is the 49 kg MBDA Pars-3 LR missile, which has a high subsonic speed (Mach 0.85) and a maximum range of 7000 meters. The missile is mounted on a German Tiger UHT helicopter in four-tube launchers in ready-to-launch mode; During flight, its sensor is constantly cooled. Four missiles in fully autonomous mode can fire in less than 10 seconds. It typically uses a target acquisition mode before launch, but also has a pre-emptive mode for temporarily hidden targets.
The Pars-3 LR can be launched in direct attack mode, such as against bunkers, but is usually used in a dive mode against armored vehicles. Its warhead can penetrate 1000 mm of rolled homogeneous armor protected by dynamic protection units.
Full-scale production of the Pars-3 LR was started in late 2012 by Parsys, a joint venture between MBDA Germany and Diehl BGT Defence, under a contract with the German Defense Procurement Agency, which will supply 680 missiles to the German Army.
Another relatively new development is the Spike-ER produced by the Israeli company Rafael. The first fiber-guided armor-piercing missile, the Spike-ER, has a range of 8,000 meters and can lock on to a target before or after launch. Together with the transport and launch container, it weighs 33 kg and has a dual-mode optoelectronic/infrared sensor, allowing for day/night operations.
The Rafael Spike family of missiles includes the Spike-ER, which has a range of 8,000 meters. It is induced via a fiber optic cable; was chosen by Israel, Italy, Romania and Spain for installation on their helicopters
The Spike-ER is believed to be in service with the Israeli AH-1 and Romanian IAR-330 helicopters, and has also been selected for the Italian AH-109 and Spanish Tiger Had helicopters. It is part of the Spike family of missiles and has a high level of commonality with ground-launched options. Spike is also produced by the German company EuroSpike, a joint venture between Diehl BGT Defense and Rheinmetall Defense Electronics.
By the end of the State Program, the number of models may increase by one and a half to two times. During the procurement of new helicopters, special attention is paid to attack vehicles. Until recently, the task of supporting troops and enemy attacks was assigned only to the “old man” Mi-24 and its modifications. Now the air force is receiving three types of combat helicopters, differing from each other in characteristics, equipment and strike capabilities.
These are the Mi-35M (a deep modernization of the Mi-24, also known as the Mi-24VM), Mi-28N and Ka-52. Just a few years ago, one could have hoped for continued construction of the Ka-50 helicopter, but as a result it was discontinued in favor of the newer and more advanced Ka-52. Let's try to carefully consider the available attack helicopters, compare and evaluate their capabilities. Unfortunately, some of the technical information on the latest helicopters has not yet become public knowledge, so we will have to be content only with the available official data, even if incomplete.
Technical and flight characteristics
The machines in question differ significantly in design aspects. Machines from the Mil company are made according to the classical design with main and tail rotors. They are also equipped with original X-shaped tail rotors, which have increased efficiency compared to conventional propellers. The Ka-52, in turn, is made according to the traditional Kamov design and has two coaxial rotors. The pros and cons of the schemes used have been the subject of heated debate for several years now, but the designers and military have made their choice: they understand the disadvantages of the classical and pine schemes, but for the sake of the existing advantages they are ready to endure them. In addition, it is of some interest that the main helicopters of the Russian Air Force by 2020 should be the “classic” Mi-28N and coaxial Ka-52. Thus, there is, so to speak, a balance between the schemes.
Ka-52 helicopters of the installation batch in standard serial configuration including the defense complex - board No. 52 and board No. 53 yellow
Mi-28N helicopter board No. 50 yellow from a batch of helicopters transferred to the Air Force at the airbase 344 TsBPiPLS AA October 8, 2011, Torzhok, Tver region
All three helicopters differ significantly already at the level of weight and size parameters. The Ka-52 has the smallest dimensions among the machines under consideration. With a maximum take-off weight of 10,400 kilograms, it has a length of 13.5 meters and a rotor diameter of 14.5 m. Milevsky Mi-28 is slightly larger: a length of 17 meters, a rotor diameter of 17.2 m and a maximum take-off weight of 11.7 tons. The largest of the new helicopters is the Mi-35M, which has a maximum take-off weight of 11,800 kg and a length of over 18.5 meters. It is noteworthy that both Mil helicopters are equipped with the same main and tail rotors, originally developed for the Mi-28N.
The situation with the power plant of helicopters is interesting. All of them, in accordance with the development trends of combat helicopters, are equipped with two engines. This reduces the risks associated with damage to one of the engines and, as a result, increases the survivability of vehicles in combat conditions. In addition, all three helicopters are equipped with TV3-117VMA Klimov family turboshaft engines. The Mi-35M has engines of this model with a take-off power of 2,200 horsepower each, while the Mi-28N and Ka-52 are equipped with later modifications. Thus, the Mi-28N is equipped with VK-2500-02 engines (2200 hp at takeoff), and the Ka-52 is equipped with VK-2500 engines with the ability to “overclock” to 2400 hp. It is worth noting that the indicated power indicators are achieved only for a certain short time. During flight, it is recommended to keep engine power at no more than 1750-1800 horsepower. Moreover, all engines of the TV3-117VMA family have an emergency mode, in which they are capable of reaching the level of 2600-2700 horsepower. True, such power indicators require subsequent additional maintenance.
