Ramenskoye design company’s avionics onboard helicopters January 2004 saw a historic event for the Russian Army Aviation, when the first batch of five upgraded Mi-24PN helicopters were handed over to the Air Force during a ceremony at the Rosvertol plant. Derived from the production Mi-24P (P refers to ’pushka’: cannon), the chopper gained a number of improvements in its combat capabilities and maintainability. For instance, the units of the more advanced Mi-28 helped to better the flight structure of the aircraft in discussion. Apart from that, non-retractable landing gear that came to replace the retractable landing gear reduced the structure’s weight, and ensured more inside space, to say nothing of making low-altitude flying much safer. Also, the wmgspan of the aircraft was shortened. Besides, a set of measures was taken to significantly expand the service life of the helicopter, the time between overhaul equalling 1,000 hours or seven years of operation. All these and some other innovations have made the modernised chopper a to-date rotary wing aircraft that meets the requirements of the time. The Mi-24PN mainly differs from its predecessor with the BREO-24 avionics developed by the Ramenskoye Design Company, with Designer General Guivi Dzhandzhgava as its head. The avionics add much new to the combat capabilities of the chopper, thus expanding its combat employment spectrum dramatically to allow:
– day/night target searching, acquisition and identification;
– precise positioning of the helicopter;
– approaching a designated target area with high accuracy;
– visualisation of the chopper’s position on the digital map;
– pre-programmed en-route flight;
– using guided and unguided weapons day and night;
– night goggles, while organic electromechanical devices feature ’background’ lighting.
The sighting and navigating equipment of the modernised chopper ensures precise navigation and piloting through the use of combined modes. This is achieved owing to the new SVS-V1 air data computer system, and the A-737-011 receiver of GLONASS and NAVSTAR satellite navigation systems.
Night flying has become possible with the help of the OVN-1 Skosok night goggles, developed by the Moscow Orion association.
As a whole, the composition of the sighting and navi-gating equipment of the new chopper remained unchanged as compared to the predecessor. The elements include the RV-5M radio altimeter, ARK-15M automatic radio compass, SAU-V24-1 automatic flight control system and DISS-15 Doppler navigation system.
The airborne BTsVM-486-2 displays a recorded digital 2D map on the MFI-10-5Vs, which makes direction finding easier (especially at night, and during low-altitude flying), as well as ensures accuracy of piloting, and flight safety.
The communications and self-defence suites of the Mi-24P found their place in the modernised version, too, although further upgrade is planned.
– interfacing cockpit management system with night goggles.
The BREO-24 set has an integrated modular structure, based on the BTsVM-486-2 air-borne digital computerthat controls helicopter operation and ensures data exchange between all airborne subsystems.
The key element to provide new functions to the modernised Mi-24PN is the TtP-475N Zarevo infrared surveillance and targeting system, derived by the Zverev Plant in Krasnoyarsk from the production Noktyurn tank thermal imager, widely employed in Army vehicles. Also, the ideas implemented in the fourth generation Mi-28N programme were used.
The reliable combat-proven and time-proven surveillance and targeting system Raduga-Sh, assisted by the serial Russian Zarevo thermal imager, allowed us to save money and labour for implementing the chosen variant of modernisation, as compared to other, several times more expensive ones involving foreign parts and elements.
Inherited from the Mi-24P, the ASP-17V optical sight is used in the upgraded chopper for targeting unguided weapons. In daytime, it operates in the normal mode, while at night the pilot aims the weapons at a ’pseudotarget’ computed by operators on the basis of data fed from the Zarevo system via a ballistic computer. It is worthwhile mentioning that the pilot can see the target on the display.
Better combat capabilities of the chopper are achieved, also, owingtothe new type of the cockpit management system, which relies on the operator’s and pilot’s MFI-10-5V 6×8-inch col-our push-button LCDs, and the operator’s PS-3 control panel. The combination of these ensures the multi-role capability of each display and frame-by-frame dialogue control mode.
Inherited from the Mi-24P is also the organic equipment used to monitor general heli-copter systems and data recording. At the same time, the new LCDs installed are compatible with night goggles, while organic electromechanical devices feature ’background’ lighting.
The sighting and navigating equipment of the modernised chopper ensures precise navigation and piloting through the use of combined modes. This is achieved owing to the new SVS-V1 air data computer system, and the A-737-011 receiver of GLONASS and NAVSTAR satellite navigation systems.
Night flying has become possible with the help of the OVN-1 Skosok night goggles, developed by the Moscow Orion association. As a whole, the composition of the sighting and navi-gating equipment of the new chopper remained unchanged as compared to the predecessor. The elements include the RV-5M radio altimeter, ARK-15M automatic flight control system and DISS-15 Doppler navigation system.
The airborne BTsVM-486-2 displays a recorded digital 2D map on the MFI-10-5Vs, which makes direction finding easier (especially at night, and during low-altitude flying), as well as ensures accuracy of piloting, and flight safety.
