Russian Helicopter Self Protection Aids

8/17/2019 Russian Helicopter Self Protection Aids

1/1148 HELIOPS FRONTLINE


2/11 HELIOPS FRONTLINE 49

When in November 2011 the Kamov

Ka-52 co-axial attack helicopterpassed its final state acceptance

trials and was commissioned by the

Russian Air Force (RuAF) for squadron

service, this eagerly-awaited event

has also marked the introduction of

the first-ever Russian-made helicopter

integrated defensive aids suite (DAS).

Known under the name Vitebsk-52,

the sophisticated system has been

integrated by Samara-based FGUP NII

Ekran company.

ALEXANDER MLADENOV LOOKS AT

THE PROGRESS IN THE DEVELOPMENT

AND FIELDING OF SELF-DEFENCE

EQUIPMENT IN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE



VITEBSK

In its generic form, the Vitebsk system is

purposely designed for self-protection of attack,

assault transport and VIP helicopters as well as

fixed-wing attack aircraft, facing a wide variety

of battlefield infrared-guided (heat-seeking)

missile treats plus radar and laser-guided anti-

aircraft weapons. In its full-scale form, the Vitebsk

integrates the L150 Pastel radar warning receiver(RWR), the L140 Otklik laser warning receiver

(LWR), L370-2-01 ultraviolet (UV) missile approach

warning system, L370-5 directional infrared

(IR) jammer and six UV-26 32-round chaff-flare

dispenser units. The Ka-52’s Vitebsk-52 suite,

however, lacks the RWR, but still has the provision

for its installation at a later stage.

In addition to the Ka-52, in 2012 and 2013

the Russian MoD received three Mi-8AMTSh-

1s outfitted for VIP transport in high-threat

environments. These helicopters were ordered by

the previous defense minister, Anatoly Serdyukov,

and feature luxury cabins, EO sensors for better

aircrew situational awareness during night flying,

extensive armor protection for the cockpit and

passenger cabin, a sophisticated communications

suite and a derivative of the Vitebsk self-protection

suite using with three jammer heads. One of

these is installed on the tail and two and the tips

of outrigger pylons, plus the associated missile

approach warning sensors.

DIRECTIONAL IR JAMMINGTECHNOLOGY

This state-of-the art DAS, at least by Russian

standards, features new jamming technology

that was little-known in Russia until 2010. In

contrast, most of the remaining components used

in the Vitebsk date back to the early/mid 1990s.

The brand-new technology to be employed for

countering both surface-to-air (SAM) and air-to-

air (AA) missiles is used in the L370-5 directional

IR jammer system, kept in the classified world

until June 2010. It is used in conjunction with newgeneration UV missile approach warning sensors.

An export version of the jammer known as the

L370E8 was unveiled for the first time during the

Eurosatory exhibition in 2010 by Rosoboronexport,

Russia’s defense export agency. The L370E-8 IR

jammer version was promoted at the exhibition as

one of the main components of the President-S

integrated DAS (a simplified derivative of Vitebsk),

proposed for a wide variety of attack and transport

helicopters.

The L370 family of directional jammers was

developed by Zelenograd-based Zenith Special

Design Bureau. The system was seen in prototype

form for the first time installed onboard a Ka-50

helicopter in August 2004 and its testing and

evaluation effort was eventually completed in

2009. The concluding phase of the effort included

a number of firings of live Igla (SA-16) shoulder-

launched, heat-seeking SAMs against targets

emulating the thermal signature of a medium-sized

helicopter, protected by the L370E-8. The final live

firing test of the system was performed against

a real Mi-8 helicopter outfitted with the L370E8,

tethered on a hill at a shooting range, with its

engines working at maximum power setting androtors turning. The Igla SAM was launched from a

distance of 3,300ft (1,000m), and from sidewards/

rearwards aspect which is advantageous for the

SAM employment (i.e. providing the best guidance

conditions). The video footage released of this

particular test clearly showed that the missile’s

guidance was considerably affected by the

combined use of the IR jammer and a salvo of

26mm PPI-26 IR flares. As a result, the Igla missile

missed the target by some distance.

The new directional IR jammers of the L370

family are based on a sapphire lamp mated to

an optical system for firing a narrow beam of IR

energy at incoming heat-seeking missiles. The IR

beam is modulated by using a pattern of smart

algorithms, also developed in-house by Zenith.

The system is advertised as having a digital control

unit that is reprogrammable in the field in order to

be able to face a wider spectrum of threats.

The L370-5 version of the directional IR jammer

used on the Ka-52 has two jamming modules

(heads), installed in turrets located side by-side

beneath the fuselage. The L370E-8, designedfor the Mi-8 family of VIP and assault transport

helicopters, tested in 2009 and 2010, uses three

modules – two ball turrets on the fuselage sides

(installed on the tips of the outrigger pylons) and



another one housed under the tail boom.There is also version of the active IR jammer

developed for the Mi-26 designated as the L370E-

126L, which was installed and tested on the

ground for the first time in 2009. In addition to

these three existing rotorcraft versions, two more

Vitebsk derivatives are currently in development

for the Mi-28NM and Mi-35M attack helicopters

but there no details have been released yet.