Engine TV3-117
VK-2500 (upgraded version of TVZ-117)
It is easy to see that in terms of the combination of weight, size and power parameters, the Ka-52 helicopter looks the most interesting. With the maximum permissible weight at take-off engine mode, it has a specific power of up to 460 hp. per ton of weight. For the Mi-35M and Mi-28N this parameter is approximately 370 and 375 hp. per ton, respectively. Thus, the Kamov helicopter, having a higher thrust-to-weight ratio, in theory should have better flight characteristics. However, high power-to-weight ratios are obtained primarily due to the low weight of the structure and, as a consequence, the relatively low combat load. At the same time, a number of features of the concept have led to the fact that the lighter Ka-52 is capable of carrying more equipment and weapons than the Mi-35N. The Kamov company has a payload of about two tons, while the Mi-35M has a payload of only 1,780 kg. As for the Mi-28N, it is capable of carrying up to 2,300 kilograms of weapons on an external sling.
The flight parameters of all three helicopters are quite close, although they differ from each other. The maximum speed of all cars is within 310-320 kilometers per hour. At the same time, the Mi-35M and Ka-52, if necessary, can accelerate to 340 km/h, but this speed in the declared characteristics is listed as the maximum permissible. The newer Mi-28N and Ka-52 helicopters outperform the deeply modernized Mi-24 in dynamic and static ceilings. The first indicator for these machines is in the range of 5-5.5 thousand meters, the second is equal to 3600 m. The static and dynamic ceiling of the Mi-35M is 450-500 meters less than these indicators. The Mi-35M cannot boast of a flight range either. Its practical range is 420 kilometers, and in the ferry configuration it can cover up to a thousand kilometers. For the Mi-28N these figures are 500 and 1100, and for the Ka-52 - 520 and 1200 kilometers, respectively.
It must be taken into account that the maximum flight range, as well as speed and ceiling, in itself is not the most important parameter of a helicopter, but can indicate its capabilities regarding the duration of its stay in the air. The experience of armed conflicts in recent years has shown that a modern combat helicopter must, first of all, be able to carry out long-term patrols of a given area, regardless of the time of day and weather conditions. It was with the help of helicopters that NATO troops hunted regular enemy caravans or even individual militants.
Crew and their protection
The concept of using attack helicopters implies a high risk of being attacked by enemy anti-aircraft weapons. Because of this, all cars of this class have a whole range of crew safety equipment. All three helicopters under consideration - Mi-35M, Mi-28N and Ka-52 - have crews of two people. Based on the results of lengthy disputes, the most profitable scheme was considered to be with two pilots: a pilot and a weapons operator. Previously, it was proposed to assign all duties to one pilot, but the customer, represented by the Ministry of Defense, recognized this option as futile and inconvenient. As a result, all new domestic attack helicopters are made two-seater.
As in the case of main rotors, the Kamov machine differs from the Mi helicopters. The latter have a tandem cockpit: the pilot sits behind and above the navigator-operator. On the Ka-52, the commander's workplace is located to the left of the vehicle axis, the operator's seat is to the right. On all three vehicles, weapons operators have the ability to control the helicopter, and pilots can use weapons. At the same time, due to the separation of duties and the corresponding equipment, the pilot cannot fully use the helicopter’s full combat potential. To protect the crew and vital components, all three helicopters have additional armor: armored glass and metal panels. The level of protection for different parts varies. For example, the armored panels of the Mi-28N helicopter cockpit can withstand being hit by a projectile of up to 20 millimeters in caliber.
Cabin of KA-52
Instruments in the cockpits of the pilot (left) and navigator-operator (right) of the Mi-28N helicopter.
In case of an emergency landing at high vertical speed, the Mi-35M, Mi-28N and Ka-52 helicopters have a specially designed landing gear that absorbs part of the impact force on the ground. Most of the remaining impact is absorbed by specially designed seats. In addition, the Ka-52 and Mi-28N helicopters have an ejection system to rescue pilots in case of an accident at high altitudes.
Unguided weapons
For several decades, the main weapons of domestic attack helicopters were barrel systems and unguided missiles, and the use of “smart” ammunition was on a much smaller scale. The new helicopters fully retain all the capabilities for using cannon and missile weapons. The Mi-35M, Mi-28N and Ka-52 helicopters have the ability to carry blocks of unguided missiles of various types and calibers on pylons under the wing, from S-8 (up to four blocks of 20 missiles each) to S-13 (four of five). In addition, the Mi-35M and Ka-52, if necessary, are capable of using up to four S-24 missiles of 240 mm caliber. All three helicopters have the ability to use aerial bombs of various types with a caliber of up to 500 kilograms.
