The sunset on the Baltic coast is very beautiful, but in Donskoy, almost no one pays attention to the setting sun. The pilots and technicians of the separate naval anti-submarine helicopter squadron of the Baltic Fleet's naval aviation are not up to the beauties of nature: preparations for night flights begin.
Outside, the Ka-27PL helicopter does not look particularly elegant. He has no "predatory" or "high-speed" contours. By modern standards, its cruising speed is not particularly high - only 250 km / h. But, as one of the pilots aptly said, "no one goes fishing in a racing car." Meanwhile, it is "fishing", or rather "spearfishing", that is the main task of these helicopters.
“Our helicopters, which can be based even on relatively small ships, significantly expand their capabilities in terms of anti-submarine defense,” explains Major Igor Vysotsky, assistant navigator of the Donskoye airbase. - On the far lines, anti-submarine aircraft provide for the opening of the underwater situation, and the helicopters are left with the close lines.
Big ears
The main "weapon" of the Ka-27PL is the "Octopus" search and targeting system. It provides automated processing of information from a hydroacoustic station (GAS), a radar station, navigation systems and tactical situations. Hovering over the water at a height of about 30 m, the helicopter lowers the GAS hydrophones on a cable-cable, which can operate both in passive mode and in active mode, with a circular or sector orientation.
“The deepening of hydrophones depends on the hydrology of the sea, temperature, salinity, weather and other factors,” explains Igor Vysotsky. - Since the depths in the Baltic are quite shallow, a few tens of meters are enough here. It usually takes 3 to 10 minutes to uncover the underwater environment within a radius of several kilometers, although it all depends on the conditions.
For example, shallow water makes it easier to search, but a large amount of all kinds of iron (ship skeletons, barges, cargo) at the bottom greatly complicates, especially in active mode - they give an irregular acoustic picture, so you have to check the maps where such features are indicated. Actually, for the same reason, the search with the help of a magnetometer is not very effective in the Baltic, although this method can also be used in other seas. Wind also creates a lot of problems, which deflects the cable from the vertical position, distorting the directivity of the hydrophones."
Time to scatter
In addition to the GAS, the Ka-27PL can carry a set of 36 jettisonable sonar buoys. “The buoys are dropped from level flight at a decent height in order to cover a sufficient area,” says senior lieutenant Kamil Sibagatov, navigator-operator of the anti-submarine helicopter. - Each buoy descends by parachute, deepens and, working in a passive mode, monitors the situation within a radius of several hundred meters.
And in case of detection of a noise signal, it starts transmitting this data over the radio channel. As a result, in one combat sortie, the Ka-27PL can reveal the underwater situation within a radius of about 20 km (a little less without dropping buoys). The detection radius of a submarine varies over a fairly wide range - from tens of meters to several kilometers. This value depends on hydrology, waves, size of the boat, the presence of ships and vessels that create serious interference, and metal parts on the bottom, especially in active mode."
Iron bird
However, the Ka-27PL can carry not only many "ears" (hydroacoustic buoys) in the search loading version, but also (in the shock version) "baton" - 800 kg of combat load: anti-submarine torpedoes, missiles or 50- and 250-kilogram bombs … There is also a special search and rescue modification of the Ka-27PS helicopter, equipped with a winch for lifting victims out of the water.
The coaxial design with two counter-rotating rotors, a distinctive feature of the Kamov design bureau, was not chosen by chance - this design makes it possible to make the helicopter more compact, which is important for placement on small ships. The blades of the ship's helicopters are foldable to further reduce the vehicle's dimensions.
“The controllability and maneuverability of vehicles with coaxial propellers is excellent,” says the helicopter commander, Captain Alexei Kutepov. - What is the main specificity of flights over the sea?
It is difficult to navigate over a uniform surface and hover at a low altitude, keeping the car stationary while the navigator-operator examines the situation with the help of the GUS. And the most difficult thing, of course, is boarding the ship. From a helicopter, the landing pad looks like a matchbox from the height of a human being …"
