Ka-226 and Ansat-U

ANSAT is a bit lighter than the Ka-60 series and is not really directly comparable.

I remember quite some years ago there was a purchase of about 50 ANSAT helicopters reported and their purpose was for training pilots of the Mi-28 and Ka-50/52 because the existing training aircraft were not manoeuvrable enough for the students to get the feel of a powerful manoeuvring helo like the aircraft they were training to operate.
It seems the ANSAT can be looped and rolled like the Mi-28N and Ka-50/-52 and unlike the Mi-2.

Looks much better now that its engines are internal.

Should be a useful little helo.

I hope they develop a naval variant that can operate from ships too small to operate Helix types.

I think its thunderbird like modularity with its functional rear pod that can be replaced as a single unit actually makes it more useful than some larger helos.

Have a search and rescue pod, a pod with a dipping sonar and electronics, a pod with a belly mounted 360 degree radar, a light troop transport pod for 4-6 troops and a rear ramp door...

It would obviously only be used on small vessels that otherwise couldn't carry a helo, or perhaps it could be used on ships where larger helos are possible but with folding main rotor blades and a folding rear end you might even get two of these helos on a ship that would otherwise only carry one aircraft.

These helos would be ideal for 1,800 ton vessels and even 1,000 ton vessels where a Kamov would be a squeeze.

Even if it is just used on vessels with Moskit/Oniks/Brahmos/etc vertical launch systems as an airborne target spotter.

Helicopters are invaluable for frigates and larger vessels, this little helo could make smaller vessels more effective and useful.
Even if it is just for running down high speed boats in anti smuggling/pirate/illegal fishing missions.

The main advantages of the coaxial design is it makes a very compact but powerful aircraft.

The Ka-32 Helix is used here for selective logging and the pilots here describe it as a 10 ton aircraft with a 5 ton payload capacity that handles like a Hughes 500 (which is a very small light nimble little helo).

I would expect this helo to have excellent high altitude performance as well as being very manoeuvrable. The most vital aspect from a handling point of view would be the lack of a tail rotor.

The tail rotor is the biggest killer of people on the ground with helos as a gust of wind or change in wind direction has the tail swinging around in a very wide arc to keep the aircraft pointed into the wind and flying into it slightly to maintain a fixed ground position. Very tricky and dangerous.

Sad to see that it uses British or French engines though... that will count against it for Russian military service.

I believe its MTOW is about 3.5 tons... so a Helix could carry this little fellow at its MTOW and still have capacity to carry another 1.5 tons.

As such I would expect weapons payloads could include multiple rocket launchers, ATGMs like ATAKA, SHTURM, Kornet (none of which trail wires so make them excellent for helo launch), and of course various gun pods.

In fact that might make an interesting rear pod with small side wings mounting HMGs or light cannon or automatic grenade launchers with enormous amounts of ammo in bins in the central pod as a sort of gunship. There are light versions of the standard 80mm rocket pods that hold 7 rockets for use on light aircraft that might compliment a 23mm or 30mm cannon or 30mm grenade launcher with maybe 1,000 rounds of ammo stored in the removable pod directly under the main rotor in the centre of the aircraft... which is ideal positioning for loads to maintain good manoeuvre capability.

BTW in answer to why it is nicknamed Sergei:

Named Sergei in 1999, honouring politician Sergei Shoigu, but programme also guided by Sukhoi General Designer, Sergei Mikheev.

Also with this information:

POWER PLANT: Two 335kW Rolls-Royce 250- C20R/2 turboshafts, side by side aft of rotor mast, with individual driveshafts to rotor gearbox. Two 335kW Rolls-Royce 250-C20B engines in prototypes. Transmission rating 626kW. Alternatively, two Progress (ZMKB) AI-450 turboshafts, each 331kW or two Turbomeca Arrius 2G (500 kW) or Klimov VK-800 turboshafts (588kW). Standard fuel capacity 770 litres, in tanks above and forward of payload module area. Provision for two external tanks, on sides of fuselage, total capacity 320 litres.

From: http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/ka-226.php

I wonder why they don't go for the VK-800 engines?

Indeed I have read good things about co-axial design , I keep wondering why world over co-axial design has not caught up and besides Kamov no one tries to do with that design but would rather go for tail rotor types ?

Losing the tail rotor is very useful, which is why the US developed the NOTAR technology. Problem was that it didn't scale up very well and was pretty much useless for medium to large helos.

The gearbox of a Helix is an impressive feat of engineering and the west simply can't afford to develop it from scratch.

On VK-800 I think they are bench testing the engine and export customers are offered an option to use any engine they want but Russian military will go for VK 800 engine which has more power , so it should increase its hot and high capability as well its payload.

On a Kamov webpage it listed the performance of the Ka-226 with the Rolls Royce engine with a flight ceiling of 5,000m and the Ka-226T with the French engine that is more powerful with a flight ceiling of 7,000m. I would expect with the VK 800 engine the flight ceiling will be even higher still.

As I know, Ka-226 will operate from Russian border guard type 22460 patrol ship. It have heli pad, but I don't know if this ship have hangar for helicopter.

I have seen a line drawing of a corvette class with a standard displacement of 1,000 tons and a full load displacement of 1,350 tons. It has a 100mm gun on the front main deck and a stealthy shaped with Kashtans on top of the bridge and the centre rear of the boat (2 Kashtans in total) one level up from the rear Kashtan is a large open heli deck and it has a retractible hangar that extends out to enclose the helo and rolls back to give a more open deck area when not in use. The Specs describe a Ka-28 helo but with folding main rotors and even a folding tail you could probably get two Ka-266s in there.