In addition to pylons for hanging weapons, all three vehicles have built-in cannon installations. The Ka-52 and Mi-28N helicopters are equipped with 2A42 (30 mm) automatic cannons, the Mi-35N - GSh-23 (double-barreled 23 mm caliber). Mobile gun mounts mounted on the Mi-28N and Mi-35M allow weapons to be aimed within large sectors horizontally and vertically. The Ka-52, in turn, does not have such an opportunity: its cannon installation is located not in the forward part of the fuselage, but on the right side, which significantly reduces the horizontal aiming sector. Both guns used on helicopters are designed to destroy ground and air targets at ranges of up to two (GSh-23) or four (2A42) kilometers. The guns are aimed using electric drives controlled by the weapons operator. It is noteworthy that the process of aiming the guns affected the capabilities of the pilots. For example, the pilot of a Mi-28N helicopter cannot control the cannon if it is not located along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and is not in a horizontal position. Only with this arrangement of the gun can the pilot aim using the sighting equipment he has. In all other cases, aiming and firing is carried out by the weapons operator.
Ka-52 board No. 062 yellow, March 2012
ATGM "Ataka-V" and the B-13 NAR unit under the Mi-28N board No. 38 at the exposition of the MAKS-2011 air show, August 2011.
B-13 NAR block and Strelets launcher with Igla missiles under Mi-28N board No. 38 at the MAKS-2011 air show, August 2011.
Guided weapons
The responsibilities of the navigator-operator also include working with guided weapons. Traditionally, all domestic attack helicopters have the ability to carry anti-tank missiles, and the Mi-35M, Mi-28N and Ka-52 were no exception. The Mil vehicles in question can carry up to 12-16 Sturm or Ataka anti-tank guided missiles. The Ka-52's arsenal consists of Ataka or Whirlwind missiles. These missile systems differ significantly from each other in the characteristics of their missiles and guidance systems.
The oldest complex "Sturm-V" (developed in the 70s) has a radio command guidance system and provides a maximum firing range of five kilometers. The warhead of the 9M114 missile ensures penetration of homogeneous armor up to 650 millimeters thick. The use of a semi-automatic control system in the Sturm complex has led to the fact that the weapon operator, after launch, is forced to hold the aiming mark on the target for some time. This fact to some extent reduces the combat capabilities of the helicopter, since it is forced to remain motionless until the target is hit and will not be able to effectively use jump tactics.
A further development of the Shturm-V was the Ataka-V complex with the 9M120 missile. During the modernization, the characteristics of the rocket improved. Thus, the 9M120 is capable of delivering a warhead at a distance of up to ten kilometers and penetrating up to 800 millimeters of homogeneous armor behind dynamic protection. There is information about the development of a laser homing head for the Ataka missile. The principle of missile guidance based on commands from a helicopter is similar to Sturm. This feature of the Ataka-V complex is a reason for criticism. It is worth noting that at a speed of about 500 m/s, the 9M120 missile reaches its target at maximum range in about 20 seconds. To avoid damage to the helicopter during the “jump,” the onboard control equipment of the “Attack” provides the ability to maneuver with certain restrictions on roll and pitch.
The Vikhr anti-tank missile system with the 9A4172 missile has a laser guidance system and automatic control equipment. The latter independently tracks the target and points the missile at it. The maximum launch range of the Vikhr missile reaches ten kilometers. At a speed of over 600 meters per second, the rocket covers this distance in 15-17 seconds. Thus, the enemy’s air defense may simply not have time to detect and attack the helicopter. In addition, the automatic target tracking and missile guidance system can significantly reduce the workload on pilots. It was this system that became one of the reasons for reducing the crew of the Ka-50 helicopter to one person. The tandem warhead penetrates up to a meter of homogeneous armor.
Despite their attack mission, the Mi-35M, Mi-28N and Ka-52 helicopters have the ability to carry guided air-to-air missiles intended for self-defense. These are the Igla-V missiles (range up to 5-6 km) and R-60 (7-8 km). The number of missiles on the sling depends on the tactical need and the helicopter model. Thus, the Mi-35M carries only two Igla-V missiles, while the Mi-28N and Ka-52 carry up to four Igla or R-60 missiles.
The first prototype of the Ka-52 board No. 061 yellow during testing of the operation of a helicopter from Navy ships, Northern Fleet, 09/03/2011.
On-board equipment
Being a deep modernization of the old Mi-24, the Mi-35M helicopter received relatively few serious innovations in the composition of its on-board equipment, affecting certain features of its appearance. One of them concerns the installation of a new sighting and navigation system PNK-24, created using developments from the PrNK-28 project for the Mi-28N helicopter. The optical-electronic station, observation instruments and cabin equipment were updated. As a result, the combat potential of the helicopter has increased significantly. It is sometimes argued that at the moment the Mi-35M on-board equipment provides the helicopter with the maximum possible characteristics that a fairly old design can achieve.
