Russian Navy Ka-29 Helicopter Tested Aboard Project 11711 Landing Ship Ivan Gren

a
Naval Forces News - Russia
 
 
 
Russian Navy Ka-29 Helicopter Tested Aboard Project 11711 Landing Ship Ivan Gren
 
The Project 11711 large amphibious assault ship (LST landing ship tank) Ivan Gren built by the Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad in west Russia continues its final sea trials in the Baltic Sea. Recent pictures show that air operations have been tested with a Kamov Ka-29 helicopter belonging to the Baltic Fleet.
     
Ka 29 Ivan Gren LST 1Russian Navy Ka-29 Helicopter conducting air operation trials with the Project 11711 LST Ivan Gren in the Baltic Sea. Picture: Vitaly Nevar / www.newkaliningrad.ru via bmpd.livejournal.com
     
This particular helicopter, bearing the "yellow" number 14 was overhauled by Russian Helicopters (in Lublino, Kaliningrad region) and was delivered at the end of 2016, but actually put back into operation in the summer of 2017. It is the first Ka-29 to be operational again with the Baltic Fleet in a long time. At the end of 2016 Russian Helicopters delivered the first batch of Ka-29 for the Pacific Fleet.

The Ka-29 helicopter was developed and adopted in the early 1980s. In total, more than 60 vehicles were built. With a flight speed of 235 km/h, the mission radius of the helicopter is about 600 km. The Ka-29 can carry the Ataka anti-tank missiles and the S-8 unguided rocket pods on four underwing hardpoints. By the early 2000s, almost all Ka-29s had been mothballed. However, in 2014, the Russian Navy decided to return these helicopters to service, accordingly, their rotor masts and engines were overhauled.

The Ka-29 shipborne helicopter can be also used to evacuate injured persons and transport military personnel and cargo. The helicopter’s transport version can carry up to 16 paratroopers or 10 injured persons, including four stretches. The helicopter can carry up to 2,000 kilograms of cargo in the cabin or up to 4,000 kilograms of cargo with an external sling. The Ka-29 helicopter can be equipped with a winch with a cargo-carrying capacity of up to 300 kilograms.
     
Ka 29 Ivan Gren LST 2Russian Navy Ka-29 Helicopter conducting air operation trials with the Project 11711 LST Ivan Gren in the Baltic Sea. Picture: Vitaly Nevar / www.newkaliningrad.ru via bmpd.livejournal.com
     
The Ivan Gren large amphibious assault ship of project 11711 is designated for landing operations on adversary-held territory, transportation of combat hardware and equipment. In peacetime the ship is engaged in humanitarian operations. The ro-ro construction allows the armor to move by the tank deck from bow to stern ramps. The two-island ship has a hangar in the stern superstructure. It can accommodate one helicopter but due to the moving device which expands the length of the hangar it can house two helicopters. The hull and the superstructure are made of steel. The warship can carry 13 tanks and 36 armored personnel carriers. The marine strength is 300-380 men. Instead of the landing force the warship can carry 1500 tons of cargo. It can accommodate 1-2 transport-assault Ka-29 helicopters. Seaborne Ka-52K helicopter can also be deployed. Missile armaments comprise two 122-mm non-guided missile units 2x20 122-mm A-215 and Igla antiaircraft complex. Artillery comprises two 100-mm guns A-190 and 30-mm MZAK AK-630M. The warship displacement is 5000 tons, the length is 120 meters and width - 16.5 meters. The speed is 18 knots, the cruising capacity - 30 days and the crew comprises 100 men.

As Navy Deputy Commander-in-Chief for Armament Vice-Admiral Viktor Bursuk told TASS earlier, only two Project 11711 large amphibious assault ships will be built for the Russian Navy.

The Ivan Gren was set to be handed over to the Russian Navy by the end of 2016. Sea trials were put on hold in October 2016 after problems surfaced with the degaussing system. A Yantar representative said at the time: "At the initial stage mistakes were made in calculating the magnetic field of the warship and now it is necessary to adjust the degaussing system."

The defense ministry ordered Yantar to build yet another warship of the project - the Petr Morgunov. It was set to be launched in late 2017 and to be passed on to the Navy in 2018.

The Ivan Gren developed by the Nevskoye Design Bureau is the lead warship of project 11711. Its keel was laid by Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad in December 2004 and the floating took place in May 2012. The second ship of the class, Pyotr Morgunov, was laid down by the Yantar Shipyard on June 11, 2015.