The L370 family of directional IR jammers

works in close cooperation with the new-

generation L370-2-01 UV missile approach

warning sensors developed by Moscow-based

Reagent Scientific-Technical Centre – four units for

providing a 360° coverage in azimuth.

The IR jammer is also complemented

by PPI-series of IR flares, fired from UV-26

countermeasures dispenser units. Management of

the system’s operation is provided by a dedicated

control unit in the cockpit, controlling and firing

mode – singe shots, series of single shots at pre-

set intervals or series of salvoes.

PASTEL RWRProtection against radio-frequency (RF)

threats is provided by the L150 Pastel’ RWR,

developed by TzKBA design bureau in Omsk.

This early 1990s-vinatege digital system can

provide scan across the 1.2-18GHz wavelengthrange (covering the D, E, F, G, H, I and J bands),

with an angular coverage of 3600x600 (azimuth

x elevation), and has an accuracy of between

3-40 degrees with ‘pinpoint location’ antenna,

and some 10 degrees when ‘rough location’

antenna is used. The claimed detection range is

120% of the treat radar’s range and it was made

capable of detecting pulse, pulse-Doppler and

continuous-wave (CW) mode radars in search,

track and target illumination modes. The L150 can

classify multiple targets by their priority (in order

of greatest danger to the host platform). It features

a pre-programmable library with up to 128 treats.

The RWR can also control the optional RF jammer

onboard the helicopter and is also thought to

be capable of providing automatic operation of

the DAS, triggering the UV-26 countermeasures

dispensers upon detection of radar-guided

missiles fired against the host platform.

The L140 Otklik LWR covers a 3600x900 sector

by the use of four receiver units and operates

within 0.4-11 micron wavebands, with a claimed

accuracy of within 100.The other new attack helicopter type in RuAF

service, the Mi-28N, still has no integrated DAS

(it uses only UV-26 chaff/flare dispensers, while

the export-standard aircraft are also equipped


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with UV missile approach warning sensors) and

development of such suite was reported to had

been initiated as late as in 2009 ort 2010. It is

expected in its production version the Mi-28N’s

Vitebsk DAS to be approximately similar in

capabilities and content to that already integrated

onto the Ka-52.

The third new attack helicopter type of the

Russian Air Force is the Mi-35M fielded in 2011

while its export derivative has already been

sold to Venezuela, Brazil, Iraq, Azerbaijan and

Nigeria. The Mi-35M, however, still retains a

legacy DAS inherited from its predecessor

Mi-24P/V, composed by a several ‘federated’

systems: the 1970s-vintage SPO-15 RWR, UV-26

countermeasures dispensers, EVU exhaust-mixer

boxes over the exhaust ducts (used to reduce

the acquisition range of heat-seeking missiles)

and the stand-alone L166V11E Lipa (also known

as SOEP-V1A) omni-directional ‘disco-light’ IR jammer. This systems is considered useful against

older-generation shoulder-launched SAMs but ill-

suited to counter newer-generation heat-seeking

SAMs endowed with comprehensive counter-

countermeasures capability such as the various

Stinger and Igla derivatives.

UKRAINIAN AFFORDABLE WAY

A small R&D company in Kiev, Ukraine,

NPF Adron, offers a range of innovative and

notably affordable solutions for helicopter

protection against IR-guided missiles, both

surface- and air-launched. Its best-known

product is the KT-01AVE Adros omnidirectional

‘disco light’ IR jammer, designed as a direct

replacement of the 1980s-vintage L166V11E Lipa,

widely used on the Mi-8/17 and Mi-24/35 family of

helicopters. The system is housed in a ‘flower pot’

container above the forward end of the tailboom.

According to information revealed by Nikolay

Arhipov, Adron’s director general, by mid-2010 the

company sold some 100 systems in five years, and

until 2015 no less than 100 more were delivered to

international Mi-8/17 and Mi-24/35 operators.“Adron was established by former officers

from the Soviet Air Force who used to work in

the Kiev-based Aviation-Engineering Higher

School. There is a good IR technology base and



experience in Ukraine dating from Soviet times

and after dissolution of the Soviet Union we have

decided to joint our efforts into a small R&D

enterprise to do what we had knew the best.

As a company, we are closely cooperating with

TzKB Arsenal, an established R&D company in

Ukraine with a rich experience in the development

of IR seekers for shoulder-launched SAMs. This

cooperation helps us to test our countermeasures

products and prove appropriate deception

methods”, explained Alexander Alyoshin,

Adron’s deputy director general.

According to him, the KT-01AVE is an omni-

directional stand-alone jammer, identical by shapeand weight to the well-known L166V11E Lipa, but

boasting a brand-new smart modulation of the IR

energy. This modulation is intended to disrupt the

capability of the missile to calculate the true rate

of line of sight and as a consequence to generate

false commands to point itself at the target.