The basis of the avionics of the Mi-28N helicopter is the PrNK-28 complex, which ensures flight and combat operations. Weapon control systems, as well as navigation equipment, are integrated into this complex. In addition, PrNK-28 is connected to the N-025 radar station. Its antenna is located in a characteristic spherical fairing above the propeller hub. The use of a radar station significantly expands the capabilities of a helicopter, for example, it allows it to fly and carry out attacks in any weather and at any time of the day. The N-025 radar has two main operating modes: for airborne and ground targets. In the case of ground tracking, the radar “inspects” a sector 120 degrees wide at a range of up to 32 kilometers. In this mode of operation, N-025 is capable of drawing up an approximate map of the underlying surface. Detection and tracking of targets, depending on their EPR, occurs at distances of 12-15 kilometers (tank). Larger objects, such as bridges, are detected by the station from 23-25 km. When operating over the air, the station's antenna scans the entire surrounding space in a sector 60 degrees wide in the vertical plane. In this case, airplanes and helicopters are “visible” at a distance of about 15 kilometers. Anti-aircraft missiles and air-to-air ammunition - from five to six kilometers. Thus, pilots have the opportunity to learn about the attack in a timely manner and take all necessary actions.
The avionics system of the Ka-52 helicopter is to some extent similar to that used on the Mi-28N, but has a number of differences. For example, the RN01 “Crossbow” radar station intended for the Ka-52 was initially built according to a two-module design. The antenna of the first block of this radar was planned to be installed under the radio-transparent nose fairing, the second - above the rotor hub. At the moment, all or almost all new production helicopters are equipped with a nose-mounted radar unit, but there is no exact data about the above-hub unit. This original division of the radar system was proposed to improve the characteristics of the complex: the nose antenna can always work only on ground targets, and the above-hub antenna can only work on air targets. Thus, the helicopter becomes capable of responding in a timely manner to various threats, while simultaneously collecting information about the situation in the air and on the ground. The equipment of the Ka-52 helicopter also includes the GOES-520 optical-electronic station, designed for round-the-clock terrain monitoring and target detection. The optical-electronic station is located at the bottom of the fuselage, immediately behind the nose cone.
Ka-52 board No. 94 yellow, summer 2011
Mi-28N onboard No. 16 blue, manufactured in 2010 with a full standard set of onboard defense systems, 01/17/2011.
Results
As you can see, all modern Russian attack helicopters are both similar and different from each other. The similarities are due to the general views of the military on the appearance of a modern rotorcraft, and the differences are caused by the differing opinions of designers from different companies. However, all new helicopters - primarily the Ka-52 and Mi-28N - have more similarities than differences. Thus, they are capable of carrying unguided and guided weapons, as well as carrying out attacks from a distance of up to ten kilometers (Attack and Sturm ATGMs). Another characteristic feature of these helicopters is the presence of a built-in radar station. If the issue with the crossbow radar module "Arbalet" is resolved in favor of its installation, then one more point will be added to the similarity of the Mi-28N and Ka-52.
As a matter of fact, the Ka-52 and Mi-28N, being modern helicopters, also lay claim to the title of combat vehicles of the near future. Judging by the current trends in the development of attack helicopters, with timely upgrades they are quite capable of becoming such. But the Mi-35M is already raising certain doubts. First of all, this is due to the great age of the original Mi-24, as well as the poorly proven idea of a flying infantry fighting vehicle. In order to remove the cargo-passenger cabin from the Mi-35M, which often becomes the subject of criticism, the entire vehicle will have to be redone, which clearly does not fit into the idea of modernizing old equipment. Therefore, the Mi-35M project now looks like an attempt to provide the armed forces with modern equipment without spending a lot of time on its creation and launch of production. Accordingly, the Mi-35M is unlikely to be purchased in large quantities and will serve as a kind of temporary measure in anticipation of a large number of new Mi-28N and Ka-52.
To justify the Mi-35M, it is worth saying that this helicopter is not as bad as it seems at first glance. The absence of a radar and the presence of an “extra” cabin does not allow it to compete on equal terms with other modern domestic and foreign attack helicopters, however, even in this configuration, the Mi-35M has greater potential compared to the existing fleet of Mi-24s of various modifications. In other words, the Mi-35M is currently more of a “transitional link” between old and new technology than a full-fledged combat weapon, built, as they say, to last. This may explain the technical differences of this helicopter from other new machines, and the relatively small purchase plans.
In the coming years, the domestic air force will receive about fifty Mi-35M helicopters. At the same time, by now, such a number of Mi-28N helicopters are already serving in the air force, and the total number of ordered Ka-52s is approaching one and a half hundred. Perhaps, the military’s views on the required number of helicopters of one type or another perfectly illustrate the prospects of combat vehicles and their compliance with the requirements. It is quite obvious that the Ministry of Defense, when planning the future of military aviation, gives the highest priority to the new Ka-52 and Mi-28N, and not to the modernization of the “old man” Mi-24. It is these helicopters that will have to become the main striking force of front-line aviation by the early twenties and remain in service over the coming years. So the protracted work on the Arbalet radar for the Ka-52 or some problems with developing technologies and weapons for new equipment are worth the time spent: new helicopters are being made for the future and it is better to lose a little time now than not have good modern equipment later.
