Monster Machines: There’s No Escaping These Pack-Hunting Soviet Assault Choppers

Monster Machines: There’s No Escaping These Pack-Hunting Soviet Assault Choppers

Sure, the MI-24 Hind packs a wallop, but it’s big, heavy and cumbersome to fly. So, to penetrate enemy territory, Russia designed and built the agile and deadly Black Shark assault chopper. All it’s missing is a frickin’ laser.

The Kamov Ka-50 “Black Shark” grew out of the Soviet V-80Sh-1 project in the late 1980s as a single-seat attack helicopter. The unique design — attack choppers usually have a two-man crew, a pilot and a gunner — is the work of the the Kamov design bureau, which has produced dozens of rotorcraft designs since the 1920s. By 1990, the helicopter began production in 1990 and, by 1995, had entered service in the Russian Army which utilises it as a heavily-armed scout helicopter.

Lacking the bulk and weight of the larger HINDs heavy armour, the Ka-50 relies primarily on its small stature, agility, and speed to survive enemy encounters. Measuring 16m long and 5m tall, the Black Shark weighs just 9525kg when fully loaded with fuel and weapons. A pair of Klimov TV3-117VK 2200 shp turboshafts power the helicopter’s trademark double three-blade rotors and provide the aircraft with a top speed of 315km/h and a range of about 547km/h.

That’s not to say the Black Shark will run from a fight — quite the opposite actually — this assault helicopter is bristling with weapons. In addition to its nose-mounted 2A42 30mm auto-cannon (replete with 460 HE, incendiary and armour-piercing rounds), the Ka-50 can carry up to 900kg of ordnance on its four wing-stub hardpoints. These can include almost any combination of 80 S-8 or 20 S-13 rockets; 12 laser-guided Vikhr anti-tank (as well as other air-to-air or air-to-ground) missiles; and up to four 250kg bombs. Plus the pod at the tip of each wing-stub dispenses chaff, flares and other countermeasures.

To get around the difficulties of simultaneously flying and fighting, Black Sharks will often hunt in packs of four, sharing fire control data among themselves as well as forward operating ground troops. This allows one Ka-50 to engage enemies spotted by another, lending well to ambush and asymmetric tactics that further improve the group’s ability to survive.

During the late 1990s, Kamov updated the Ka-50 design, adding a second tandem seat and naming the new model the Ka-52 “Alligator”. An experimental Alligator prototype, the Ka-52k, fell out of the sky on Wednesday, landing in a residential Moscow neighbourhood. While the two pilots were able to bail out safely, the prototype was a total loss. Russia’s Defence Ministry is currently examining the aircraft’s black box to figure out why the helicopter failed. [English RussiaWikiRT]

Picture: Dmitry Pichugin


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.