Russia & CIS Observer / Archive / №1 (24) February 2009 / DEFENSE / Flying
The Russian Air Force gives a green light to the procurement of new attack helicopters

Maxim Pyadushkin

The Russian Air Force will use its Mi-28Ns as a main rotorcraft for massive fire support on the battlefield.
At the end of 2008, the Russian Air Force announced plans to reequip its Army Aviation service with new helicopters. According to Air Force Commander Col-Gen Alexander Zelin, the Army Aviation will purchase 100 new combat and training helicopters within the next three years, and will be completely re-armed with new rotorcraft by 2020. The procurement focus will be on new attack helicopters that are to replace an ageing fleet of Mil Mi-24 rotorcraft. Backed by a growing Russian defense budget, the military now has to find a mission need for new rotary-wing aircraft from both Mil and Kamov.
The long-running competition between Russia’s two helicopter designers — Mil and Kamov — seems to be finally over. It started back in the 1980s, when the Air Force initiated development of the new attack helicopter. Initially Kamov had an advantage with its innovative coaxial-rotor single-seat Ka-50 rotorcraft. But later the military decided that one pilot would not be able to successfully operate both the aircraft and weapons, so they wanted to have two-seat helicopters. After a long and controversial selection, in 2003 the official choice was made for Mil’s simpler Mi-28N design, equipped with a tail rotor and a tandem cockpit.

The first three pre-production Mi-28Ns were handed over to the Army Aviation Combat Training Center in Torzhok in December 2007. A year later, the Mi-28N attack helicopter officially ended its official evaluation tests, which included more than 800 flights. The governmental commission has recommended taking this helicopter into service. The rotorcraft’s series production already has been launched at the Mil facility in Rostov-on-Don, which has rolled out about a dozen Mi-28Ns so far.

Mi-28 will be the main battlefield attack helicopter, mainly due to its heavy armor protection. According to Air Force representatives, its cockpit can withstand the hit of a 30-mm armor-piercing shell. The helicopter’s survival system allows the crew to stay alive under loads of up to 14g. The new onboard radar enables a Mi-28N to detect obstacles flying at low altitudes in zero visibility, including fog and battlefield smoke. Armed with 30-mm rotating gun, laser-guided Ataka-V (AT-16) missiles, guided Igla anti-aircraft missiles or unguided rockets, the helicopter can hit enemy armored vehicles, rotorcraft and aircraft at ranges of up to 5 km.
As Zelin explained, Army Aviation units will get two squadrons of 18 helicopters during 2009-2011. He also promised they will be displayed during the military parade on Red Square on May 9 this year.

According to representatives from Russian Helicopters (the joint holding for Russia’s main rotary-wing aircraft designers and producers), now Mil can kick off further evolution of this new helicopter into the Mi-28NM variant. The new version would feature more powerful 2,500-hp Klimov VK-2500 turboshaft powerplants (replacing the Mi-28N’s TV3-117VMA engines). The helicopter’s aerodynamics will be improved by removing the ballonets from the nose section and adding new streamlined ammunition boxes for the 30-mm rotating gun. Designers also decided to fully unify the tandem cabins, adding a control stick in the weapons operator’s cockpit.
The more significant change will be the replacement of the Tor electro-optical targeting system with a new gyro-stabilized electo-optical unit developed by Russia’s UOMZ company. This new system will enable the replacement of Ataka-V missiles with air-launched versions of the new Khrizantema (AT-15) anti-tank guided missiles. Compared to the Ataka, the supersonic Khrizantema has a more powerful warhead capable of penetrating up to 1,250-mm armor. It also has two guidance modes: automatic, where it is guided by a millimeter-wave radar beam; and semi-automatic, with guidance by a laser beam rider. It therefore can simultaneously engage two targets, such as tanks, low-flying aerial targets and field fortifications.

