Deck helicopter "Lamprey": description and interesting facts

The Russian perspective decked helicopter "Lamprey" should replace the well-deserved "veteran" Ka-27 at the fighting post. Aviation experts agree that the new car with smaller dimensions will be much more powerful than its predecessor, and modern equipment and competent equipment will make it a formidable and effective weapon.

The main fleet helicopter

Since 1981, the main avionics for detecting enemy submarines and carrying out search and rescue operations in the Russian Navy is the Ka-27 deck helicopter. Navigational, aerobatic and anti-submarine (automated search and sighting system "Octopus") equipment, very innovative for its time, gradually lost its relevance and morally obsolete. After numerous variants of the modernization of the machine (in all, more than 400 units were produced), it became obvious that deck aviation needed a qualitatively new helicopter.

The Born Predator

Since 2016, flight tests of four prototype models of the sea version of the famous "Alligator" - Ka-52K "Katran" are in progress. From the land crew, the machine is distinguished by folding blades and load-bearing consoles, reinforced chassis racks and additional anti-corrosion treatment. The tactical and technical characteristics of "Katran" are beyond praise, and the useful combat load, exceeding two tons, makes the helicopter a real flying arsenal. But the fact is that the machine was created specifically for aircraft carriers and helicopter carriers (in particular, for the unforgettable "Mistral"). It is also possible to deploy a helicopter on large anti-submarine ships, but operation on destroyers and missile cruisers is associated with certain problems.

Priority

Since 2015, the design office of JSC Kamov, commissioned by the Russian Defense Ministry, has launched a project to create a multifunctional marine helicopter. Official information about the new product 450 (Shipborne helicopter "Lamprey") is difficult to describe as exhaustive. At the press conference held within the framework of the Helirussia-2016 exhibition, one of the leaders of the holding "Russian Helicopters" told journalists about the beginning of experimental design work.

General designer and direct project manager S. Mikheev (JSC "Kamov"), answering the questions of the TASS correspondent, confirmed that the creation of a multivariate perspective helicopter complex is the priority vector of his unit's activities. Deck helicopter "Lamprey" will pass state tests not earlier than in a decade. At the moment, the technical configuration of the machine is agreed, the dimensions are tied to ship standards, the main tactical-operational and economic characteristics are determined, aerodynamic tests of the hull are carried out . According to the designer, the first experienced "Lamprey" helicopter will rise to the sky in 2020. In the future, it is planned to develop a combined-arms and civil version of the machine.

Opinions of air experts

Aviation expert VA Karnozov and military pilot D. Drozdenko agree that the device will not have such impressive dimensions as its predecessors. This will allow it to be based on smaller ships, and on ships of frigate class and corvette instead of one old car to place two new ones. In connection with the improvement and miniaturization of the radio electronic base, the experts say that the maximum take-off weight of a helicopter is about five to six tons (for Ka-27 this figure is 12 tons).

Marine helicopter "Lamprey" will have a traditional "kamovskih" machines coaxial scheme. The advantage of this design is not only in the features of aerodynamics: the absence of a rear steering screw allows you to limit the size of the fuselage with a diameter of the main screws. The use of composite materials and a special shape of the blades, minimizing the possibility of air flow failure at high speeds, reduce the resistance and increase the speed of the vehicle to 320 km / h.

Smart Iron

"United Instrument-Making Corporation" actively joined the project "Lamprey". The helicopter is planned to be equipped with the newest communication complex, developed by the structural subdivision of the OPK - Nizhny Novgorod NPP "Polet". In the automated complex control system with a reprogrammable platform, subsystems of self-diagnostics and optimization of operating modes are integrated. Protected and noise-free broadband communication channels are capable of providing not only voice information, but also video stream, navigation and radar data transmission. At the same time, the number of external antennas is minimized. So, the antenna system "Aist-62" is supposed to be built in the fuselage of the helicopter.

The developed complex is easily integrated into any automated systems of combat and control of troops. Specialists of "Polet" continue work on the improvement and modernization of instruments and equipment.

Power point

The helicopter "Lamprey" is expected to be equipped with two turbo-engines TV7-117V (or, according to some data, adapted versions of VC-2500). Power units of the new generation are easy to maintain, have a significant resource. Modular design guarantees good maintainability in operating conditions. Fuel economy is ensured by a high level of parameters and efficiency of the main units and units. More detailed information you can see in the table below.

Sea Devil

The anti-submarine equipment of the new project is kept in the strictest secrecy, but even now specialists call the "Lamprey" helicopter a nightmare for submarines. With certainty, we can say that in this respect the parameters of the deck Ka-92 will far exceed the capabilities of its predecessor, which are still considered unique. The Ka-27 confidently discovers, tracks and eliminates submarines operating at depths of up to 500 meters at speeds of up to 75 km / h. The maximum removal of the helicopter from the vessel is 200 km. The helicopter performs the assigned combat missions at any time of the day, with uneasy weather conditions and waves of the sea surface up to 5 points on the Beaufort scale (wave height - up to 2.5 m, wind speed - up to 10 m / s).

Change of generation

The continued operation of the Ka-27 will allow engineers and military specialists to perfect the newly created "Minogue" helicopter. Calling the ten-year period of the project, the general designer of Kamov, S. Mikheev clarified that only after testing the helicopter in the army and the fleet can we speak about the "birth" of the new model. To work on the project will be used half a century of experience in helicopter building and operation of rotorcraft.

It should be noted that the talk of a new fifth generation marine helicopter for the Russian Navy has been stubbornly pursued since 2009. The information about him in various sources is very contradictory and, apparently, is related to the secrecy of development and production. The fact of confirmation by the top managers of the holding "Helicopters of Russia" of the beginning of works guarantees that in the next decade the fleet will receive a new ship helicopter.