Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) and Russian helicopter manufacturer Kamov are teaming to offer an upgraded Ka-50/52 Hokum helicopter to the Turkish air force to meet its attack-helicopter requirement.
The upgrade may include the Rafael NT-D anti-tank missile as an alternative to the Russian KBP 9M120 Vikhr family of anti-tank missiles normally associated with the Ka-50/52.
European, Russian and US manufacturers are all vying for the Turkish order for more than 100 attack helicopters.
There are indications that Turkey may select two contenders before a final selection. Bell Helicopter Textron and Boeing were granted marketing licences for Turkey at the end of 1997 by the US State Department.
The IAI upgrade will include a night-targeting system and a laser rangefinder/designator. The Turkish air force and army have been briefed on the Rafael NT-D missile. The weapon is also part of the upgrade offered by Israeli companies to Poland for its PZL-Swidnik Huzar programme.
A Kamov delegation was in Israel in December 1997 to prepare the proposal to be submitted to the Turkish defence ministry.
The 1.45m-long NT-D weighs 25kg, has a maximum range of 6km (3nm) and is fitted with a tandem warhead claimed to be capable of penetrating 1,000mm of armour. It uses fibre-optic guidance in a basic design similar to that of the Hughes TOW.
The NT-D is one of a family of Rafael-developed anti-tank missiles. The missile has a television/ infra-red charge-coupled device to enable day/night operation. The operator selects the sensor mode before launch, with two guidance-mode options.
The lock-before-launch fire-and-forget option allows the operator to cut the fibre-optic guidance immediately after launch, allowing further missiles to be fired. In the fire-and-correct mode, the operator views the target through the seeker and can correct the trajectory before impact.
Other variants include a man-portable version, the lock-before- launch NT-G, without fibre-optic guidance, and the NT-S, identical to the NT-G, but with fibre-optic guidance, for special forces.
Source: Flight International
