Page 12 - September 2019
P. 12
Movie Pick of the Month
AIRCRAFT Kamov Ka-52
Aligator
SCALE & KIT 1/48 Italery
MODELER Patrik Mészáros
HISTORY
The Kamov Ka-50 “Black Shark” (Russian: Чёрная акула,
romanized: Chornaya Akula, ‘kitefin shark’, NATO reporting
name: Hokum A) is a single-seat Russian attack helicopter with
the distinctive coaxial rotor system of the Kamov design
bureau. It was designed in the 1980s and adopted for service
in the Russian army in 1995. It is manufactured by the
Progress company in Arsenyev. It is used as a heavily armed
scout helicopter. It is the world’s first operational helicopter
with a rescue ejection system. During the late 1990s, Kamov
and Israel Aerospace Industries developed a tandem-seat
cockpit version, the Kamov Ka-50-2 “Erdogan” (Russian:
Эрдоган, Turkish: Erdoğan), to compete in Turkey’s attack
helicopter competition. Kamov also designed another two-
seat variant, the Kamov Ka-52 “Alligator” (Russian: Аллигатор,
NATO reporting name: Hokum B).
Ka-52 “Alligator”
Ka-52 “061”, Zhukovski, 2009: In the early 1980s, while
(2019) comparative tests of the V-80 (Ka-50 prototype) and the Mi-28
were being conducted, the Kamov design team came up with a
Douglas, a broken, solitary, Spitfire Ace, must overcome proposal to develop a dedicated helicopter to conduct
his past to lead a Lancaster bomber crew in the pivotal battlefield reconnaissance, provide target designation, support
aerial war over Berlin, in 1944. and co-ordinate group attack helicopter operations. However,
Click on Movie Poster to watch on YouTube the economic hardships that hit the nation in the late 1980s
hampered this new development program. This prompted
Kamov’s Designer General to choose a modified version of Ka-
50 on which to install the reconnaissance and target
designation system. The modified “Black Shark” required a
second crew member to operate the optronics/radar
reconnaissance suite. Kamov decided to use side-by-side
seating arrangement, due to the verified improvements in co-
operation between the crew members. This twin-seat version
was designated Ka-52.[21]
