Ka-30/52 - Combat
In the 1990s, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, due to the difficult situation in the country's economy, decided to abandon the further implementation of the Ka-50 program and instructed the design bureau to create a two-seat modification of the helicopter, which later became the Ka-52. However, part of the Black Sharks already in the Russian Air Force park continued to be operated. According to the Ministry of Defense, Ka-50s were used in the counterterrorist operation in Chechnya in 2000-2001 and successfully completed the assigned tasks.
For the first time, the Whirlwind missiles were tested in a combat situation during a counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus. The launch was made from the predecessor of the Alligator, the Ka-50 Black Shark helicopter. From a range of more than two kilometers, a guided missile flew into the window of a camouflaged militant base.
Unlike other attack helicopters of those times, Werewolf, as NATO called Ka-50, was designed as a one-seat helicopter, where the pilot was also an operator-navigator. At first, it was seen as a perfect solution: it made the helicopter lighter and saved money on pilot training. To prepare a crew for the attack helicopter cost a little less then the helicopter itself. However, the combat use of Ka-50 during the Chechen conflicts showed that Kamov designers were wrong: only top aces could simultaneously fly Black Sharks and effectively lead fire. After 17 units were produced, the project was closed in 2009.
In January 2016 the Ka-52 attack helicopter were deployed to Syria for perimeter security at Humaymin Air Base in Latakia. This was the first combat deployment for the Ka-52 and it complemented the Mi-24P and Mi-35M helicopters already in the theater. The leadership of the army aviation could not appreciate the Ka-52 for a long time. And initially it was planned to use it as a flying gunner of Special Operations Forces. He had to identify enemy targets, and then direct ground forces and assault aircraft at them. For some reason, it was not considered as a combat helicopter capable of solving independent tasks.
The first images of the use of the helicopter in combat hit the internet on 03 April 2016, when the Syrian government army completely liberated the city of Al-Qaryatayn in Homs province, with the support of the Russian air force. They were also used to escort search and rescue helicopters and to support Russian special forces. They were also used in the 2017 Palmyra offensive. Ka-52s took part in a Syrian paratrooper reconnaissance-strike mission on 12 August 2017. According to some sources, a Ka-52 crashed near Mayadin due to a technical failure on 5 May 2018.
The deployment of the Admiral Kuznetsov to the Mediterranean coast of Syria n October 2016 amounted to a planned inspection of Russian arms. The vessel carried 15 Su-33 and MiG-29K/KUB fighter jets, and more than 10 Ka-52K, Ka-27 and Ka-31 helicopters. The air group’s main task was to shore up the Russian Aerospace Forces' air defence and support government troops against militants opposed to Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. The air group's capacity to strike ground targets was limited. Russia's state-of-the-art Ka-52K Katran helicopters; the ship-based version of the Ka-52, which is already being used in the Syrian operation; will be live-fire tested during the deployment of the Admiral Kuznetsov.
The use of the Ka-52 in Syria had shown that it is an excellent fighter. Having assessed in detail the experience of combat use of the Alligator, the Ministry of Defense gave the task to deeply modernize the car, taking into account the experience of fighting in Syria. The industry completed the task.
Since 24 February 2022, Russia began conducting a special operation to protect the Donbass, whose inhabitants refused to recognize the results of the 2014 coup d'état in Ukraine. The decision to hold it was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by Ukrainian troops.
In March 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defense published a video of the destruction of a convoy of equipment of the armed forces of Ukraine by Ka-52 attack helicopters. As indicated in the description for the video, air strikes were carried out in pairs from low and extremely low altitudes. The Ka-52 helicopters were armed with rockets and Vikhr missiles.
After the retreat of the Russian troops, the number of sorties decreased markedly, and since April 2022, the crossing of the front line ceased. From April to July 2022, the Ka-52 was used in the role of "air rocket artillery", launching S-8 and S-13 unguided rockets along a lofted trajectory without crossing the front line, while having low accuracy. The change in tactics was attributed to the losses incurred by the Ka-52 from MANPADS, poor maintenance and training of the crew, as well as the loss of experienced pilots.
Although the defense systems and missile warning sensors functioned well during combat operations, the density of air defense systems and the saturation of MANPADS on the Ukrainian side, as well as a large number of sorties, led to the Ka-52 suffering proportionately large losses compared to others types of combat helicopters used by Russia during the invasion.
Since the first days of the full-scale invasion, Ka-52 "Alligator" helicopters had been used by the Russian army in Ukraine, which was documented by the international OSINT group Oryx. Thus, according to media reports, "helicopters took part in the landing of an airborne assault battalion at the Gostomel airfield 40 km from Kyiv. About 200 vehicles were involved in the operation, including the Ka-52.
The Vikhr ATGM used on the Ka-52 uses a laser beam to aim the missile at the target, which must be kept on the target during the entire flight, which is why the helicopter needs to “hover” at this time, becoming vulnerable to MANPADS and other means . For this reason, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian troops were able to shoot down several Ka-52s with the help of the Stugna anti-tank complex , when the helicopters hovered almost motionless, trying to identify and aim their Whirlwind missiles at targets near the front line.
