Russian arms topic revived... :)

[John Kettler]

Though I saw no sign of the Krizantema in this (believe it was a misidentified SA-13), there is a wealth of Russian military equipment to see and hear here, together with fortifications (including underground tank shelters and camouflage. Speaking of that, the Iskander TELs look like the military version of Cousin It. Several UDAR AFVs/UGVs (BMP-3 chassis) are shown in a defensive position, and anyone who doubts the Russian are still big fans of artillery in Direct Fire will have to explain the clutch of 2S1s in hull defilade, with gun barrels barely clearing and parallel with the ground. Am inclined to assert the Msta-Bs are firing in direct lay also, for their barrels are barely elevated at all.
 

Regards,

John Kettler

[John Kettler]

Looks as if the Ka-50 is in an even worse production situation than the T-14 Armata. This, mind, is for an attack helicopter that was designed long before the T-14 Armata yet still hasn't attained IOC.

https://news.autodailyz.com/production-of-the-kamov-ka-50-hokum-attack-helicopter-is-postponed-with-only-some-helicopters-built/

Regards,

John Kettler

[Requiem762]

28 minutes ago, John Kettler said:

Looks as if the Ka-50 is in an even worse production situation than the T-14 Armata. This, mind, is for an attack helicopter that was designed long before the T-14 Armata yet still hasn't attained IOC.

https://news.autodailyz.com/production-of-the-kamov-ka-50-hokum-attack-helicopter-is-postponed-with-only-some-helicopters-built/

Regards,

John Kettler

The KA-50 is a bit of a interesting aircraft acquisitions wise, because it is both a victim of the collapse of the soviet union as well as as its own technical faults. The biggest problem the KA-50 had however was pilot task saturation, even with the advanced for the time autopilot system and a high degree of automation in its avionics,  managing the combat systems, the flight controls as well as coordinating with other forces and observing for threats was too much for one pilot to handle, and significantly impacted the crews efficiency at performing all tasks. This, combined with cost issues as well as a high technical complexity and the impending collapse of the soviet union all meant that the KA-50 was doomed to a limited production run (sub 100 iirc) and was later supplanted by the twin seat KA-52, which struggled with adoption intially due to post soviet collapse issues but is now in service in numbers. IIRC the KA-50 is still technically in service but they are so few in number that their strategic relevance to other helos is minimal and its unlikely they would be deployed anywhere especially when there are other helicopters in the Russian inventory that are more capable and have more depth as far as in service airframes are considered.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

7 hours ago, Requiem762 said:

IIRC the KA-50 is still technically in service but they are so few in number that their strategic relevance to other helos is minimal and its unlikely they would be deployed anywhere especially when there are other helicopters in the Russian inventory that are more capable and have more depth as far as in service airframes are considered.

I seem to recall reading that they have been attatched to special forces units, or are used in a supporting role for such units.....Probably a bit more manageable when you aren't facing the risk of serious AAA.

[John Kettler]

Requiem762,

Appreciate all that background information. To me, the pilot workload seems insane, especially in a high threat environment. Sensor fusion is an incredibly complex matter, as seen in the $600,000 custom helmets worn by F-35 and F-22 pilots, though admittedly having to handle considerably more sensors than a Ka-50 pilot. Ref quantity, believe the article said 10 were built.

Sgt.Squarehead,

Ka-50 SO assignment/SO support is news to me. If you have a link, please provide it. Thanks!

Regards,

John Kettler

[Sgt.Squarehead]

13 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

The Ka-50 and its modifications have been chosen as the special forces' support helicopter, while the Mil Mi-28 has become the main army's gunship. The production of Ka-50 was recommenced in 2006. In 2009, the Russian Air Force received three units built from incomplete airframes dating from the mid-1990s.^[29]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamov_Ka-50

Hush-hush stuff, please don't reveal my sources. 

