The combat helicopter Mi-24, which was the main striking force of the army aviation, was absolutely not suitable for deployment on large landing ships. Therefore, in the early 70s, the Kamov Design Bureau, which by that time had become the main designer of helicopters for the Navy, began to create a transport-combat helicopter in the interests of the marines. According to the customer's requirements, the new vehicle was supposed to be able to deliver a detachment of marines with personal weapons to the shore. For fire support and the fight against enemy armored vehicles, the helicopter had to carry small arms and cannon weapons, unguided rockets, bombs and an anti-tank missile system.
It must be said that back in the second half of the 60s, the Kamov Design Bureau proposed a Ka-25F combat helicopter, armed with NAR units, suspended cannon containers and a Phalanx ATGM. But by that time, there were no landing ships suitable for its deployment in the USSR Navy. The Ka-25, armed with an ATGM, could have made a good light anti-tank helicopter, but the command of the ground forces preferred only the then-created Mi-24, which corresponded to the fashionable concept of "flying infantry fighting vehicles".
With the formation of the ocean-going fleet in the USSR, the question arose of increasing the combat potential of the marines. One of the ways to solve this problem was the creation of large landing ships, on which it was possible to base universal transport and attack helicopters, capable of delivering to the landing area of marines and everything necessary for conducting hostilities on the enemy coast. In addition, the helicopter was supposed to solve the tasks of fire support for the landing, as well as with the help of guided missiles to fight tanks and destroy enemy firing points.
Since it was too expensive and time-consuming to create a new combat helicopter from scratch, it was decided to build it on the basis of the Ka-27 anti-submarine, which made its first flight in December 1973. Due to the fact that the helicopter, operating in the interests of the Marine Corps, was to fly under enemy fire, measures were taken to increase the combat survivability. The cockpit, extended compared to the Ka-27, was covered with armor, providing protection against armor-piercing rifle caliber bullets. The TVZ-117VMA engines, regulator pumps and the hydraulic system were also partially protected. The total mass of the armor was 350 kg. To prevent the explosion of fuel tanks in the event of their defeat, they are filled with polyurethane foam, and to prevent fuel leakage during the shooting, the walls have a self-tightening protection. In order to reduce the thermal signature, it is planned to install screen-exhaust devices of the engines. From the very beginning, an optical-electronic jamming station and cassettes for shooting heat traps were envisaged in the complex for countering missiles with IR seeker.
The strike armament of the helicopter, designated Ka-29, consists of a built-in rapid-fire GShG-7, 62, caliber 7, 62-mm, a suspended container with a 30-mm cannon 2A42, universal cannon containers UPK-23-250 with 23-mm cannons, NAR B-8V20A blocks with 80-mm S-8 missiles, free-fall bombs weighing up to 500 kg, incendiary tanks, KMGU-2 containers or 8 9M114 ATGMs of the Shturm-M anti-tank missile system. Several helicopters of the later series are equipped with ATGM "Attack" with 9M120 missiles. The payload weight can reach 2000 kg.
A movable machine gun, from which the navigator-operator conducts fire in the "stowed position", is closed in the embrasure by a sliding sash. With 1800 rounds of ammunition, its maximum rate of fire is 6000 rds / min.
When performing strike missions against lightly armored targets and field-type fortifications, a 30-mm 2A42 cannon in a suspended container with an ammunition capacity of 250 rounds can be used. This is one of the most powerful aircraft cannons of this caliber. It is highly reliable. With an initial projectile speed of 960-980 m / s, good firing accuracy is ensured. At a distance of 1.5 km, an armor-piercing tracer projectile weighing 400 g at an angle of 60 ° to the normal penetrates 15 mm steel armor. An armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile weighing 304 g, fired with an initial speed of 1120 m / s, under the same conditions penetrates 25 mm armor.
As on the Mi-24, the Ka-29 crew has a division of responsibilities regarding the use of weapons - the pilot fires from stationary cannons on the external sling, launches the NAR and drops bombs. At the disposal of the navigator-operator is a mobile machine-gun mount and ATGM guidance equipment. The crew, as in the Ka-27, sits shoulder to shoulder. A fairing with sensors for an electro-optical fire control system is located under the fuselage in the nose. For communication with ground units, the helicopter is equipped with a universal aviation command radio station of VHF / DCV-ranges R-832M "Eucalyptus", which, with a special attachment, can operate in closed mode.
