For the first time in the world, and in a combat situation, an ejection from a helicopter was performed. The pilots became Heroes of Russia. And not only for this jump through the blades.
The crew of the reconnaissance and strike Ka-52M Chernihiv helicopter Regiment from Primorye - Major Roman Kobets and Captain Ivan Boldyrev - participated in a special military operation from the first day. From February 24 to March 20, he completed 25 sorties. The combat Alligator, although it has very good protection, including from missiles with an infrared homing head, is still vulnerable. And during one of their flights, their Ka-52M was seriously damaged, lost control, and began to fall.
The pilots did not lose their heads and used the jet-ejection system. The helicopter crashed, and its crew landed safely on parachutes. They tried to capture him. But Kobets and Boldyrev engaged the Nazis, gave them a decent fire repulse and were able to hold out until the approach of the evacuation group.
For their flying skills, courage and heroism, both officers were presented with the title of Hero of Russia. And they became real heroes of Primorye, as Governor Oleg Kozhemyako proudly announced.
It is known that it is almost impossible to jump out with a parachute from a helicopter that has lost control. Rotating blades will cut down anyone who tries to leave the cabin. Various technical tricks are used to rescue the crew of combat helicopters. In particular, they make shock-absorbing chassis and shock-absorbing seats. But, as a rule, the helicopter turns over when falling and lights up. The crew is dying.
Fundamentally, the task of salvation was solved at the Kamov company at the end of the twentieth century. For the first time in the world, the K-37-800 ejection seat was installed on the single-seat Ka-50 "Black Shark", developed by specialists of the Zvezda research and production enterprise.
The algorithm for ejecting from a helicopter is quite simple. In the event of an unavoidable threat to the life of the pilot (for example, if any vital on-board system fails or if the helicopter is damaged in battle, in which the helicopter cannot continue flying), the pilot pulls up his legs and, taking hold of the catapult supports, vigorously pulls them up. At this moment, special pyropatrons are triggered, which literally interrupt all six blades of the rotors. The blades fly away from the helicopter, freeing up space above the pilot's head.
After passing the signal that the blades have separated, the upper armored glass is shot. A small amount of plastic explosives is laid along its perimeter. It is enough to destroy the glazing. Everything is designed so that there are no fragments that could cause injuries to the ejecting pilot. Automation receives a signal that the passage up is free and safe.
Only after that, a tow rocket is put into operation, which literally rips the pilot's seat out of the helicopter cockpit. Special sensors determine the height, speed and spatial orientation of the chair, if necessary, an adjustment takes place, after which the rescue parachute opens. All this takes less than a second.
The K-37-800 rocket-parachute system provided rescue of the pilot in the altitude range from 0 meters to 4 kilometers at a helicopter speed from 0 to 350 km/h.
In fact, if an emergency situation occurred, the pilot could safely eject from a helicopter standing on the ground.
The two-seater Ka-52M has more advanced K-37-800M systems. The range of ejection heights has been increased from 0 to 5000 m. The peculiarity is also that the pilots are separated by rocket systems in different directions in order to exclude the clash of parachutes.
The Ka-50 and then the Ka-52 have been in operation for a total of about 30 years. And now they are already fighting. There have been emergencies and real disasters with these helicopters. Even very experienced pilots died. They could have escaped, but they never used the ejection system. Most likely, due to the ingrained fear of being chopped up by blades rotating directly overhead.
Major Roman Kobets and Captain Ivan Boldyrev proved that it is possible and necessary to eject in a critical situation. And they became Heroes more than deservedly.
And the Ka-52M Alligator confirmed that it is the best combat helicopter in the world and the only one that guarantees its crew a safe escape from a damaged car with a parachute.
Expert opinion
Vasily Dandykin, a member of the Expert Council of the All-Russian organization "Officers of Russia", a military expert, captain of the 1st rank, explained why Ukrainian nationalists set fire to ships in the port of Mariupol.
"There is by and large no logic here. I think they may try to create another fake, as in the Butch, but it is unlikely that they will succeed. These are the last ships of the Ukrainian Navy, and the second burning ship is Turkish, there are several dozen of them in the ports of Ukraine. These are foreign ships that turned out to be hostages, because Ukraine mined the passages from the Black Sea with old, still Soviet mines, some of which have already sailed into the Bosphorus, and some are drifting towards Bulgaria and Romania. Russia and Turkey, by the way, offered to make a "corridor" and release these vessels and their crews, but no response was received to this proposal. Now all this drama in Mariupol is coming to an end, the nationalists have nowhere to go from there, and they decided to just mess up in this way and blame everything on Russia, as usual. That is why they are hitting peaceful homes and social facilities, destroying everything that is near them. This is a scorched earth tactic, a tactic of terrorists and fascists, and now it is being implemented by Ukrainian nationalists in the not yet liberated eastern part of Mariupol."
The expert also commented on the Ukrainian fake about the alleged departure of the Russian military from Kherson. "The information about the retreat from the Kherson region is a throw-in and a provocation. The armed forces of the Russian Federation have established full control over this territory. The Nazis want to be met halfway. However, we received a provocation in Bucha, a savage massacre of our prisoners of war, a tragedy in Kramatorsk and unacceptable conditions in the negotiations. Moreover, they tried to accuse us of killing civilians. Please note that the Nazis use the "Dot-Y" exclusively for provocations. The Russian army is systematically liberating Ukraine from the Nazis and bringing peace by providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population. All reports about the retreat of soldiers from Kherson are nonsense and lies.
The special operation is going according to plan. Our military is successfully advancing and fulfilling its tasks. Now they have established full control over Kherson and the territories adjacent to it. Now we will put everything in order there. We have experience, take, for example, the same Crimea. The region is ours, no matter what Ukrainian propagandists say. In addition to the liberation of Donbass, we are pursuing the goal of successfully completing the denazification and demilitarization of the entire Kiev regime, this must be remembered. All the fakes of psychological centers do not stand up to any criticism.
In addition, yesterday it became known that Ukrainian nationalists retreating from Mariupol seized two foreign vessels. This was announced on Sunday by the deputy head of the People's Militia Department of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Eduard Basurin. "In the seaport of Mariupol, the retreating remnants of Ukrainian nationalist units seized two foreign vessels "Tsarevna" and "Lady Augusta". Holding the crews of these vessels hostage, the nationalists of the Azov (banned in the Russian Federation) are firing from the decks of 120-mm mortars, various types of grenade launchers and small arms. The fate of the crew members of these vessels and their health status are not yet known. The People's Militia of the DPR, together with the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, is doing everything possible to save the lives of sailors forcibly detained by Ukrainian nationalists," the statement says.
Sergey Ptichkin