The ship is given no project code, but its physical dimensions are 84.5 x 13 x 2.5m.

There is another small ship (corvette) described as an 1,800 ton escort ship that is 97 x 13 x 3m and it has similar helo facilities but as single gatling turrets front and rear.

For such a small helo I would think protection from 30 calibre ammo would be sufficient but I would then want a stand off range so that means 30 calibre weapons on it wouldn't be any good except for self protection.

I would think a large pod that had twin barrel 23mm cannon fitted on outriggers on either side to fire forward with the ammo supply in the central pod with perhaps one 7 shot 80mm rocket pod on each side as well would be a good armament... the guns arranged to feed from belts stored directly under the main rotor so you could load thousands of rounds without too much bother.

The 23mm twin barrel aviation cannon is rather different from the ground based 2A7 and 2A14 cannon used on the ZU-23 and ZSU-23-4 towed and self propelled AA Guns respectively because it uses the projectile of the very powerful 23 x 152mm anti aircraft gun round but in the 14.5 x 114mm HMG case so it has much less muzzle velocity and less propellent and relies more on shell weight than impact speed for its effects and can therefore be used on helos and light aircraft and it can have a high rate of fire too.

The 23mm gun is already used in gunpods that can be carried by helos and aircraft and in one model gunpod the guns can be depressed by up to 30 degrees and is computer controled so the pilot can start a burst and pull up up to 30 degrees and the guns will depress automatically remaining on target.

In a helicopter they could be fully steering turrets that can elevate up and down and left and right to aim at particular targets.

The chin mounted cannon on the last model Hind had twin barrel 23mm guns that didn't throw the helo off nearly as much as the side mounted fixed 30mm cannon did.



Of course for a cheap small gunship I think the gunship model of the ANSAT looks rather good for low intensity conflicts.



Note the Kord HMG barrel near the front of where the skid undercarriage meets the aircraft.

Russian air force to buy 30 Ka-226 helicopters by 2020

12:15 16/01/2012
MOSCOW, January 16 (RIA Novosti)

The Russian Air Force is to acquire up to 30 Kamov Ka-226 light helicopters for courier and communications duties by 2020, Defense Ministry spokesman Vladimir Drik said on Monday.

“By the end of January the (Torzhok) center will get four light Ka-226 helicopters. By 2020 we plan to buy 30 of them,” he said.

The force’s helicopter training center at Torzhok received 17 new machines in December 2011 including the Mi-28N, Mi-35, Mi-8MTV and Ka-52, he said.

Not a huge number, but this is an Air Force order so the use of the Ka-226 on the Mistrals will require extra orders from the Russian Navy.

Looks like these helos will replace the Mi-2s, which is a very good thing.

Hopefully by 2020 they will have realised how useful this little helo is and will have ordered more.

In regard to the Russian engine that is even more powerful than the French engine they are using I thought this helo would be rather interesting for special forces use.

Imagine placing a sniper team high on the side of a mountain to wait in ambush for enemy forces moving towards that area.

With normal helicopter deployment they will have a lot of kit to carry and the altitude they can be deployed to will be limited by the altitude limits of most medium helicopters.

With the Ka-266 however you could configure the rear module to be a combined survival shelter/communications centre/storage point, that could be camouflaged to blend in to the surroundings with camouflage nets etc, but be fitted with radios and satellite communications systems. You could also store all sorts of equipment like laser range finders and target markers and high power telescopes... even long range sniper rifles and ATGMs like Metis-M or Kornet EM.

In places like Chechnia you could fit it out and position it to overlook commonly used transport trails.

On the side of a mountain small wind powered electrical generators can keep the small base powered and the hard shell provides protection from the elements when needed.

You could stack all sorts of stuff inside it and then when delivered to the observation site (preferably at night) you could first put up camouflage nets to conceal it and then put up tubes with propellers inside that you can point into the wind to generate electricity but without an externally visible moving thing that would stand out and be easy to see from far away.
Then take out the obsservation equipment and set it up to allow observation of the required directions and areas and then build up some local defences including traps and mines and flares to the approaches to the position.
Once all that is deployed you can take out the weapons and ammo so they are ready to use if needed and take all the food out to make space inside the pod for the team to shelter from extreme weather if needed.
The satellite communications equipment could be built into the pod with heavy batteries and antenna and of course wind generation of electricity to support its operation and to heat the pod.

As food and water is consumed over time you might get a middle of the night delivery from a UAV with stores that you can put all your rubbish and waste into to fly off and either dump or return to base to hide the extent and location of your operations.

An added advantage of having a system like Kornet EM is that it uses a thermal imager that can see targets out to 8-10km, so for observation that would be ideal. The fact that if needed you could engage targets to that range is a huge bonus.

If the position is compromised then air power can be brought in to deal with the enemy forces while a Ka-226 comes in and collects the team in the pod under cover of darkness preferably.

Such a capability would also be useful for border patrols that can be delivered to an area and they will have the pod as a base of operations.
Perched on the side of a mountain obviously you will want some method of securing the pod so it doesn't get blown off the side of a mountain, but the payoff will be excellent view of infiltration tracks for smugglers and criminals.

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