Kamov Ka-52 Alligator

The Kamov Ka-52 Alligator is a two-seat Russian attack and reconnaissance helicopter with two stacked, counter-rotating main rotors and no tail rotor. NATO calls it Hokum B.

It grew out of the single-seat Ka-50 Black Shark, first flew in 1997 and has been in series production since late 2008. Russia flies it, Egypt is its one confirmed export customer, and since 2022 it has fought in Ukraine, where it has been both heavily used and heavily lost.

The full specification table is on this page. This article covers what the table cannot: why the Ka-52 looks the way it does, how it differs from its parent, and what its record actually shows.

Development: from the Ka-50 to the two-seater

Kamov first proposed a dedicated battlefield reconnaissance and target-designation helicopter in the early 1980s, while the Ka-50’s prototype was still competing against the Mil Mi-28. The project stalled when the Soviet economy did.

Kamov’s chief designer then took a more practical route: modify the Ka-50 and add a second crew member to run the sensors. The designers chose side-by-side seating because crews had been seen to cooperate better that way. The result was the Ka-52.

The role was meant to be a team leader. AerospaceWeb describes the Ka-52 as intended to lead a group of single-seat Ka-50s, with the second crew member handling reconnaissance and target designation.

The Ka-52 flew for the first time on June 25, 1997. Manufacture of the first airframe had begun in mid-1996, and the first phase of official state testing finished in December 2008.

Series production had already started in autumn 2008 at the Progress aviation plant in Arsenyev, in Russia’s Primorsky Krai. The helicopter entered service in May 2011.

What changed from the Ka-50

The Ka-52 has a new radome and a nose-mounted radar, which gives it a rounder nose than the Ka-50. A spherical day and night TV and thermal sighting turret sits under the nose.

It has six wing-mounted hardpoints, against four on the Ka-50. To keep weight and performance close to the single-seater, Kamov reduced the armor and the capacity of the cannon magazine.

Some flight figures got worse anyway. Climb rate fell and the maximum positive load factor dropped to 3.0 g, and most of those problems were solved by fitting the Klimov VK-2500 engine.

Why the Ka-52 has no tail rotor

Like every Kamov design, the Ka-52 uses coaxial rotors: two three-bladed main rotors stacked on one mast and turning in opposite directions. Their torque cancels out, so the helicopter does not need a tail rotor to stop the fuselage spinning.

That removes the whole tail rotor assembly and its drive shaft. It also lets the helicopter make flat turns at any speed, and Kamov helicopters of this family can loop, roll and fly the “funnel,” circling a target while keeping it in sight.

One thing to know about the specification table: its “wing span” row holds the main rotor diameter, 47 ft 7 in (14.50 m), not the width of the stub wings. The fuselage length is 52 ft 6 in (16.00 m).

For more on how rotor layouts differ, see our guide to Russian helicopters.

Weapons and sensors

The Ka-52 carries one 30 mm 2A42 cannon fixed to the side of the fuselage and movable only slightly in elevation and azimuth. That semi-rigid mount is said to improve accuracy at medium range.

Beyond the gun, six hardpoints carry the missiles and rockets. The main anti-tank weapon is the laser-guided 9K121 Vikhr, with a maximum range of about 5 miles (8 km), and up to twelve can be carried. The Ataka is an alternative anti-tank missile.

It can also carry Igla-V air-to-air missiles for self-defense, plus S-8 and S-13 rocket pods. The Ka-52M variant adds the LMUR missile, with an attack range of about 9 miles (15 km).

The sensor suite is what the second seat is for. The nose radar lets the Ka-52 fly at night and in poor weather, and the turret under the nose carries the day and night sighting system. Both crew members have range-finders built into their helmets.

Reading the numbers on the spec panel

A few of the figures in the specification table need context, because the published numbers for this helicopter come from several slightly different sources.

The range row is the practical range quoted by Airforce Technology and Russian Wikipedia. The ferry range, which both also quote separately, is much longer at 690 miles (1,110 km). The two figures answer different questions and should not be compared as if they were the same.

The ceiling row is the service ceiling, the altitude the helicopter can reach in forward flight. Its hover ceiling is lower, at 13,100 feet (4,000 m).

Top speed is not fully settled. Airforce Technology gives 300 km/h, while AerospaceWeb gives 310 km/h at sea level, and the panel uses the lower figure. Climb rate varies even more between references, so treat any single number as approximate.

No empty weight is shown for the Ka-52. The figure published online is the one used for the single-seat Ka-50, and references list it for both types, so we have left that row blank instead of repeating it.

The price is an estimate as well. No audited flyaway price is public. HistoryNet put the cost at $13.7 million in 2022, and the panel carries the higher 2023 figure that Wikipedia reports.

Variants

The baseline Ka-52 serves the Russian Aerospace Forces. Three variants are worth knowing.

Ka-52E “Nile Crocodile”

Egypt ordered 46 Ka-52s in 2015, and Russian Helicopters began building export models in early 2017. The first three were delivered in July 2017, and Egypt had 19 by the end of that year. Those early aircraft had problems with power, night vision, navigation and other avionics.