One Ka-52 (NATO reporting name Hokum-B) attack helicopter was abandoned after a forced landing on the first day of the war, on February 24th. The group of Russian Ka-52 and Mi-24 attack helicopters have conducted a tactical landing operation at one of the Ukrainian airfields in North West of Kyiv. One Ka-52 was hit by a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile and made a forced landing. After landing, the crew was evacuated by a second helicopter and subsequently, technical specialists removed all components and assemblies from the helicopter, and the fuselage itself was mined and blown up to prevent it from falling into the Ukrainian hands.
On 15 March 2022, the Russian Defense Ministry published a video of the destruction of military equipment and manpower of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by Russian Ka-52M helicopters of the army aviation of the VKS. The footage shows that the Ka-52 strikes from a 30-mm aviation cannon, destroying a military truck and a 122-mm howitzer "Acacia". "Also, an air strike destroyed the firing position of 122-mm self-propelled artillery units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the Russian Defense Ministry said. In addition, the crews of the Ka-52, acting in pairs, launched missiles at ground targets.
As of mid-November 2022, the loss of at least 25 Ka-52 units during the invasion was confirmed as more than 25% of all combat-ready helicopters of this type in service with the Russian army. Also, in addition to the destruction of the Ka-52 with the help of anti-aircraft missiles (mostly Stinger, several cases of shooting down a Ka-52 hovering at low altitude using the Stugna-P anti-tank complex.
On 11 February 2023, Izvestia correspondent Alexei Poltoranin saw preparations for the takeoff of Russian Ka-52 helicopters, as well as work on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Ka-52 is equipped with a modern airborne defense system. In particular, it is equipped with heat guns that deceive enemy man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS).
On 14 February 2023, the head of Rosoboronexport, Alexander Mikheev, said that foreign countries, against the background of the special military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, were showing increased interest in modern Russian technology. Recently, the interest of our partners has grown, in particular, in Ka-52E and Mi-171Sh helicopters, Su-57E and Su-35 fighters, Iskander-E tactical complexes, T-90M Proryv tanks, he specified. Abroad, information about the facts of the combat use of weapons and military equipment of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is treated very carefully, summed up Mikheev.
During the performance of combat sorties, pilots of the army aviation of the Armed Forces (AF) of Russia launched unguided aircraft missiles at armored vehicles, fortified points of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and Ukrainian militants. The Ministry of Defense showed footage of the work of the crews of attack helicopters Ka-52. Before departure, they specify the location of the target, coordinates, after which they process the flight route and move forward for departure.
"High power lines are not particularly convenient for flights,” said the commander of the helicopter with the call sign Sokol. Before the flight, the crew once again clarifies where the high electrical wires are located, as well as the line of contact. This is necessary so as not to fly into enemy territory.
“My duties are to direct navigation, to help the pilot-crew commander as quickly as possible in all cases. The navigator is responsible for armament in the Ka-52 helicopter. We are working at the lowest possible altitude, at the highest possible speed,” added Ka-52 helicopter navigator Dmitry. Each flight is individual, crew members are forced to respond to changes in plans instantly.
In the special operation zone, one of the Russian Ka-52 attack helicopters, using the Vitebsk complex, repelled a record number of anti-aircraft missiles in a flight - 18, an informed source told RIA Novosti 09 June 2023. “To date, the record for reflected missiles of man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems is 18 pieces. One of the Russian Ka-52s was able to take this number during a combat sortie due to the Vitebsk airborne defense system,” the agency’s interlocutor said. The source added that the helicopter returned to base without any damage.
"That is why the helicopter pilots call the Vitebsk complex -" eggs of life ". The external equipment of the complex, protruding from the helicopter body, looks like bird eggs, and the complex itself regularly saves the lives of army aviation pilots, whom the enemy is constantly shelling from MANPADS," the source said.
Since the day of 17 June and by morning of 18 June 2023, the air defence of the Air Forces destroyed 2 Ka-52 attack helicopters and 12 Russian drones. General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported "Another Russian Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopter was shot down this afternoon. Russia will find that its budget is short of about US$16 million."
The Russian Ministry of Defense published a video 18 June 2023 of how the Russian Ka-52 helicopter destroyed the moving armored vehicles of the Ukrainian troops with Vikhr missiles in the Yuzhnodonets direction. "The crew of the Ka-52 helicopter, having detected the movement of enemy armored personnel carriers with personnel, used guided missiles. As a result of the strike, two units of armored vehicles with crews moving at high speed were destroyed," the ministry said. The video shows how the crew of an attack helicopter launches missiles at two armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine moving along the road, and then accompanies the targets at the sight until the missiles hit.
Oryx reported that as of 18 June 2023 Russia had lost more than 10,000 vehicles since its all-out war began, including over 2,000 tanks and at least 35 Ka-52 'Alligator' attack helicopters, including those damaged and captured, or destroyed on the ground. This only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded.
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