The Ka-50 Akula (Russian: Акула, meaning "Shark") is a prototype Soviet ATGM / AA Helicopter that first appears in Wargame: AirLand Battle as the "Ka-50 Chernaya Akula (Чёрная Акула/Black Shark)". It returns in Wargame: Red Dragon with a number of upgrades.
History[]
In 1977, the Soviet Army ordered the development of a new attack helicopter that would replace the Mi-24. Kamov’s V-80 (future Ka-50) competed with Mil’s Mi-28, and both prototypes were tested in 1982. The Ka-50 won the competition, and pursued its development, being finally ordered into production in 1987. But the events of 1989 and the subsequent dissolution of USSR prevented the initial order of 15 Ka-50 to be delivered, with only a handful being actually fielded.
While its unfortunate competitor, Mil’s Mi-28 finally got to become the Army’s new gunship, the Ka-50, smaller, more agile and more versatile, went on to become the special operations’ support helicopter.
Overview[]
AirLand Battle[]
In ALB, the Ka-50 is armed with one 30mm autocannon, two Kh-25 anti-tank missiles and four Igla anti-air missiles, allowing it to engage any type of targets, from vehicles to helicopters or even planes.
Together with its variant, the Ka-52, these helicopters are the only ones to have armor extending to the rear. This represents the advantage of their co-axial rotors, lacking a tail rotor and thus a rear weakspot.
Red Dragon[]
The Ka-50 Akula is one of the three top-tier helicopters available to the Soviet Union, the other two being the Ka-52 and the Mi-28 Havoc. It rests as something of a middle-ground between the two, blending the Ka-52's interdiction capabilities with the Havoc's punching power. Although it lacks the fearsome SEAD missiles of its fellow carcharian, it possesses anti-tank missiles instead; although lesser in number than the Havoc's Ataka-Vs, the Vikhrs are statistically superior, with higher accuracy and armour penetration capability. More importantly, it retains a pack of air-to-air missiles, allowing it to pick off pesky recon helis or even low-end fighter jets. Even without its Iglas, its side-mounted cannon allows it to reliably brawl with enemy choppers.
Overall, the Ka-50 is an excellent anti-vehicle helicopter. It is small, fast and sneaky enough to prowl behind enemy lines in search of tasty command units, hardy enough to retreat if it gets caught (you'll come to appreciate that unique rear armour it has), and powerful enough to blast superheavy tanks and high-end attack helicopters alike into paste. The only targets the Akula tends to struggle with (aside from AA and air-superiority fighters, obviously) are infantry and lightly-armoured vehicles, especially IFVs. It has no rockets to bombard infantry clusters with, and although it can easily destroy an APC, one would be wise to reserve its deadly ATGMs in case of a tank rush.
Weapons[]
Red Dragon[]
| Weapons | 
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Autocannon | ATGM | SAM |
| Name | 2A42 | 9K121 Vikhr | Igla-V |
| Caliber | [KE] [AoE] 30mm |
[HEAT] [SA] SALH |
[AoE] [F&F] Infrared |
| Ammo | x 480 | x 12 | x 4 |
| Range | Ground = 1575 m Helicopters = 1575 m  Airplanes = N/A m
|
Ground = 2800 m Helicopters = N/A m Airplanes = N/A m
|
Ground = N/A m Helicopters = 2625 m Airplanes = 2100 m
|
| Accuracy | 60% | 70% | 60% |
| Stabilizer | 50% | 35% | 60% |
| AP Power | 3 | 26 | N/A |
| HE Power | 1 | N/A | 4 |
| Suppression | 69 | 150 | 160 |
| Rate of fire | 562 r/min | 2s r/min |
20s r/min |
Gallery[]
