Ka-31 AEW helicopter, Mikheev S.V. ( Kamov Company)

15k photo from Kamov Firm Page

AWACS helicopter with retractable under-fuselage antenna. Necessity of shipborn AEW aircraft was highlighted during Falkland War. Two British destroyers were lost, while served as long-range radar stations with limited low target detection capabilities. Soviet Navy issued order for DRLO helicopter in 1985. First flight took place in 1987.

Two prototypes were converted from series Ka-27 (not the Ka-29 as most WEB-sites claim, see Kamov Firm Site) and was originally designated Ka-29RLD. First flight took place in 1987 The prototypes underwent operational trials at sea on the Russian aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, prior to the aircraft making its debut at the Mosaero Airshow in 1995. Same year Ka-31 was adopted for military service.

Ka-31 is equipped to operate from land or ships. It is capable to detect and track:

• air targets of a fixed-wing/helicopter type, including low-flying targets;
• surface ships;

Collected information is automatically transmitted to the command posts. The helicopter can considerably increase combat mission efficiency of Navy ships, Army aviation and tank detachments by providing them with timely information about the actions of the ships, fixed-wing aircraft and combat helicopters of the enemy.

Planar solid-state phased array 6m² (5.75m wide) antenna of the E-801 'Oko' (Eye) performs one 360° mechanical scanning once every ten seconds. In stowed position the antenna is kept flat against the fuselage bottom. To prevent the interference with the antenna the nose landing gear legs are retracted rearward into the fairings flight-wise and the main legs are retracted upward. The ASW search and strike equipment of original Ka-29 helicopter is dismounted. Instead, a radio-electronic suite is installed for radar target detection, identification and transmission of the combat situation data to the ship-based and/or ground-based command posts.

Ka-31 at MAKS-99, 60k photo by (Chelabinsk). See more of his photos at 'Voenlet'



The radio-electronic radar package is linked with avionics and automatically controls the helicopter flight over the specified route in any weather and climatic conditions. When the radio-electronic package is activated, the antenna is extended, the navigator has to selected the operational mode. All following operations are performed automatically without operator interference. The navigator role is simply to control the systems operation and to monitor target tracking on the display screen.

Avionics system allows crew to perform automatic return to the takeoff location and hovering at 25m above.

Radar tracking range for small boat - 250km, fighter/helicopter - 100 to 150km. Simultaneous automatic tracking of 20 targets. Look-down capability.

Ka-31 can also be used by ground forces, providing target tracking information to ZRK operators. Such cooperation sharply reduces necessary time of ZRK staying active, while Ka-31 can easily evade long-range anti-radar missile strike by quick position change with radar turned off.

In 1997, the Indian Navy placed a firm order for four of these helicopters. Delivery is expected to start in 2000. Negotiations to acquire six more, are currently underway in Russia. Total order may be as larger as 110 helicopters.

Ka-31 is assembled at Kumertau in association with experimental facility of Kamov KB and some plants of Nizhni Novgorod (electronics).

19k Drawing from Kamov Firm booklet, used as a background for this page;

Predecessors	Modifications
Ka-29	-

References	Links
...	Ka-29 and Ka-31 Ka-29 and Ka-31 < Ka-31 Ka-31 in Russian and in English Ka-31 page Ka-31 AEW helicopter at Sea Wulf Ka-31 shipborn helicopter Kamov Ka-31 Ka-31	Ka-31 Ka-31 photos!!!! Contract with India Kamov Ka-31 and Ka-32 Helic Kamov at WWW.AVIATION.RU KAMOV KA-31 HELIX-B KAMOV Ka-31 Helix AEW KAMOV Ka-31

---

Created February 23, 2000 by

Back to Main Gate