The development of the Mi-28N’s rival — Kamov’s Ka-52 — lags a bit behind. In autumn 2008, it finished the first phase of testing and Russia’s military placed an order for a pre-production batch of 12 helicopters. This Kamov rotorcraft is being assembled at Russian Helicopters facility at Arseniev in the Russian Far East. The first helicopter is expected to be handed over to Army Aviation’s Combat Training Center in 2009 to finish the evaluation testing.
The purchase of coaxial-rotor Ka-52s means that the Russian Air Force has finally decided to take two new types of attack rotorcraft into service. The twin-seat Ka-52 was developed in the early 1990s on the basis of the single-seat Ka-50 Black Shark, after it became clear that the Russian Air Force wanted to have a new assault helicopter with two pilots, which is why the Kamov model originally lost ground to the Mi-28N. The first twin-seat Ka-52 prototype made its maiden flight in 1997. Unlike the Mi-28 with its two tandem cockpits, the twin-seat Kamov helicopter has two pilots sitting shoulder to shoulder in a common cockpit.
Kamov designers insist the Ka-52 is not a simple two-seat version of the Black Shark, but a highly modernized variant. In addition to its new cockpit, the two-seat Ka-52 (dubbed Alligator) received a new Argument-2000 onboard navigation unit and flight and weapons systems that enable the helicopter to operate round-the-clock in all weather conditions. The on-board weapons system is to include a dual-band Arbalet-52 radar with two antennas — one in the nosecone, another on the rotor hub, along with a laser-rangefinder marker. The Ka-52’s communication system enables the exchange of information and the distribution of targets between other helicopters in a battlefield group, which effectively turns the Alligator into a command aircraft.
Another advantage is the more powerful VK-2500 engines, which compensates for the two-seat Alligator’s increased weight. But in general, as the designers say, the two-seat version inherites the Ka-50’s speed, thrust-to-weight ratio and agility. Its coaxial rotor design enables the helicopter to fly sideways at speeds of up to 80 km/h and backwards at 90 km/h. The coaxial rotors also increase vertical speed, as well as the helicopter’s ceiling because the absence of a tail rotor allows all engine power to be directed to the main rotors. During flight tests, the Ka-52 reportedly demonstrated a vertical lift speed of 30 m/sec.

Although Ka-52 prototypes are being tested without a radar antenna on the rotor hub, designers promise to complete its development before the first pre-production rotorcraft enter evaluation trials.
According to its designers, the coaxial rotors enable the Ka-52 to use a flight mode called the “whirlpool” in attack maneuvers — when the helicopter slides sideways at a speed of 100-180 km/h around a target while taking aim at it. The Alligator is armed with a 30-mm gun and 12 Vikhr (AT-12) laser-guided antitank missiles. Its designers say the next step may be the introduction of new Hermes-A ATGMs with self-homing seekers that have a range of 15-20 km compared to 10 km for the Vikhr. A Ka-52 equipped with Hermes missiles was displayed for the first time at Moscow’s MAKS-2007 air show. Another likely option is to install laser-guided Ataka-V missiles, which are already used on the Mi-28N. The Ka-52 can also carry four Igla-V or two R-73 air-to-air missiles, as well as 80-mm unguided rockets.

The Air Force has found a special role for the Kamov helicopter. As Maj. Gen. Alexander Chernyaev, Chief of Army Aviation’s Combat Training Center, explained to the Russia & CIS Observer, “the Mi-28 is a rotorcraft for massive fire support on the battlefield, while the Ka-52 is suited more for special missions,” adding that the purchase of both types is absolutely justified. Air Force representatives admit that the major reason for assigning such a special role to the Ka-52 is its insufficient armor protection compared to the Mil rival. So it will be used in operations with limited enemy counteraction — such as observation and target detection. The Ka-52 is expected to finish its official evaluation tests by the end of this year.

Russia & CIS Observer / Archive / №1 (24) February 2009 / DEFENSE / Not a bad year /

Russian military aircraft exports remained strong in 2008

Konstantin Makienko
The official results of Russia’s 2008 arms sales have not been released yet, but Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov said last December that they might exceed $8 billion. It is expected that, like in previous years, aircraft equipment will comprise the bulk of arms export deliveries.
Last year’s overall performance demonstrated that heavy fighters of the Sukhoi Su-30MK family and modernization solutions (primarily radar upgrades) for earlier-exported Mikoyan MiG-29 warplanes continue to enjoy the highest demand with foreign customers. Export sales of the Mil Mi-17 family of transport helicopters also remain strong.

Sukhoi and Irkut
The major portion of export work conducted by the Russian aircraft industry in 2008 was related to the contracts for Su-30 family multi-role fighters from Algeria, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Venezuela. Unlike in previous years, information about last year’s export deliveries has not yet been made public, so all the figures below are preliminary.
India most probably received the largest number of Russian fighters in 2008. It can be safely assumed that New Delhi took delivery of the last two Su-30MKI fighters under a deal signed in April 2007. That contract envisaged the sale of 18 such aircraft to replace the same number of Su-30K warplanes delivered to the Indian Air Force in 1997 and 1999. The first 16-ship batch was handed over to India in 2007. In addition, India last year was expected to receive at least four aircraft under the November 2007 contract for 40 Su-30MKI fighters and knock-down kits, in addition to the 140 kits contracted in 2000. According to estimates, India took delivery of at least six Su-30MKI fighters in 2008 under the terms of the current contracts. It is also possible that 10 to 12 Su-30MKI kits were supplied to Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for subsequent assembly at its Indian facilities.

