Deck helicopter "Minoga": description and interesting facts

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The promising Russian carrier-based helicopter "Minoga" should replace the well-deserved "veteran" Ka-27 at the combat post. Aviation experts agree that the new machine 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.

Main fleet helicopter

Since 1981, the Ka-27 carrier-based helicopter has served as the main aviation means of detecting enemy submarines and conducting search and rescue operations in the Russian Navy.

Navigation, piloting and anti-submarine (automated search and sighting system "Octopus") equipment, very innovative for its time, gradually lost its relevance and became obsolete. After numerous options for upgrading the machine (more than 400 units were produced in total), it became obvious that carrier-based aviation needed a qualitatively new helicopter.

NaturalPredator

From 2016, flight tests of four prototypes of the naval version of the famous "Alligator" - Ka-52K "Katran" have been conducted. The car is distinguished from its land counterpart by folding blades and supporting consoles, reinforced landing gear and additional anti-corrosion treatment. The performance characteristics of the Katran are beyond praise, and the payload of more than 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 Mistrals). It is possible to place a helicopter on large anti-submarine ships, but operation on destroyers and missile cruisers is fraught with certain problems.

Priority direction

Since 2015, a project to create a multifunctional marine helicopter has been launched at the design bureau of JSC "Kamov" by order of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Official information about the new product 450 (Minoga shipborne helicopter) can hardly be called exhaustive. At a press conference held as part of the Helirussia-2016 exhibition, one of the leaders of the Russian Helicopters holding told reporters about the start of development work.

General designer and direct project manager S. Mikheev (Kamov JSC), answering questions from a TASS correspondent, confirmed that the creation of a multi-variant promising helicopter complex is a prioritythe vector of activity of his unit. The carrier-based helicopter "Minoga" will pass state tests not earlier than in a decade. At the moment, the technical configuration of the machine has been agreed upon, the dimensions are tied to ship standards, the main tactical, operational and economic characteristics have been determined, and aerodynamic tests of the hull have been carried out. According to the designer, the first experimental Minoga helicopter will take to the skies in 2020. In the future, it is planned to develop a combined arms and civilian version of the vehicle.

Aviation experts' opinions

Aviation expert V. A. Karnozov and military pilot D. Drozdenko agree that the device being created will have less impressive dimensions than its predecessors. This will allow him to be based on smaller ships, and on ships of the frigate and corvette classes, instead of one old machine, place two new ones. In connection with the improvement and miniaturization of the radio-electronic base, experts indicate the maximum take-off weight of a helicopter in the region of five to six tons (for the Ka-27 this figure is 12 tons).

The Minoga marine helicopter will have a coaxial scheme traditional for Kamov machines. The advantage of this design is not only in the features of aerodynamics: the absence of a rear tail rotor allows you to limit the size of the fuselage with the diameter of the rotors. The use of composite materials and the special shape of the blades, minimizing the possibility of airflow stall at high speeds,reduce resistance and increase the speed of the car up to 320 km/h.

Smart hardware

"United Instrument-Making Corporation" is actively involved in the "Minoga" project. The helicopter is planned to be equipped with the latest communication complex developed by the structural subdivision of the defense industry complex - the Nizhny Novgorod Research and Production Enterprise Polet. The automated integrated control system with a reprogrammable platform integrates subsystems for self-diagnosis and optimization of operating modes. Protected and noise-resistant broadband communication channels are capable of transmitting not only voice information, but also broadcasting a video stream, navigation and radar data. At the same time, the number of external antennas is maximally reduced. Thus, the antenna system "Aist-62" is supposed to be built into the fuselage of the helicopter.

The developed complex is easily integrated into any automated combat and command and control systems. Polet specialists continue to improve and modernize instruments and equipment.

Power plant

The Minoga helicopter is supposed to be equipped with two TV7-117V turboshaft engines (or, according to some sources, adapted versions of the VK-2500).

New generation power units are easy to maintain and have a significant resource. Modular design guarantees good maintainability in fieldconditions. Fuel efficiency is ensured by a high level of parameters and efficiency of the main components and assemblies. You can see more detailed information in the table below.

Specifications TV7-117V

Max power (hp)	3500
Takeoff power (hp)	2500
Cruise power (hp)	1650
Fuel consumption g/l. s.h	208
Total resource (hour)	6000 (12000 in the future)
Overhaul interval	1500
Length (m)	1, 78
Height (m)	0, 727
Width (m)	0, 635
Weight (kg)	380

Sea Devil

The anti-submarine equipment of the new project is kept in the strictest confidence, but now experts call the Lamprey helicopter a nightmare for submarines. We can say with confidence that in this respect the performance of the carrier-based Ka-92 will far exceed the capabilities of its predecessor, which are still considered unique. Ka-27 confidently detects, tracks and eliminates submarines operating at depths up to 500 meters at speeds up to 75 km/h. The maximum distance of the helicopter from the basing vessel reaches 200 km. The helicopter performs the assigned combat missions at any time of the day under difficult weather conditions and sea surface disturbances up to 5 points on the Beaufort scale(wave height up to 2.5 m, wind speed up to 10 m/s).

Generation change

The continued operation of the Ka-27 will allow engineers and military specialists to perfect the created Minoga helicopter. Naming the ten-year period of the project, the general designer of JSC "Kamov" S. Mikheev specified that only after testing the helicopter in the army and navy can we talk about the "birth" of a new model. Half a century of experience in the holding's helicopter industry and rotorcraft operation will be used to work on the project.

It should be noted that talks about a new fifth-generation offshore helicopter for the Russian Navy have been stubbornly conducted since 2009. Information about him in various sources is very contradictory and, apparently, is associated with the secrecy of development and production. The very fact of confirmation by the top managers of the Russian Helicopters holding company of the start of work guarantees that in the next decade the fleet will receive a new ship-based helicopter.