The flight data of the Ka-29 is approximately on a par with the Mi-8MT army helicopter. With a maximum takeoff weight of 11,500 kg, the Marine transport-combat helicopter is capable of operating at a range of up to 200 km from the carrier ship. Maximum flight speed 280 km / h, cruising speed - 235 km / h. The static ceiling is 3700 m, which significantly exceeds the altitude capabilities of the attack Mi-24. The helicopter can take on board 16 paratroopers with personal weapons or 4 stretchers and 6 seated wounded or 2000 kg of cargo in the cockpit or 4000 kg on the external sling. Due to the folding coaxial propellers and the absence of a tail rotor beam, the helicopter is ideal for basing on a ship. In the stowed position, the rotor blades practically fit into the dimensions of the airframe in length, height and width.
With slightly worse security, which is a consequence of the creation of the Ka-29 on the basis of the anti-artillery and rescue Ka-27, for which the armor is unnecessary, the combat helicopter of the Marine Corps surpasses the Mi-24 in a number of combat characteristics. Compared to the Mi-24P, which is also armed with a 30-mm cannon, the accuracy of firing from cannon containers and unguided rockets on the Ka-29 is higher. The same applies to guided anti-tank weapons.
Thanks to the use of a much more stable coaxial rotor design, it was possible to reduce vibration and, as a result, to increase firing accuracy. The Ka-29 became the first of the domestic combat helicopters, where a laser rangefinder with a fixed axis of sight was installed and successfully applied. On the Mi-24, this did not work out and they had to use an elevation, much less accurate, method of measuring the range to the target.
The very nature of the coaxial rotor design gives the Ka-29 a low vibration level. As a result of oscillations of the upper and lower screws mutually compensate each other, due to the fact that the maxima of the vibration amplitudes of one with a certain shift coincide with the minima of the other. In addition, on the coaxial helicopter there is no low-frequency transverse vibration generated by the tail rotor, due to this, the Ka-29 has fewer errors when aiming the weapon.
The Ka-29 became the first Russian combat helicopter capable of making a flat turn over the entire range of flight speeds. For the Mi-24, such a maneuver is unacceptable due to the possibility of destruction of the transmission, tail boom and tail rotor. Thanks to its high maneuverability, the Ka-29 ensured superiority over all combat helicopters of its time. The Ka-29 has the ability in the shortest time to take an advantageous position for attacking the target, while maintaining the high accuracy characteristics of the weapon. Pilots who had previously flown the Mi-8 and Mi-24 noted the high maneuverability and obedience in controlling the Ka-29.
Thus, the small-scale naval Ka-29 was more suitable for use as a tank destroyer than the massive Mi-24 combat helicopter, which is ensured by better maneuverability and simpler piloting technique, with a higher vertical rate of climb and overload. The Ka-29 is better, faster and safer to occupy an advantageous position for launching anti-tank missiles. A number of solutions worked out during the creation of the Ka-29 transport and combat helicopter were subsequently used on the Ka-50 and Ka-52. The adoption of the Ka-29 into service significantly increased the combat stability and the speed of the landing of the Soviet marines. In addition to carrying out transport and landing tasks, helicopters could provide fire support and fight tanks, significantly surpassing the Yak-38 vertical takeoff and landing attack aircraft in combat effectiveness.
Serial production of the Ka-29 began in 1984, at the helicopter plant in Kumertau. Before the collapse of the USSR, 59 cars were built. Unfortunately, it was not possible to find data on how many helicopters from the total built were equipped with anti-tank missiles.
Formally, the Ka-29s were intended to be based on the large landing ships of the project 1174 "Rhino". The first BDK pr. 1174, named "Ivan Rogov", was built in 1978 at the Yantar shipyard in Kaliningrad. Four deck helicopters could work with this type of large landing craft. At present, the lead BDK, project 1174, has been cut into metal, and two more ships of the same type are "in reserve" and most likely will not return to service.
After the collapse of the USSR, the existing Ka-29s were used mainly for performing routine transport and passenger flights in the interests of the Navy. The remaining 5 helicopters in Crimea went to Ukraine. After the reduction of the marines, in the course of measures to "reform" and "optimize" the armed forces, several naval helicopters were handed over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.
In December 2000 - January 2001, in the Chechen Republic, as part of an experimental combat group, 2 Ka-50 and one Ka-29VPNTSU took part in hostilities against bandit formations, converted from a combat transport into an observation and target designation helicopter.
