Watch A Russian Ka-52 Gunship Helicopter Accidentally Fire Rockets At Spectators During Exercise

September 19, 2017 Aviation Safety / Air Crashes, Helicopters
David Cenciotti

Close call: This Is What It Looks Like When An Attack Helicopter Fires At You.

The following video is pretty scary: it shows a Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopter accidentally firing rockets towards parked cars and bystanders.

The Kamov Ka-52 Alligator is an all-weather attack helicopter featuring the distinctive coaxial rotor system of the Kamov design bureau. The footage shows two such gunship helicopters approaching what is probably a range, where a group of several cars is parked. Then, suddenly, one of the helicopters fires a rocket at a nearby object almost hitting the cameraman.

According to some sources, the clip, that leaked online on Sept. 19, was allegedly filmed during the ongoing Zapad 2017 drills; however the Russian military denied the claims that spread through the social media and, while not saying when and where it happened, it said the incident happened during another exercise.

“All the reports on social media about a barrage of rockets hitting a crowd of journalist and a large number of casualties are either a deliberate provocation or someone’s personal stupidity,” an official statement reported by RT said.

A public intelligence source cites one of the missiles on the KA-52 as being the Vikhr anti-armor missile and reports that the missiles are, “Virtually jam-proof and the system features automatic guidance to target.” The Kamov KA-52 also carries unguided High Velocity Aircraft Rockets (HVAR’s) of both the S-13 122mm rocket and the smaller S-8 80mm rocket both launched from multiple-round rocket pods. It is not known which munition was discharged in this incident.

The Vikhr anti-armor missile. (Credit: Minpromtorg.gov.ru)

H/T Dawid Szczesniak for the heads-up

 

About David Cenciotti
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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

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12 Comments

    • Those rockets came very close…

      So unless those journalists or observers were actually hit by the rockets, it doesn’t count? “No harm no foul” is the Kremlin’s excuse?

      • Read the statement again:
        All the reports on social media about a barrage of rockets hitting a crowd of journalist and a large number of casualties are either a deliberate provocation or someone’s personal stupidity,”

        There were no crowd of journalists, no large number of casualities, thus, initial description of the incident by social media is no more than a lie. This is exactly what MoD stated.

        • I have no knowledge of those social media posts,but it wouldnt surprise me.Blatant lying isnt restricted to despot governments anymore :-(

  4. The only fault here is that military guys (NOT journalists) entered restricted area and stood directly in front of shooting range.

    Unique footage, by the way. Gives you a chance to watch, what ISIS beardies see just before going straight to nonexistence.

  5. There’s a longer form video that shows several Military vehicles in the line of fire and the results…

Comments are closed.