3WA

Well, if you read the Russian forums, and S.E. Bulba's last post here on the English ones, you find out first, that the Shkval was eventually dumped because of "obvious reasons" (i.e. no FLIR, can't lock targets well even in the evening). Then Second, the whole Ka-50 program was scrapped as being obsolete, because the Russians finally admitted that it was impossible for one man to successfully employ a modern combat helicopter at extremely low altitudes (i.e. in Combat). Many prototypes were made, but in the end, the final version was made into the Ka-52. I believe the "glass cockpit" one is the Ka-52Sh, or a prototype one or two editions beyond it. It looks to me a lot like the current cockpit of the Mi-28NE Havok. The problem is, the Ka-50 we have is WORLDS behind the current Ka-52, which has Radar, RWR, FLIR, LLTV, President-S, A-A capability, and God knows what else. It was made to take on the modern Apache in combat. So far, Chizh, one of the Producers, has signaled the new heli with have President-S to some point (though from reading the Russian forums, they seem to be guessing a lot, and I'm suspecting it will be just the IR detection / jamming module), a third rail to carry A-A missiles, and Igla missiles available. My side also wants FLIR and RWR, as they are needed on the modern battlefield, and for Night Attack. But so far Chizh is saying no. Other than that, very little information has been given out. The only thing I have seen Chizh say about giving more, is that he might do so in the Fall. x

Autopilot lights are reversed. Someone said there was another cockpit light that had a problem, but I can't remember what it was. Can't check right now, cause video card is out.

Thanks dude! Well, I'm not happy with the DCS Ka-50 right now, because of lack of FLIR and Night attack ability, so I will try this out! Maybe I can get some night missions out of this. :p Flying the Ka-52 would be awesome! Better than nothing. Let's see what they did with this.

Well, at least the light doesn't shine through the buildings and surrounding hills like a *cough cough* certain game we all love. :D

Ka-50 is so bad, it can barely get a lock in the EVENING. It really needs either LLTV (Starlight) or FLIR, and MUCH better EO / Contrast detection. When you've got an Apache coming at you at 6km, and you can't get a lock on it, YOU'RE IN TROUBLE! He's probably already launched a Hellfire at you! Right now, I only fly at Noon. That is about the only time I can get decent lock at range. I'm sure that this is probably realistic, and the problem is the day scope EO on the Shkval just SUCKS! It needs a better EO system, like GOES-451 on the Ka-52, which also includes FLIR. Would love to fly this chopper at night, where all modern choppers have a stealth advantage. Exactly, it's a cheat, and not real.

Good luck man! Hope you release one day!

Thanks Bulba! That is REALLY interesting.

The problem with night attack lies in the EO. As long as you can see the target, missiles that homed on a laser would work, like Kh-25ML. But the Vhiker is a beam rider, and must get constant range updates on a moving target, in order to shape the laser cone correctly. Without a Lock, which is not possible at night, it's not possible to keep ranging the target. If you try to, the cone resets to start, and you lose your missile in flight. Not only do you have to account for moving targets, you also have to account for the movement of your helicopter. So, the only thing this would work against, is a stationary target while your helicopter is in a perfect hover. So, yeah, we really need FLIR, so we can get a Lock. The whole copter just seems half-baked, and unfinished. I mean, even the GAZELLE has FLIR! An interesting post by S.E. Bulba - it appears that the Ka-50 WAS dumped in the end, in favor of the Ka-52, as the Russians decided you really do need two men to guide a modern combat chopper. https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3971224&postcount=48 So again, I say this was a Fantasy chopper all along. Unless ED is planning on making a Ka-52 sim, please give us FLIR so we can fly at night. And of course, some people want RWR. And no, M1, I don't hate you, and I try not to hold grudges against anyone, hence why I erased my posts. Though calling my side "spoiled" and "whiny children" is not good debate. x

Hmm, looks like any complaints have now been relegated to "wishlist".

Being able to get AWACS feed would be VERY nice! Yeah, but shouldn't the new President-S alert you to missile launch? Really doesn't matter what the missile is, since all we have are flares. Because of rotor wash, could we even carry chaff? The only option is too keep low and near cover. It can't hit you if you can put tree's or a building in between.

Thanks. I will have to try this against helis, and see if the EO can hit them without having to manually range again ( which would reset the laser cone, and lose the missile). Maybe setting the Vhiker to forward hemisphere air target would get close enough to hit, even without lock. How the EO works still seems somewhat mysterious.