 

 

[John Kettler]

Sgt.Squarehead,

During the Cold War, the situation looked like there was a still unresolved design competition, with the far more complex and capable Ka-50 having missed the starting shot but nevertheless in the race. Mi-28 was essentially a reconfiguring of the Mi-24 that eliminated the passenger compartment/cargo bay, whereas the Ka-50 was a far more drastic adaptation of the contrarotating rotor setup of the Ka-25 and the later Ka-27.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Bufo]

3 hours ago, John Kettler said:

Sgt.Squarehead,

During the Cold War, the situation looked like there was a still unresolved design competition, with the far more complex and capable Ka-50 having missed the starting shot but nevertheless in the race. Mi-28 was essentially a reconfiguring of the Mi-24 that eliminated the passenger compartment/cargo bay, whereas the Ka-50 was a far more drastic adaptation of the contrarotating rotor setup of the Ka-25 and the later Ka-27.

Regards,

John Kettler

If you think a Mi-28 a reconfigured mi-24, then the ka-50 is a reconfigured ka-26.

[John Kettler]

Bufo,

The AH-1 Huey Cobra was created by removing the passenger/ cargo compartment from the UH-1, shifting the crew from side-by-side to tandem configuration and narrowing the fuselage as much as possible, then adding stub wings. That's basically how the Mi-28 came to be. The Ka-26 was a helicopter that never came across my awareness as a Soviet Threat Analyst, and by never, I mean not so much as the term Ka-26/HOODLUM in a threat document. That said, I think the ASCC codename HOODLUM is wicked cool. Ka-26 is nowhere nearly in the performance class or weight class of the Ka-50, either, which is why I think, from an aeronautical engineering perspective, the Ka-27 is much closer to the Ka-50 as a design basis.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Sgt.Squarehead]

I suspect JK meant the Mi-24 shared its origin with the Mi-8/17, which it does:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mil_Mi-24

The Mi-28 is a wholly different beast:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mil_Mi-28

[John Kettler]

Sgt.Squarehead,

Your top line is absolutely correct, and there were engineering drawings in the threat document showing how the M--24 was created from the named helicopter design. Recall, too, the early model Mi-24s had the greenhouse type nose, instead of the armored, gun bearing snout to come.  The point of the Mi-28 was to shift from a multi-role helicopter to a full-blown flying tank, to use the transliterated Russian term. What I suspect we'd find were we to take the Mi-28, dissect it and figure out which state concern made what, would be a lot of Mi-24 components wedded with what looks to me like a lot of design features based on the AH-64. Can't say this is remotely surprising, since the copying someone else's tech, even reproducing whole planes exactly, has long been standard Soviet, later Russian, practice. See, for example, the Tu-4/BULL, and exact copy of a B-29. The Mi-28 shown in your pic appears to be the latest model, complete with the same sort of sensor ball the US firsat fielded on the OH-58D.

Regards,

John Kettler

 

[John Kettler]

Here is a useful video covering Russian tank TO&E, support elements, BTGs and more. It was posted only late last month, too.
 

Regards,

John Kettler

 

Edited February 2, 2022 by John Kettler

[John Kettler]

This comment ref the above tank video really stood out.
 

Dmitry Arkatov

2 days ago (edited)

Great job as always! A very impressive dive into the specifics of the Russian Ground Forces, given a level of secrecy that the Russian Army tends to keep. And just to add a bit, BTGs are not a western media term, but an officialy accepted way of organizing the ground forces. This can be found in the latest editions of the so-called Combat Charter of the Ground Forces. It's somewhat equivalent to the American Field Manuals 3-0 and TRADOC Pamphlets, and concers organizational and combat application matters. Tho its content is mostly secretive, a table of contents suggests that the first chapter on strategy and tactics is all about assembling and controlling BTGs. Also, Russian minister of defence and head of the general staff referred many times to BTGs, stating there are more than 170 currently existing in the Army, being organized depending on their location and tactical needs. And i know for sure that those who enter grounds forces academies are taught to operate BTGs during the tactics course.

