The Ka-50 black shark (NATO codename Hokum A) and with Hokum B the two-seat version, Ka-52. was planned as a rival to the Mi-28 Havoc in a competition to supply the Soviet armed forces with a new battlefield attack helicopter. Kamov opted for a single-crew layout to save lots of weight for a lot of amour, and more powerful armament, and a larger variety of advanced sensors.
The core of the Ka-50's weapon system is the tube-launched Vikhr anti-tank missile, of which 16 are carried. the Ka-50's cannon has variable rates of fire and selective feed from two ammunition boxes. Survivability is enhanced by features including infra-red suppression of the new exhaust gases, layered cockpit amour and chaff/flare dispensers in wing tip pods. The pilot can escape the aircraft via a K-37 ejection seat, when the rotor blades have been explosively separated.
Later revision of the requirement to emphasize night combat capability led to a reassessment of the Ka-50 Hocum, whose production was postponed, in the light of the two-seat Mi-28's apparently larger developability for the task.
The core of the Ka-50's weapon system is the tube-launched Vikhr anti-tank missile, of which 16 are carried. the Ka-50's cannon has variable rates of fire and selective feed from two ammunition boxes. Survivability is enhanced by features including infra-red suppression of the new exhaust gases, layered cockpit amour and chaff/flare dispensers in wing tip pods. The pilot can escape the aircraft via a K-37 ejection seat, when the rotor blades have been explosively separated.
Later revision of the requirement to emphasize night combat capability led to a reassessment of the Ka-50 Hocum, whose production was postponed, in the light of the two-seat Mi-28's apparently larger developability for the task.