The communications and self-defence suites of the Mi-24P found their place in the modernised version, too, although further upgrade is planned.
The US-43 commutation system makes old and new avionics work together, while the BPTS-1 unit helps to commute TV signals.
Added to the new avionics, the helicopter features an advanced weapons suite that includes the Ataka-V modernised AT system with effective range of about 6,000 m. The system is derived from the Shturm one, and has the same radio command 9S477 unit. At the same time, the Mi-24PN retained capabilities to employ the whole arsenal of the Mi-24P, like the Shturm-V ATGM, the S-13 and S-8 free rockets, cannons, including the attached ones, and other airborne weapons.
The open structure of the avionics made further upgrade easy, so, a programme of state-by-stage improvement of the weapons suite is currently underway. To be more exact, the chopper is going to receive the 9M39 Igla air-to-air guided missiles in the near future, and a new self-defence suite as well. The innovations are aimed to significantly improve survivability of the helicopter, especially in operations against severely adverse air defences and fighter aviation.
The avionics and weapons suite installed at the new version improve its combat effectiveness dramatically (1.5-1.7 times) as compared to the Mi-24P. Besides, it is ever so important that the devices and systems of the upgraded version are made at serial plants of the Technocomplex Corp. and other enterprises of the Russian air industry.
The Mi-24 PN official tests completed in August 2003 (the Completion Act adopted in January 2004), the Rostov-based helicopter plant took up serial modernisation of choppers from the Air Force manoeuvre units. By February 2004, eight sets of BREO-24 had been assembled, seven of which had been installed in the Mi-24PNs helicopters, handed overto the Customer: the Russian Air Force. The modernisation programme for the Mi-24 choppers is in progress, and we expect that by the mid-decade a great many of them will enjoy ’the second youth’.
Specialists at Ramenskoye carry on work at stage-by-stage sophistication of the BREO-24. As a result, the BTsVm-486-2 was replaced with the Baget computer in 2004. In addition to its Russian origin, which is also important for the Russian Air Force, the new airborne computer has better performance. It is also worthwhile mentioning that the Baget is a baseline computer of all avionics for helicopters under development at Ramenskoye.
The modernised airborne communications unit allows the Mi-24PN to automatically exchange data with other aircraft and Land Forces detachments. Owing to this the chopper can operate jointly with unmanned aerial vehicles as part of one task force, the drone transmitting video data to the helicopter in real time.
The Mi-24PN is a good example of how Mi-24 choppers, including the ones of other modification and operated elsewhere out of Russia, can be upgraded. By the way, the total fleet of Mi-24 helicopters operational in Russia and abroad today exceeds 1,500 aircraft.
The variant of modernisation into the Mi-24PN is cheap and easy, so that any Mi-24 operator can afford having it. The upgraded chopper has been proved reliable in many tests; for instance, the official tests saw in excess of 200 flights of experimental aircraft. Moreover, the fact that the Mi-24PN has been adopted for service with the Russian Air Force is a solid guarantee of the characteristics specified.
Although primarily aimed to satisfy the requirements of Russia and the CIS, the variant of modernisation into the Mi-24PN may also be appropriate for other states operating the Mi-24P and Mi-24V, as it fully satisfies the prospects of their further use both in the Russian and foreign airforces, having Mi-24s in the inventory.
Besides, the modernisation programme for foreign operators can start already now, without delays for additional testing, and therefore without additional expenditure. It will increase the effectiveness of the forces operating the Russian third generation helicopters dramatically and in short time, making them equally effective as compared to the Army aviation groups of the most advanced countries, equipped with the fourth generation AH-64A Apache, Mangusta and so on.
The Mi-24P was first manufactured for the Soviet Army Aviation in 1981-1989, with 620 aircraft built. Taking into account all life-extension measures, optimists foresee them in operation till the next decade at the best. Then new generation will come to replace them. Under the circumstances, it is unwise to equip the obsolete aircraft with the state-of-the-art avionics (of the Mi-28N, for example), as the BREO-24 performance is sure to satisfy the needs of the Russian Air Force in the near future. The same is equally valid for most of the CIS member states, operating the Mi-24.
At the same time, specialists at Ramenskoye mention ’the full’ modernisation (involving the replacement of both day and night weapons control systems) as probable for relatively ’young’ Mi-35 choppers (export version of the Mi-24), which were delivered to customers in the 1990s. Here, they say, foreign systems can be used at large in modernisation. However, it should be mentioned that such a variant of modernisation would be more costly, as compared to the Mi-24PN. That is why customers should think twice, before choosing this or that “strategic direction” of modernisation.
The BREO-24 is the first serial system in the row of unified avionics developed at Ramenskoye for different helicopters, not only Mil ones, of course, and warplanes, including the modernised Su-27SM, Su-30MK and MiG-29SMT.
Unification allows manufacturers to organise large mass production of systems and spare parts, which in its turn ensures better quality and cuts the costs of the systems significantly, and to crown it all makes maintenance easier.
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