The signal emitted by the jammer, as Aloyshin

explains, is modulated in a three-dimensional way

(in contrast to the L166V11E which uses a single-

dimension modulation) and can fool all known

IR seekers used in both old and new-generation

shoulder-launched SAMs. The three-dimensional

signal modulation includes amplitude-phase,

frequency-phase and time-pulse modulation,

so the signal constantly changes three of its

parameters - frequency, phase and amplitude

- in order to cause significant errors within the

missile’s guidance process, resulting in a miss.In an effort to enhance the jamming effect,

the KT-01AVE should operate in conjunction to

the original EVU exhaust suppressor or specially

developed, also by Adron, IR emission suppressor



device (exhaust-mixer), installed on the exhaust

ducts of the TV3-117-series engines powering both

the Mi-8/17 and Mi-24/35.

Aloyshin says that the KT-01AVE has

undergone a rigorous test and evaluation

programme, where it performed as expected, even

in the worst-case scenario where the helicopter

is in hover and there is no forward movement

to incur an additional difficulty for the missile’s

guidance system.

The new IR jammer was introduced in

operational service in 2005 and in addition

to Ukrainian Army helicopters it was sold for

installation on Mi-8/17s and Mi-24/35s belongingto the militaries of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Poland

and the Czech Republic, as well as to some

undisclosed head-of-state helicopters. In addition,

KT-01AVE is used in the PZL-Swidnik W-3PL

Głuszec attack and assault transport program.

A small number of jammers sold out to US

customers for installation on Mi-8/17s operated on

behalf of US government agencies in ‘hot spots’

around the world but Aloyshin declined to provide

further details.

Polish Army Aviation Mi-17-1Vs and Mi-24Vs,

plus Czech Air Force Mi-171Shs fitted with the

Adros KT-01AVE, have been involved in combat

operations in Afghanistan between 2008 and 2013.

COMPLETE SELFDEFENCE SUITE

‘We are offering a complete helicopter self-

defence suite including the KT-01AVE as its coreelement, combined with newly-developed flare

dispensers and IR suppressor’, Aloyshin noted.

He added that Adron has also developed an

improved flare dispensing system integrating



two different types of dispenses – a large-calibre

one firing 50mm flares and a small-calibre one

firing 26mm flares. The use of a pre-programmed

sequence of large- and small-calibre flares is seen

as another simple yet effective way of fooling IR

seeking systems using flare rejection capability.

Alyoshin shared that as a rule, flares have a much

higher temperature than engine exhaust gases and

can be easily eliminated as valid targets by the

seeker’s flare rejection algorithms (which sense

the significant difference between the thermal

signature of the target and the flare).

In order to fool such algorithms, the newcountermeasures dispenser system developed

by Adron first fires a large flare, which will be

immediately rejected by the missile’s seeker,

followed by a small-calibre flare with a much

smaller IR signature. This smaller and therefore

‘cooler’ flare could be accepted by the missile’s

seeker as a valid target because of the significant

difference in the strength of the signals emitted

by the two flares, which are set to fully replicate

the difference between the signals emitted by the

small flare and the target itself.

Adron claims that this deception method is also

effective against two-colour seekers, working in

both IR and UV spectrums, and featuring primary

and secondary signal processing circuits working

in separate frequency bands. Deception of such

seekers is becoming possible thanks to the useof large-calibre flares with an increased emissivity

in the UV spectrum. The dual-calibre dispenser

system was tested by Adron for the first time on

a proving range in May 2010, and all the test and


11/1163

evaluation activities to be completed until the

end of the year. The dual-calibre dispensers are

now being offered as a direct replacement of the

1980s-vintage ASO-2V 26mm countermeasures

dispenser units widely used on both the Mi-8/17

and Mi-24/25.

Adron is also busy with developing new-

generation low-temperature flares to better

replicate a helicopter’s signature. The currently

used 50mm flares are too hot, developing a

temperature of between 1,500 and 2,000 0C, but

this is significantly higher than engine exhaust

gases which range 400-600 0C (this is valid for theTV3-117-series), reduced to about 300 0C when IR

suppressors are used. The low-temperature flares

are intended to develop temperatures of between

600 and 900 0C.

The AP-1V is a new-generation IR suppressor

(exhaust-mixer box) installed onto the exhaust

ducts of the TV3-117 turboshafts used to

power both the Mi-8/17 and Mi-24/25 family

of helicopters. This exhaust-mixer device, also

developed by Adron in Ukraine, is used to shield

the hottest points of the helicopters in order to

reduce the heat-seeking missile’s acquisition

range. As Alyoshin claimed, the main goals when

designing the AP-1V included a good shielding

capability as well as reducing to the minimum

possible extent the consumed engine power. ‘Our

IR suppressor reduces the engine’s output powerby a mere 1.5% on the ground compared to up to

13% of the original EVU IR suppressor boxes that

have been used on the Mi-8/17 and Mi-24/35 since

the mid-1980s.” Alyoshin revealed. v

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Russian Helicopter Self Protection Aids