Triple-barrel 20 mm M197 cannon from General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products in the ventral gondola of a Bell AH-1 W SuperCobra helicopter
All helicopters are sensitive to load, and therefore the emphasis when choosing weapons for them is invariably placed on the weight of the helicopter. However, while multi-role helicopters are needed for all-round self-defense, attack helicopters need forward-firing weapons that can destroy hardened targets from a safe distance, as well as a gun in a mobile mount for firing at less complex targets.
On the lighter end of the weapons spectrum, machine guns are not typically found on attack helicopters, although the Bell AH-1G Cobra began life with an Emerson Electric TAT-102A forward pod carrying a six-barrel 7.62mm GAU-2B/A Minigun from General. Electric. Similarly, the Mi-24 attack helicopter was initially equipped with a four-barrel 12.7 mm Yakushev-Borzov (YakB-12.7) 9A624 machine gun in a remotely controlled mount.
Four-barreled 12.7 mm Yakushev-Borzov machine gun (YakB-12.7)
Cannons almost universally replaced machine guns as gondola weapons. One of the few exceptions is the German Army's Eurocopter Tiger UHT, which can currently only carry automatic weapons in the form of fixed weapons containers.
In December 2012, Tiger UHT helicopters in service with the German KHR36 helicopter regiment in Afghanistan were equipped with FN Herstal HMP400 containers, each with a 12.7 mm M3P machine gun and 400 rounds of ammunition. The container weighs 138 kg, and the machine gun has a rate of fire of 1025 rounds per minute.
Modified by Eurocopter to Asgard-F (Afghanistan Stabilization German Army Rapid Deployment - Full) standard, these Tiger helicopters are also armed with 19-round 70mm rocket launchers and guided missiles. MBDA Hot.
Iranian helicopter Hesa Shahed 285
Another attack helicopter that still has a machine gun turret is the Iranian Hesa Shahed (Witness) 285. This is a very light (1450 kg) single-seat aircraft - a modification of the Bell 206 JetRanger. The helicopter, designated AH-85A, is armed with a single-barrel 7.62 mm PKMT machine gun in the front turret; it is reportedly in limited service with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Air Force.
A gun
The displacement of machine guns by cannons as helicopter weapons has a completely rational explanation. America discovered in Vietnam, and later the USSR in Afghanistan, that helicopter-mounted machine guns can easily be “fired” from the ground by heavy automatic weapons.
In ground-air operations, the 7.62 mm machine gun is only effective at a distance of approximately 500 meters and only against unarmored targets, such as personnel in open space. The 12.7 mm machine gun increases the firing range to 1000 meters and can deal with a wider range of targets. The gun (capable of firing high explosive ammunition) starts at 20mm; it is quite effective at distances of up to 1,700 meters and can destroy light armored vehicles.
A turret mounted in front allows the gun to be raised above the fuselage line. In the case of the French Army's Eurocopter Tiger HAP helicopter, the Nexter Systems 30M781 30mm cannon in the THL30 turret can rotate 30 degrees up and down and 90 degrees in each direction
A Hungarian Army Mi-24V helicopter painted to look like a moose shows the original front gondola with a four-barreled 12.7 mm 9A624 (YakB-12.7) machine gun.
Romanian IAR-330L Puma helicopter with Nexter Systems THL20 nacelle with 20M621 single-barrel gun
One example of a 20mm weapon for an attack helicopter is the Nexter Systems THL20 pod with a single-barrel 20M621 cannon. It is installed on the Romanian IAR-330L Puma aircraft, and was also selected for the Indian HAL Light Combat Helicopter (LCH). Another forward ventral installation GI-2 from the South African company Denel Land Systems is intended for modernization of Mi-24 helicopters of the Algerian Air Force. The GI-2 is also installed on the Denel Rooivalk (Kestrel). Such guns usually have a rate of fire of 700 - 750 rounds per minute.
If a high rate of fire is required (which, in general, is not necessary when firing at ground targets, but may be preferable when firing at aircraft and speedboats), then in this case a gun with several barrels is advisable.
Close-up of an M197 20mm Gatling gun in the nacelle of an AH-1Z helicopter
A typical example is the M197 tri-barrel 20mm Gatling gun from General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, which can fire at rates of up to 1,500 rounds/min and is pod-mounted on the Bell AH-1J/W helicopter, the new AH-1Z helicopter, and on AgustaWestland A129. One of the reasons for choosing the A129 helicopter as the basis of the Turkish Atak program was the superior accuracy of its M197 gun mounted in the Oto Melara TM197B turret.
When developing the Mi-24 in the 1980s, in order to meet operational requirements in Afghanistan, Mil Design Bureau first of all replaced the original four-barreled YakB-12.7 machine gun with a double-barreled 23-mm GSh-23L cannon on a movable turret. Only 25 Mi-24VP were manufactured, but the scope of application of the GSh-23L cannon was not limited to this helicopter; it is installed in a cannon container with 250 rounds (UPK-23-250) under the wings of various Russian helicopters.
During the production of the Mi-24P, the front turret was abandoned in favor of a double-barreled 30-mm GSh-30 cannon mounted on the right side of the fuselage. However, the GSh-23 ventral gondola (NPPU-23) returned in the export version of the Mi-35M, which is in service with Brazil and Venezuela.