Regards,

John Kettler

[John Kettler]

Here is the counterpart of the above, but this one chiefly focuses on the 152 mm Russian SPHs and their TO&E and how they fight. The comments are pretty pithy in places, such as discussing who has primary control of the 2S1 Akatsiya. Control of these, now typically used as regimental weapons, is far less complex than what someone called the long chain fire request process for the Msta-S and even worse ones for the 2S7 Pion. Returning to Msta-S, I find it highly interesting that the am typical load has little or no Smoke. The vast bulk (37-45) is typical HE-Frag, followed by 5-6 Krasnopol-M. But here's the kicker. The load can also include submunitions or even EXJAMs. The old but deadly 152 mm tac nuke is presented and analyzed, but nothing said about CW or BW projectiles. 
 

Regards,

John Kettler

[John Kettler]

This huge hit in Russia, Kombat, by recording star Lube, was originally the soundtrack for Shtrafbat (transliterated Russian for Penal Battalion), but has been repurposed for modern warfare. The initial footage is awful but gets much better and shows quite the array of Russian weaponry and troops in action--everything from AK-74s to airstrikes (MI-24 and Su-25) and even the mighty 2S3 in Direct Fire mode. Mods who make skins will find much to help them in terms of what troops and vehicles in the field look like. The English translation of the lyrics is a bit loose in places. Kombat is the Battalion Commander. Mahorka is the pungent tobacco so intense the Germans could find Soviet soldiers by smell, because its smoke betrayed their positions or the smoke impregnated their clothing. In war movies and what we'd call series, it's what the troops use for their handrolled papirosi (super crude cigarettes using whatever paper was available). Believe the footage is a mix of Afghanistan and Chechnya. This is one of a set of English subtitled Russian videos portraying a military-themed song.
 

 Regards,

John Kettler

 

[Sgt.Squarehead]

First time we've seen a BMMP prototype AFAIK:

https://gurkhan.blogspot.com/2022/02/efv.html

 

[HUSKER2142]

6 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

First time we've seen a BMMP prototype AFAIK:

https://gurkhan.blogspot.com/2022/02/efv.html

 

 

Edited February 8, 2022 by HUSKER2142

[John Kettler]

Husker2142,

Never seen or heard anything about this family of fighting vehicles, starting with the acronym BMMP. What does that second M stand for in transliterated Russian, please, and does it come first or second relative to the normal M in BMP? Would it be possible to translate the text on the graphic, especially the captions on the AFVs? Maybe start with the one in the 12 o'clock position as 1 and simply list them? What is that rectangular thing on the back of many of these? Looks like something I just saw on MTLBs in a huge winter live fire exercise. In any event, thanks for posting this, and thanks to Sgt.Squarehead for the pic of the prototype of the parent chassis.

Regards,

John Kettler

[John Kettler]

Those of you wanting CMBS (Winter) will love this--despite the huge bug and ill-timed slide-ins, as well as the fairly decent music that still drowns out most of the sounds of the weapons in action and the various sounds these systems make when not firing. Even so, there's much to see, ranging from small arms to the mighty Iskander-M. In addition to the usual weaponry at such exercises, the VDV is also in action, whizzing about in BMD-2s. 
 

Regards,

John Kettler

[John Kettler]

Here is the English translation of the Gur Khan post. Unfortunately, while all text in the article and below it is translated, the captions and other text on the graphic are not. The key takeaway from the text below the graphic is that the entire project has been suspended.

https://gurkhan.blogspot.com/2022/02/efv.html

Regards,

John Kettler

[HUSKER2142]

@John Kettler

BMMP is a transcription in latin from russian designation БММП. Literally translated as "Fighting Vehicle Marine". At the same time, this is most likely not an official designation, but only the name of the program for RF Marines. 

[dbsapp]

On 2/8/2022 at 2:44 AM, Sgt.Squarehead said:

First time we've seen a BMMP prototype AFAIK:

https://gurkhan.blogspot.com/2022/02/efv.html

 

Looks like bad car CGI from 80s movie.