Su-30MK exports in 2008
Country Type Deliveries
Minimum Maximum
India Su-30MKI 6 6
India Su-30MKI (kits) 10 12
Malaysia Su-30MKM 6 8
Algeria Su-30MKI (A) 8 10
Venezuela Su-30MK2(V) 8 8
Indonesia Su-30MK2 2 2
Total 30, plus 10 kits 34, plus 12 kits

Source: Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies

Irkut Corporation continued to deliver Su-30MKM fighters to Malaysia under a $950 million contract signed in 2003. A total of 18 such aircraft are to be supplied to that country. Irkut previously shipped six Su-30MKMs in 2007. According to estimates, the Royal Malaysian Air Force last year received another six of the type. The contract should be completed by 2009. No exact information is available about the number of Su-30MKI (A) fighters delivered to Algeria last year under a contract signed in 2006. In all, Algeria is to receive 28 such aircraft. The original schedule envisaged eight deliveries in 2007, followed by another 10 annually in 2008 and 2009. However, only six fighters were delivered in 2007. It is unlikely that Irkut — which currently operates to its full production capacity — could have managed to catch up with the schedule during 2008. Most probably, the Algerian Air Force received eight Su-30MKI (A) fighters last year, bringing its total fleet to 14 units.
The export structure of Sukhoi-built aircraft appears to be somewhat more transparent. The company last year completed its 2006 contract to deliver 24 Su-30MK2V fighters to Venezuela. The first four aircraft were shipped in 2006, followed by another 12 in 2007. The final eight-strong batch was delivered during 2008. Also last year, Sukhoi supplied the first two Su-30MK2s for Indonesia under a $335m contract signed in 2007. A total of six fighters will be delivered to that country (three Su-30MK2s and three Su-27SKMs).
Sukhoi carried on with its second three-year contract to modernize Russian Air Force warplanes, upgrading eight Su-27 fighters from a Far-Eastern air force regiment to the Su-27SM standard. During the 2004-2006 timeframe, 24 fighters were similarly upgraded; another 16 aircraft underwent modernization in 2007-2008. Overall, the Russian Air Force now has 40 warplanes upgraded to the Su-27SM standard. Under separate contracts, Sukhoi last year handed one newly-built Su-34 tactical bomber to the Russian Air Force, and upgraded five of the service’s Su-24 bomber fleet to the Su-24M2 configuration.

MiG Corp.
The key achievement for MiG Corp. in 2008 was the final resolution of a collapsed 2006 contract to supply 34 MiG-29SMT/UBT fighters to Algeria. After receiving the first 15 aircraft by April 2007, the Algerian Air Force alleged that the fighters incorporated some second-hand equipment. In the course of year-long negotiations Algeria rejected all compromise proposals by MiG, from replacing the controversial equipment to substituting the entire airframes with new aircraft of the same type. Russia eventually agreed, in February 2008, to take the previously delivered MiG-29SMTs back from Algeria. In December last year, the Russian Defense Ministry announced its decision to purchase the whole 34-ship Algerian batch from MiG Corp. for 22-23 billion rubles ($620-650 million at the current exchange rate).
Among other developments, the manufacturer worked to repair and upgrade MiG-29 fighters for Bulgaria, Serbia and Slovakia in 2008. The company also signed a $964-million contract to modernize 64 Indian Air Force MiG-29B fighters to the MiG-29SMT configuration. Another modernization order, worth $106 million, came from Peru: MiG Corp. will repair and upgrade 19 MiG-29s for that country’s air force. Some Russian media have reported that the Peruvian fighters would be upgraded to the SMT version, but these speculations appear to be erroneous. It is more likely that the modernization effort will include the RVV-AE air-to-air missile capability. It is also possible that the fighters will be able to use these missiles to engage two targets simultaneously.
In separate development, Russia last February delivered the first Ilyushin Il-76EI aircraft to Israel for installation of the Elta Phalcon airborne early warning system. This work was completed during 2008, after which the aircraft was handed over to the Indian Air Force late last year. It arrived at an Indian Air Force station in Goa in January 2009.