The 30mm Chain Gun, with a rate of fire of 625 rounds per minute, is an integral visual element of the Apache attack helicopter's silhouette. The gun has since been adapted for other applications, including shipborne remote-controlled installation
With a few notable exceptions (AH-1 and A129 series), most attack helicopters are equipped with a 30 mm cannon. The leader was a Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter with an Alliant Techsystems (ATK) M230 Chain Gun in a pod under the forward cockpit.
Another example is the Eurocopter Tiger ARH/HAD/HAP with a Nexter Systems 30M781 cannon in a THL30 ventral turret. As was said earlier, the Tiger UHT helicopter of the German army does not have a turret, but the installation of a 30 mm Rheimetall/Mauser RMK30 (Rueckstossfreie Maschinenkanone 30) recoilless revolver cannon in a flexible suspension firing caseless ammunition with a rate of fire of 300 rounds/min is being considered.
During further development of the Soviet Mi-24 helicopter from the BMP-2, the proven single-barrel 30-mm 2A42 cannon with double feed was borrowed. The gun's rate of fire is selectable between 200 and 550 rounds per minute.
In the case of the Mi-28N, the 2A42 cannon is installed in the NPPU-28N gondola under the front cockpit, but on the Ka-50/52 helicopter this cannon is installed in trunnions on the right side of the fuselage and can be rotated vertically by 40.5 degrees.
NPPU-28N ventral gondola close-up
Distinguished from the AH-1W by its four-bladed propeller, this Bell AH-1Z Cobra Zulu from Marine Corps Light Helicopter Division 367 'Scarface' is armed with a 20mm M197 Gatling cannon and 19-tube Hydra-70 missile launchers. It also carries a pair of four-tube AGM-114 Hellfire missile launchers and two Raytheon AIM-9 Sidewinder missile launchers.
Unguided rockets
The guns discussed above are economical means of combating a wide range of targets identified at large angles of deviation from the aircraft axis. However, helicopter guns are easily “beaten” by modern air defense systems. For example, the widely used four-barreled 23-mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun ZSU-23, firing at a speed of up to 4000 rounds/min, has an effective slant range of 2000 meters. Whereas MANPADS have a maximum range of 4000 - 6500 meters.
Unguided air-launched missiles can, in turn, outrange ground-based automatic weapons. The most common Western unguided missiles are the 68mm SNEB from Thales/TDA Armements and the 2.75in/70mm Hydra-70 from General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, the FZ90 missile from Forges de Zeebrugge and the CRV7 missile from Magellan Aerospace.
Hydra-70 family of missiles
The Hydra-70 missile is a modification of the FFAR (Folding-Fin Aircraft Rocket) that was developed in the late 40s as an unguided air-to-air missile, mainly to quickly and reliably hit a Soviet bomber carrying atomic bomb. It served as a stopgap until guided missiles such as the AIM-7 entered service.
The modern Hydra-70 is produced with nine different warheads, including the M151 (4.5 kg high explosive), M229 (7.7 kg high explosive) and M255A1 (with submunitions), plus smoke, illumination and practical options. Over four million Hydra-70 missiles have been produced by GDATP since 1994. It is charged into 7- and 19-pipe installations.
The Canadian CRV7 missile is said to have superior performance with a valid range of up to 8,000 meters. Over 800,000 of these missiles were manufactured for 13 countries.
The Russian 57 mm S-5 missile is currently being replaced by the 80 mm S-8 missile, which weighs 11.1 - 15.2 kg and is mounted on helicopters in a 20-tube B8V20-A launcher. It has a maximum peak speed of Mach 1.8 and has a maximum range of 4,500 meters. The S-8KOM has an armor-piercing cumulative warhead, and the S-8BM is designed to destroy personnel in fortifications.
The Mi-28 helicopter can also carry two B-13L1 launch units, each with five 122 mm S-13 missiles, which are practically the most powerful missiles fired from helicopters. The S-13T, weighing 75 kg, has a tandem warhead capable of penetrating one meter of reinforced concrete or six meters of soil. The 68-kg S-13OF has a high-explosive fragmentation warhead, which creates a cloud of 450 diamond-shaped elements of 25 - 30 grams each.
The Mi-28N is capable of carrying two 240 mm S-24B missiles weighing 232 kg each. It may be noted that Russian attack helicopters use bombs weighing from 50 to 500 kg and the KMGU-2 universal small-sized cargo container for dropping submunitions.
It should be noted that due to their special nature, laser-guided missiles will be discussed in the following reviews. They were developed relatively recently and are intended, in particular, to provide new effective weapons for light universal helicopters, which are much cheaper to operate compared to specialized attack helicopters.
On the Ka-50 helicopter, the 30-mm Shipunov cannon, mounted in trunnions on the starboard side of the fuselage, has elevation angles (vertical) from +3.5 degrees to -37 degrees. The photo shows the Ka-50 with 20-tube B8V20-A units for 80-mm S-8 missiles and six-tube UPP-800 units for 9M121 Vikhr armor-piercing missiles
The MBDA Mistral 2 IR-guided missile, weighing 18.7 kg, has slightly greater firepower compared to missiles launched from MANPADS. On the Eurocopter Tiger helicopter, missiles are installed in a twin Atam (Air-To-Air Mistral) launcher.
