Gator on the Rise

The Kamov Ka-50 (NATO code name Hokum) was developed as a new-generation heavily-armored attack helicopter - originally conceived as a one-to-one replacement of the Mi-24 Hind. The program was launched at the Moscow-based Kamov Experimental Design Bureau in the late 1970s. The concept - promoted by the then young and inventive head of Kamov, Sergey Mikheev - called for an unorthodox, well-protected, agile and small-size attack machine.