Helicopters

Mil Mi-17 transport helicopters were among the Russian defense best-sellers in 2008 — including this one delivered to Croatia.
Another notable accomplishment last year became the signing of the largest contract in the history of Russian helicopter manufacturers. Under the $1.2 billion deal, Mil undertook to deliver 80 Mi-17V-5 helicopters to India. Of no less significance were the orders for Russian rotorcraft from Brazil and Thailand, which have up to now operated only US and European-built helicopters. Brazil ordered 12 Mi-35M attack helicopters for $350 million, while Thailand purchased three Mi-171 transports for $27.5 million. In all, according to some reports, Russia last year landed over 100 export orders for rotorcraft of the Mi-8/Mi-17 family. About one half of these came from Middle Eastern countries.
On the delivery side, the largest export helicopter shipments in 2008 were to Venezuela and Indonesia. The former took delivery of 14 Mi-17V-5 transports and two Mi-172 VIP versions, whereas the latter received six Mi-17V-5 transport rotorcraft. Eight Mi-171Shs were delivered to Croatia, five Mi-17s army aviation rotorcraft to Colombia, two Mi-171s to Pakistan’s drug enforcement agency, one Mi-26TS fire-fighting helicopter to China, and one military Mi-171 — the first of two such airframes on order — to Mongolia. Given that the total backlog of Russian helicopter exports stands at over 100 units, even this list appears to be incomplete.

Russia & CIS Observer / Archive / №1 (24) February 2009 / DEFENSE / Flexing of muscles /

Maxim Pyadushkin

Russia continues to increase its defense expenditures with the aim of reviving the country’s military might. The defense budget for 2009 amounts to 1.34 trillion rubles (about $37 billion), reflecting a nominal increase of 31.5% compared to 2008 — which was the highest during the past five years. Such growth was partly inspired by the August war in South Ossetia, which showed that Russia’s army is capable of conducting a successful campaign outside of the country’s territory, but also spurred a discussion on whether military expenditures are sufficient for the needed modernization of the armed forces. While the intentions for boosting Russian military spending are good, the actual growth in procurement may be limited by potential budget cuts because of the economic crisis.

The federal budget for 2009-2011 was adopted by the lower chamber of Russia’s parliament (State Duma) at the end of October. Compared to the draft version discussed earlier, the defense spending for 2009 was increased by 60 billion rubles — an amount that was added after the consideration of the August war experience. This additional money will be directed to the armed forces’ military procurement.
“The additional funding is allocated mainly for the purchase of modern armament, first of all for aviation”, explained Sergey Ivanov, Russia’s vice premier who supervises the military and defense industry. The Defense Ministry will also get another 20 billion rubles to set up two new military bases in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, he said.

Out of the 1.34 trillion rubles allocated for this year, the Russian Armed Forces will get 962.4 billion. Another 22.4 billion will be spent on nuclear weapons, while 174.1 billion rubles is allocated for national defense research studies.
The national defense expenditures for the next two years are expected to grow at a slower pace. In 2010, the government plans to spend 1.39 trillion rubles on national defense (a nominal increase of 8.9%), while a year later, the defense expenditures will grow by another 6.5% to 1.48 trillion rubles.
Nevertheless, Russian lawmakers were not completely happy with the approved money. Among the reasons cited by critics is that the proposed defense spending for the next three years will amount to just 2.6%, 2.53% and 2.3% of the country’s GDP (gross domestic product) for the corresponding years. The lawmakers insist that this is well below the levels of defense expenditures set up earlier. In 2000, Russia’s Security Council agreed that the expenditures during these years should be higher — 3.21% of GDP.

Focus on modernization
Russian government officials agree the recent experience in the Caucasus showed that, despite the ultimate military success, the country’s armed forces should speed up their reorganization and re-equip with new weapons. Meeting with commanders of the military districts in late September, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev explained the steps that should increase the national armed forces’ effectiveness. First, all combat units should maintain constant alert, he said. The other priority is to give the military new, high-tech weapons. “We need an army that is equipped with the most modern armament,” said Medvedev. The president also mentioned the need to improve troops’ command and training systems.

But lawmakers say the growing budgets still don’t guarantee that the armed forces will get what they really need. According to the Duma Defense Committee, the balance between the army’s operational expenditures and re-armament program funding should be 50:50 by 2011, while the approved budget shows that in fact it will remain the same as in 2008 — 54.7% for operational expenditures against 45.3% for weapons procurement programs.
Nevertheless, the Russian government is convinced that the approved spending of $4 billion on military procurement in 2009-2011 is enough to support the country’s military might. Vladislav Putilin, deputy head of the government’s military-industrial commission, said “the three-year procurement plans will support a 100% equipment status of the armed forces, and increase the percentage of modern armament in military units.”
He explained that within the next three years, Russia’s armed forces will purchase more than 70 strategic missiles, over 30 Iskander tactical missiles, 48 combat aircraft, 6 unmanned aircraft, more than 60 helicopters, 14 naval ships, nearly 300 tanks and more than 2,000 other vehicles. Putilin also mentioned the planned procurement of a “large number of launch vehicles and spacecraft” that should ensure the fulfillment of the country’s space program.