The Vympel R-73 missile is installed on Mi-28 and Ka-50/52 helicopters
Air-to-air missiles
The heaviest air-to-air guided weapons are the 105 kg Vympel R-73 missile or NATO classification AA-11 (on the Mi-28 and Ka-50/52) and the 87 kg Raytheon AIM-9 Sidewinder (on the AH -1W/Z). Both have excellent range by short-range missile standards; the stated figure for the basic R-73 missile (when launched from jet aircraft in a frontal combat) is 30 km. The choice of the AIM-9 missile by the US Marine Corps for the Cobra series helicopters was apparently determined by the need to minimize the number of different types of missiles on one aircraft.
It has been suggested that Brazilian Mi-35M helicopters could be equipped with MAA-1B Piranha II Mectron or Darter-A Denel/Mectron air-to-air missiles.
The desire to minimize the weight of on-board weapons contributes to the adaptation of man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) as helicopter air-to-air self-defense weapons. The leaders here are the 18.7 kg MBDA Atam (Air-To-Air Mistral, installed on the Tiger), and even the lighter 10.6 kg 9K38 Igla or SA-18 missiles (on the Mi-28 and Ka-50/52 ) and 10.4 kg Raytheon AIM-92 Stinger (on an AH-64 helicopter). The Atam complex is based on the Mistral 2 missile and is a twin launcher. It has impact and remote fuses and a maximum range of 6,500 meters.
For a relatively light attack helicopter, the AgustaWestland A129 has a very effective weapons package. In addition to the 20 mm GD M197 Gatling gun, it carries four MBDA Hot and four AGM-114 Hellfire armor-piercing missiles from Lockheed Martin
Air-to-surface missiles
Attack helicopters were designed primarily to destroy armored fighting vehicles, and therefore the most important type of weapon for them has traditionally been anti-tank guided weapons. In the early 1940s, Germany was a pioneer in the field of wire-based missile guidance. In the early post-war period, Britain conducted several tests and concluded that the concept was too prone to failure and damage. And as a result, Britain subsequently missed out on an entire generation of anti-tank missiles.
The very first missiles used manual command guidance, which gave poor accuracy. In general, it was decided to instead adopt the so-called Saclos guidance (semiautomatic command to line-of-sight - semi-automatic control signals along the line of sight). Here the operator keeps his sights on the target, and the system automatically tracks the rocket's exhaust stream and generates corrective signals to return it to the line of sight.
The world's first helicopter-mounted air-to-ground missile was the French Nord AS.11 (adapted from the SS.11 ground-launched missile), which had manual fly-by-wire control and was adopted by the US Army under the designation AGM-22. It was installed on two UH-1B helicopters and was first used by the Army in real conditions in October 1965. The AGM-22 was later replaced by the (Hughes) BGM-71 Tow, which was also fly-by-wire but used Saclos optical tracker guidance. It was first used in combat conditions in May 1972, where it destroyed T-54 and PT-76 tanks. The most widely used fly-by-wire missiles are the 12.5 kg 9M14M Malyutka-2 or AT-3, the 22.5 kg Raytheon BGM-71 Tow and the 24.5 kg Euromissile Hot. Wire guidance is limited to a range of about 4,000 meters, but this fit well into the Warsaw Pact concept of the last century for an armored attack on the northern German plain. It was then believed that viewing targets at long ranges was unlikely due, as a rule, to poor visibility and smoke on the battlefield.
Radio guidance eliminates this range limitation, but may be vulnerable to jamming. As for wire-based guidance, the line of sight on the target must be maintained throughout the missile's flight.
Radio-controlled anti-tank missile 9M114 Cocoon
One of the first examples of a radio-controlled anti-tank missile was the widely used 31.4 kg 9M114 Cocoon or AT-6, this missile was used as part of the 9K114 Sturm complex. The basic weapon, which entered service in 1976, had a range of 5,000 meters.
In the 90s, the 9K114 began to be replaced by the 49.5 kg 9K120 Ataka-V or AT-9 complex. The complex retained the launch guides and sighting system 9K114, but at the same time it received a supersonic missile (Mach 1.6) 9M120, which in its basic version has a range of 5800 meters. The Mi-28N can carry 16 of these missiles in two eight-tube units.
The 9M120 has a tandem warhead to combat armored targets, while the 9M120F has a thermobaric warhead to destroy lightly armored targets, buildings, caves and bunkers. The 9A2200 variant has a warhead with a larger anti-aircraft core.
The 13 kg laser-guided Lahat missile can be fired from a tube launcher from an aircraft or from a 105/120 mm tank gun. A fully equipped four-tube helicopter launcher weighs less than 89 kg. Lahat has a range of over 8000 meters
Launch container for four MBDA Pars-3 LR missiles installed on a Eurocopter Tiger helicopter. Pars3-LR has infrared guidance with automatic recognition, which allows target acquisition after launch
Laser beam guidance ensures accuracy regardless of target range. A coded laser beam allows you to designate a target using another source, airborne or ground-based. This makes it easier to acquire a target from cover or outside the operator's visual line of sight and minimizes the exposure time of the helicopter from which the missile is launched.
