Posted on 05/07/2018 9:01:32 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
© Yuri Smityuk/TASS
MOSCOW, May 8./TASS/. A Russian Ka-52 helicopter crashed in Syria, both pilots were killed, the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters on Monday.
"A Russian helicopter Ka-52 crashed while on a routine flight over eastern regions of the Syrian Arab Republic. Both pilots were killed," it said.
The ministry said a search and rescue team has taken the bodies to the home airfield. "According to early information, the incident may have been due to a technical malfunction," it said.
On May 3, a Russian Su-30SM fighter jet crashed over the Mediterranean Sea while moving upwards after the takeoff from the Hemymim airbase. Both pilots died. According to the Russian defense ministry, the accident might have been caused by a bird getting into an engine. The plane was not shot down, the ministry said.
The Ka-52 ‘Alligator’ reconnaissance and combat helicopter is designed to destroy tanks, armored and non-armored combat vehicles, manpower, helicopters and other hostile aircraft on the frontline and in tactical depth, in any weather conditions and at any time of day or night.
The Ka-52 is powered by two gas-turbine engines with a capacity of 2,400 hp each, which provide a flight altitude of more than 5,000 m. It is fitted with a 2A42-1 gun of 30mm caliber and is capable of carrying up to 2,500 kg of weapon payload.
More: http://tass.com/defense/1003238
Sad.
Agree, sad for the crew, and their families, and all due to Obama/Hillary’s quest to overthrow governments they didn’t like.
I thought these had ejection seats? Wonder what the envelope is?
That rotor system _looks_ fragile. I’m guessing they counter-rotate to one another (like the Chinook) and maybe that makes it handle better or fly faster or...?
Pretty good looking craft, though the old Hind-D looks large in my mood nd in their inventory. How do they compare to one another?
Autocowrecked strikes again...
An eject system would have to boot the pilots out sideways, wouldn’t it?
“What Mr. Ambassador? Another aircraft crash?”
An associate spoke with a Russian pilot who had flown another of their dual rotor aircraft. He reported that settling with power was very difficult to recover from.
NIKK, pinging you to this. Thought you might be interested in case you weren’t already aware of this.
I have never heard of helicopters having ejection seats.
It is man.
Gone are the days of jumping up and down when Russian military folks died on the job.
I dont trust Putin, but he killed a hell of a lot of ISIS and “rebels”, whatever the #### that term means.
It’s an increasingly common feature on attack helis. The Russian Mi-28 has an ‘ejection’ system that’s really just an ‘assisted bailout system’ that lets the crew escape to the side and down. The Ka-50 and 52 have a true ejection system that blows the rotorhead (and thus the blades are flung away) then a second later after the blades are gone ejects the crew in the conventional fighter manner. It’s not quite a true zero-zero system but it’s as close as choppers are going to get for a while.
No US service heli has an ejection system, though we played with the idea in the 60s and 70s.
The Ka-50/52 is more of a medium attack chopper. The twin contra-rotating rotor makes the chopper *very* agile and somewhat faster. The Hind is a lot bigger and can transport troops and a heavier warload.
Here are some Ka-52s attacking targets in Syria. Note the crafts’ agility.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oixIcGRG0U
Also, looks fragile but isn’t - the rotor head of the Ka-52 is proof against multiple 23mm AA strikes, reportedly.
The coaxial counter-rotating blades eliminate the need for a tail rotor but the main stack is mechanically complex. I have a small fleet of indoor RC helicopters with coaxial rotors. Cheap and fun to fly!
The “Design Considerations” section outlines the strengths and weaknesses of the design.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaxial_rotors
Holy whiplash, Batman!
Thanks for that good info. The system you describe makes sense.
No, the blades jettison a split second before the egress rockets pull them upwards. Very nifty idea, but not sure what the use envelope is.
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