Besides the procurement of in-production weapons, the armed forces plan to test new ones. According to the approved budget, they are going to start evaluation tests on 487 new systems, components and elements of new armament and military equipment. The testing of 600 new items is to be completed in the next three years, and the military plans to bring 400 of them into service. The Russian Defense Ministry reportedly received 600 billion rubles for procurement in 2009 out of the procurement budget’s total of 1.3 trillion rubles. But as Sergey Ivanov explained earlier, this figure also includes the spending for other Russian paramilitary and law enforcement agencies. In addition, some of this money will be spent for “capital investment and housing construction for servicemen.” In 2010, the military procurement budget is to be increased by another 30 billion rubles, while in 2011 it will grow again, by 70 billion rubles.

Crisis challenges

But the economic crisis that hit Russia in the second half of 2008 is likely to become the major challenge for the military’s reinforcement plans.
In the previous crisis of 1998, the economic conditions surprisingly gave certain advantages to Russia’s defense industry. At that time, the industry was working mainly for export customers, so the Russian ruble’s sharp devalvation gave a boost to defense production — decreasing production costs and making the price of Russian weapons more competitive on foreign markets. The export revenues sometimes allowed manufacturers to finance the development of weapons ordered by the Russian national armed forces.
With the current economic crisis, the Russian government has announced its intention to support the country’s defense industry to ensure the military will get what they have ordered. Discussing procurement plans at the end of December, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stressed that defense procurement orders are becoming the major source of revenues for the industry, and that the military-industrial commission will strictly control timing and quality of the execution of government contracts. But despite the announcements, the government is refraining from providing direct subsidies to defense manufacturers. So far, only two companies — engine manufacturer NPO Saturn and the MiG Corp. jet maker — have managed to get financial support from the budget or state-owned banks to cover their losses.

Following the build-up of this latest crisis, the government is discussing the possibility of revising this year’s budget. It is not clear whether the military will cancel or suspend some of their procurement programs, as the budget is to be revised in February. But the manufacturers could lose out — if not in numbers of products being delivered, then in revenue. The Defense Ministry reportedly plans to cut the price of all procurement contracts that have already been placed by 15%. On the other hand, the government is ready to support its leading manufacturers. According to Vladimir Putin, budget allocations for the existing programs can be redistributed in favor of more important ones. This means support for large government-controlled defense holding companies created in the last few years, and the continuation of the defense industry’s re-nationalization.

😉

Another emerging issue is that some of the early, 550 low-rate-production F-35 Joint Strike Fighters will cost more (roughly $200 million each) than the $142 million it takes to buy a Raptor. That puts the Air Force in the position of spending its near-term fighter recapitalization money on aircraft they can’t deploy until about 2014.

AW&ST 08/02/09

Ouch!! When are the RAAF planning on deliveries? ’cause if total numbers are cut (as expected), possibly halved- don’t expect that unit cost to come down much.

India Balks at C-130, P-8 Restrictions
this is not at all good for Viper and SH.
go Rafale 😀

It’s not just EUMs, we have to wait & see how the offsets pan-out regarding Obama’s ‘non-protectionist’ protectionist industrial measures.

You know, maybe the MiG-35 is not ‘dead-in the water’ after all.

If they’re sending 2 for evaluation in Spring 2010 (DTI Feb.09), and the second is the production representative airframe & AESA, with full ToT & licensed production (as I doubt the others will offer that for their respective AESAs) its chances may have increased makedly.

If anyone can, Pogosyan can. What he did with Sukhoi in the 1990s should be an MBA case study!

I personally believe that Pakistan have enough internal troubles, it will sort itself out the hard way or the easy way.

The West created & sustained that monster, so let them sort it out.
All India has to do is not get provoked/distracted, and concentrate her efforts on the economy, education and modernising infrastructure & armed forces befitting of a future super-power (imho).

Expanding trade & investment with China will obviously be mutually beneficial and will reduce tensions markedly- a slow starter thus far.

Please read that issue of DTI. I posted the image its legible please read it as well. It was done in Ocotber 2008 a year after Aero India. Also note that the 300 Km range was the range for the production radar not the one displayed at Aero India.

Here it is (page 14):

http://www.zinio.com/express3?issue=301535912&o=ext&prev=si