A prime example of a laser-guided missile is the 43-kg AGM-114 Hellfire from Lockheed Martin, which has a range of 7,000 meters in direct sight mode and 8,000 meters in indirect fire. The missile is supersonic, which reduces its exposure time for enemy interception weapons in launch mode with target illumination. The AH-1Z and AH-64 helicopters can carry 16 Hellfire missiles. The lighter A129 and Tiger can carry eight of these missiles.
Hellfire was first used in real conditions in Operation Just Cause in Panama in 1989. Traditionally, it has been used with three types of warheads: the AGM-114K with a tandem warhead for armored targets, the AGM-114M high-explosive fragmentation for unarmored targets, and the AGM-114N with a metal charge for the destruction of urban structures, bunkers, radar stations, communications centers and bridges.
An AGM-114 Hellfire missile on a Predator UAV pylon (top). Hellfire missile components (bottom)
Beginning in 2012, the Hellfire missile became available with the AGM-114R multi-purpose warhead, which allows you to select its impact on the target (high-explosive fragmentation or armor-piercing) right before launch. Depending on the target type, the AGM-114R also allows you to select the encounter angle, from almost horizontal to almost vertical.
Other examples of laser-guided armor-piercing missiles are the 13 kg Lahat from Israel Aerospace Industries and the 49.8 kg Mokopa from Denel Dynamics, which have a maximum range of 8,000 and 10,000 meters respectively.
The AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire, mounted on the AH-64D/E Longbow Apache helicopter, has a radar guidance system; millimeter-wave radar provides fire-and-forget capabilities day and night and in any weather.
The Soviet Union, in turn, decided that laser guidance was too susceptible to traps and instead developed flight along a laser beam, although in this case the miss distance increases with range. A prime example of such a system is the 45kg 9K121 Vikhr or AT-16 missile, which has a peak speed of over Mach 1.75 and a range of 8,000 meters when launched from a helicopter. The vortex is located in two six-pipe UPP-800 installations on a Ka-50/52 helicopter. The missile has a remote fuse for firing at air targets.
The next Russian missile in this category is the Hermes-A (photo above) from KBP, a two-stage missile that flies at Mach 3 to a maximum range of 20 km.
Infrared guidance
Laser beam guidance allows you to hit specific targets, but in some circumstances (for example, in urban combat) target designation may become impossible, despite the known general location of the target. In such situations, a precise attack is still possible through a combination of inertial and infrared guidance. When combined with sophisticated target recognition algorithms, infrared guidance provides fire-and-forget capabilities and allows for salvo launches against multiple targets.
German Tiger UHT helicopter and its weapons. In the top photo there is a white rocket in the foreground - Pars-3 LR
The leader in the infrared guidance category is the 49 kg MBDA Pars-3 LR missile, which has a high subsonic speed (Mach 0.85) and a maximum range of 7000 meters. The missile is mounted on a German Tiger UHT helicopter in four-tube launchers in ready-to-launch mode; During flight, its sensor is constantly cooled. Four missiles in fully autonomous mode can fire in less than 10 seconds. It typically uses a target acquisition mode before launch, but also has a pre-emptive mode for temporarily hidden targets.
The Pars-3 LR can be launched in direct attack mode, such as against bunkers, but is usually used in a dive mode against armored vehicles. Its warhead can penetrate 1000 mm of rolled homogeneous armor protected by dynamic protection units.
Full-scale production of the Pars-3 LR was started in late 2012 by Parsys, a joint venture between MBDA Germany and Diehl BGT Defence, under a contract with the German Defense Procurement Agency, which will supply 680 missiles to the German Army.
Another relatively new development is the Spike-ER produced by the Israeli company Rafael. The first fiber-guided armor-piercing missile, the Spike-ER, has a range of 8,000 meters and can lock on to a target before or after launch. Together with the transport and launch container, it weighs 33 kg and has a dual-mode optoelectronic/infrared sensor, allowing for day/night operations.
The Rafael Spike family of missiles includes the Spike-ER, which has a range of 8,000 meters. It is induced via a fiber optic cable; was chosen by Israel, Italy, Romania and Spain for installation on their helicopters
The Spike-ER is believed to be in service with the Israeli AH-1 and Romanian IAR-330 helicopters, and has also been selected for the Italian AH-109 and Spanish Tiger Had helicopters. It is part of the Spike family of missiles and has a high level of commonality with ground-launched options. Spike is also produced by the German company EuroSpike, a joint venture between Diehl BGT Defense and Rheinmetall Defense Electronics.
Photos of the Ka-52 helicopter with 300-kg Kh-25 or AS-10 tactical missiles installed on board (which do not “fit” into the usual set of missile weapons for helicopters) are available to the general public in two versions: laser-guided Kh-25ML and anti-radar X -25MP.
X-25ML laser-guided missile
Materials used:
Armada International 3/2013