In the process of revision and conversion into a reconnaissance target designator, the armament of the Ka-29 was preserved. To use the Ka-29 as an air guidance and targeting point, a complex of automation and communications equipment was installed on the helicopter, as well as the Rubicon sighting, flight and navigation system. As a result, the Ka-29 VPNTsU was able to control group actions of combat helicopters in the air, and to communicate in a closed mode with the command posts of the Air Force and Ground Forces on the basis of a continuous exchange of information in real time.
To reduce the vulnerability from MANPADS, the helicopter was equipped with heat traps and screen-exhaust devices. Before leaving for the combat area, the identification marks and side numbers of the vehicles were painted over. The most noticeable difference between the Ka-29VPNTSU and the Ka-29 was the optical window of the PrPNK "Rubicon" under the nose of the fuselage.
Helicopters with coaxial propeller design from the very beginning demonstrated the best ability to operate in adverse weather conditions and mountainous terrain. Compared to the Mi-8 and Mi-24, the "Kamov" vehicles turned out to be more resistant to harsh gusts of wind. The absence of a tail rotor greatly facilitated piloting in narrow gorges, and the ability to turn around literally in one place also affected.
Most of the targets were located in hard-to-reach mountainous and wooded areas, on slopes, in gorges and on mountain tops at an altitude of 1.5 km. The Ka-29VPNTSU not only corrected the actions of other combat helicopters when striking camps and places of concentration of militants, ammunition depots, dugouts, shelters and firing points, but also participated in the destruction of targets. In total, 29 fires were fired from the Ka-29 VPNTSU and 184 S-8 rockets were used up.
Often, sorties were carried out in bad weather. The passes were sometimes covered with fog, and the flights had to be carried out along the gorges, which was not an obstacle to the fulfillment of combat missions. Although the main forces of the militants were scattered by the time the Ka-29 and Ka-50 arrived in the North Caucasus, the enemy provided active fire resistance, and there was a real danger of running into the turn of an anti-aircraft large-caliber machine gun or MANPADS missile.
In Chechnya, the Ka-29VPNTSU, in conjunction with the Ka-50, flew 27 sorties. Also, the actions of the Mi-24 combat helicopters were adjusted. In general, despite some shortcomings caused by the haste in the installation of equipment and a lack of funding, the Ka-29VPNTSU proved to be positive in the course of hostilities in the North Caucasus. The pilots of the Ka-50 and Mi-24 noted that thanks to better information awareness and external target designation from the air command post, the effectiveness and accuracy of strikes against ground targets had increased significantly. Flight safety has also improved and vulnerability to militants' air defense systems has decreased. The crew of the Ka-29VPNTSU, being outside the effective fire zone, using optoelectronic surveillance and target designation devices, determined the coordinates of the targets and measured the range to them. If necessary, the reconnaissance and target designation helicopter could not only warn the crews of attack vehicles about the danger, but also independently suppress anti-aircraft installations that had shown themselves.
Despite the fact that the Ka-29VPNTSU performed well in the course of hostilities, only two machines of this modification are known about. The command of the army aviation, taking into account the experience of using "Kamov" helicopters during the hostilities in Chechnya, decided to develop the theme of two-seater specialized combat helicopters, although command and reconnaissance vehicles would not interfere with them, especially in various kinds of "anti-terrorist" operations. Apparently, the refusal to further build the Ka-29VPNTSU is associated with a banal lack of funds. As you know, the creation of the Ka-29VPNTSU was mainly carried out at the expense of the VNTK im. N. I. Kamov and the state actually withdrew from financing this topic.
In 2012, as part of the formation of the UDC Mistral wing, the modernization of 10 helicopters began. In total, 8 Ka-29 and 8 Ka-52K were to be based on the Mistral.
As of 2016, the Russian Navy included 28 Ka-29s as part of the Baltic Fleet, Northern Fleet and Pacific Fleet. However, more than half of these machines were in need of repair. At the end of 2016, the domestic media reported that 6 Ka-29s had been overhauled for the 155th Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet. There is also information that the repair of the Ka-29 for the Black Sea Fleet will be carried out at the Sevastopol Aircraft Repair Plant, but apparently, these machines will be used from coastal airfields, since the Russian fleet now does not have suitable landing ships for their basing.