Well, supposedly, if you try to correct laser range with the missile about half way down the cone, the cone will reset (going very wide again), and your missile will lose contact with it, going wild. Yeah, your probably right about tanks. Though this will still definitely affect the fast movers like Fighters and Heli's, which are the greatest threat. I don't have the Gazelle, but I'm betting that is terminal laser guidance. The Vhiker is a Beam Rider. With terminal laser guidance, you really don't need lock, as long as you can keep the laser trained on the target. The missile doesn't need range info, it will fly to wherever the end of that laser is. With beam riding, you have a cone of lasers. You NEED range info, constantly. The missile flies in a death spiral, hitting the walls of the laser cone. It starts out very wide to catch the missile in it after launch. But then it starts tightening the cone as the missile flies down range, making it narrower and narrower, depending on the range, until the missile is flying straight and true right before it hits the target. So see, you constantly need to know the range to target, especially against fast movers. I'm guessing the EO links with the laser, and handles this without resetting the laser cone. There's a switch on the front console, that let's you switch from laser cone to terminal guidance lasing. In game, this is used if you are firing Kh-25 (which is terminal guidance). In the end, it's just really annoying not having a dedicated night targeting system, on what otherwise appears to be a pretty modern copter. x

Hmm, I'm not familiar with that system. How do we contact AWACS? I really need to study the data link system. As for RWR, a lot of sites say the President-S included RWR and "radar jamming". Though they do say the modular systems varied for plane, heli, etc. Some of the missions can get pretty bad. Especially if you do a fast mission. Battle.miz for instance drops you right at the front line of a HUGE tank battle, with 4 AH-1W's about 5km away. And of course, they instantly come gunning for you. Modern battles these days seem to be a lot more hap-hazard and guerilla warfare like. You just don't know what's going to be thrown at you once your discovered. Which is why I wanted Igla's, and FLIR so I could fly in the cover of night. At least MAYBE some of the enemy don't have night vision. Igla's aren't near as good as R-73, of course. But there something to throw at the Fighters, and hopefully make them break off their attack, while you dive for the tree line and cover.

Yeah, that works somewhat, but still very dim. But the problem is, you can't get lock. This means you can't engage anything but a completely stationary target. If you keep trying to lase for range, which you need to get a correct laser cone , it restarts the laser cone, which means your going to lose your missile in flight. I'm not sure exactly how the EO corrects range for moving targets, but it does seem to control the laser cone, without having to restart it. This chopper just can't work at night without FLIR or some type of LLTV (Starlight) where it can get Lock.

EDIT: Yeah, you can't lock. So, it's only good for targets that are standing still. If I try to continuously range, it will reset the laser cone every time, and missile will lose track. EDIT2: Well, now I'm trying to figure out exactly how the EO works, and if after I nail the target with ranging laser, will the EO keep guessing the changing range?

Mmm, yeah, but usually they won't come at you till they get close. I think only once have I had something like an R-27 fired at me. And yeah, without RWR, you have no warning. You're toast. Usually, they come at me with their guns.

THIS I shall remember! But, actually it doesn't work. Because I take on the fighters a lot, and even moving very slowly near the ground, they get me. Usually with their guns. I'll try hovering, and see if it works. But, yeah, as Bulba points out, we should show up in the Doppler like a BonFire.

And this is why we need Ka-52 as a Group Leader, so it can pass the Ka-50 that info. DOH! Took me a sec to get that. Corrected. And what do you mean by "notch gate value". I've never really understood exactly how that targeting gate works on the Ka-50.

Lol, YEP! If you're worried about Radar SAMs, and they are on the Battlefield, you are up WAYYY too High! You need to keep tree's and any cover you can between you and those SAMS. Much easier to spot Igla and Stinger near you, than some Tunguska launching 6km away. Spot the Tunguska at slightly above tree top level. Then dive back down. Keep hills, terrain, and anything else you can between him and you. Then pop-up, and fire a fast moving Vhiker. Soon as you hit, DIVE for cover. Fighters are my Worst enemy. I've been killed by them flying just above a road between trees and buildings. They can snipe you anywhere.

Hope you come out with this one day, man! You should try to build a team up.

Thanks Ams999! I'll see what I can do with that. Too bad you can't lock, which is really the whole problem.

"In the Jungle, the quiet Jungle, the Shark sleeps tonight ♪ ♫ ♪ ♪" And EVERY night. Thinking about just taking a hand held FLIR scope and duct taping it to the camera lens on the Shkval.

Ignore the flaming fanboys, Hardcard. This is why people from Steam don't like visiting our forums. Really, all you have to do, from my experience, is enable the AI to carry whatever you want, using the CLSID trick. I guess the problem would be, getting them to use that exact weapon. Don't know how you would do that. For instance, I can equip R-73's on my Ka-50 AI wingman, and he will use them to attack fighters coming at us. If I tell him to engage bogies, he will use them, even though he doesn't have the instruments to do so. Fun to watch.

So, basically, is there any way to make a mod that would turn the Shkval day scope into a FLIR? Nothing fancy needed, maybe a keyboard switch to turn back and forth. But just basically take the FLIR from something like A-10C or any other FLIR capable scope, and stick it into the Ka-50 shkval. Then we can fly at Night! I get SOOOOO sick of day missions only. The heli has to go hide at night, because EVERYTHING else can see in the dark! Thanks.