The Egyptian version uses anti-corrosion materials, a reinforced fuselage, a new landing gear for the higher takeoff weight and a cooling system for hot climates. It swaps the standard sighting turret for the OES-52, developed with France’s Sagem and based on its STRIX system.

It was announced at the Egypt Defence Expo on December 6, 2018 that the Ka-52 had officially entered service with the Egyptian Air Force.

Ka-52K Katran

The Ka-52K is a naval version with folding rotor blades, folding wings and reinforced landing gear. Its shorter wings carry four weapon pylons instead of six.

It was meant for the Mistral-class assault ships Russia had ordered. After Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, that sale was canceled and the ships went to Egypt, which operates its regular land-based Ka-52s from them, not Ka-52Ks.

The first of four Ka-52Ks ordered for the Russian Navy flew on March 7, 2015. The type was reported ready for serial production as of September 2020, for the two Project 23900 assault ships whose keels were laid in July 2020.

Ka-52M

The Ka-52M is the modernized version Russia announced in 2018. Its changes include the upgraded GOES-451M sighting turret with longer range, stronger wheels, a cockpit better suited to night-vision goggles, the LMUR missile and a new self-protection system replacing the L370-5 Vitebsk.

Russia signed for the first 30 in August 2021 and placed a further contract in August 2022. The Russian military received its first 10 on January 9, 2023, and a plan for 114 aircraft has been reported.

Who flies the Ka-52

Russia is the main operator, through the Aerospace Forces and Naval Aviation. Wikipedia lists 133 in Russian service as of 2022, spread across regiments and brigades from Crimea and southern Russia to the Far East.

Egypt is the only confirmed foreign customer, with 46 in the 549 Air Wing. Algeria was reported to be negotiating for 12 Ka-52Es as of 2022, and no delivery is confirmed in the sources we checked.

How many have been built depends on who counts. Wikipedia, citing Butowski (2022), gives more than 196. Russian Wikipedia says about 131.

Because of that gap, the safest statement is that the Ka-52 is built in the low hundreds, and that the number still flying is lower than the number built.

Combat record

The Ka-52 was spotted supporting Russia’s intervention in Syria in 2015, reportedly defending the Latakia base, escorting search-and-rescue helicopters and supporting special forces. One crashed near Mayadin on May 5, 2018, which some sources blame on a technical failure.

It was used again briefly during the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.

Ukraine

The Ka-52 flew in the Battle of Antonov Airport near Kyiv in February 2022, and at least one was damaged that month but landed on its own. Losses followed within days: reports in March and April 2022 described several shot down by surface-to-air missiles and Stugna-P anti-tank missiles.

Russia used Ka-52s heavily against Ukraine’s 2023 counteroffensive, with success that Wikipedia attributes partly to a shortage of Ukrainian short-range air defense. The UK Ministry of Defence called it “one of the single most influential Russian weapon systems” in the sector in July 2023, and put Russian Ka-52 losses at 40 by then.

The open-source tracker Oryx counts only losses confirmed through open sources. It had 66 Ka-52s destroyed, damaged or captured by December 3, 2025: 52 destroyed, 13 damaged and one captured. By March 2026, Militarnyi was citing Oryx at “more than 66” Ka-52s, against 19 Mi-28s. It reported two more lost within 24 hours that month, citing a Russian military blogger.

Not every loss was in the air. Five were destroyed on the ground at Berdiansk airfield in an October strike, according to Oryx using satellite imagery, and two Ka-52s and two Mi-8s were destroyed by HIMARS in Belgorod Oblast on March 23, 2025. In March 2026, Ukraine reportedly shot one down near Nadiivka in Donetsk Oblast with a fiber-optic FPV drone.

The aircraft’s weaknesses have been discussed in public. Some Ka-52s have reportedly suffered wing vibration under heavy-load missions, and Ukrainian military intelligence has claimed one can be disabled with 7.62 mm machine-gun fire despite its stated armor. The Ka-52 also appears to lack radar jamming and relies on escorts such as the Mi-28 Havoc, which has radar jamming technology.

Hunting drones

Russia has also turned the Ka-52 on Ukrainian drones. Wikipedia reports that crews have shot a number of them down with the 30 mm cannon.

In August 2026, Kalashnikov Group told TASS that a Vikhr fitted with a non-contact target sensor is already used in an air-to-air configuration against fixed-wing drones out to about 6 miles (10 km). Army Recognition reported that claim, and the Russian Defense Ministry has not confirmed it.

That is a claim from the manufacturer, not an established fact, and it was unconfirmed as of October 2026.

How the Ka-52 compares

The Mi-28 has become the Russian army’s main gunship, while the Ka-52 pairs a coaxial airframe with a second crew member and a sensor suite. The two are often flown together.

For a Western comparison, look at the AH-64D Apache Longbow, a two-crew attack helicopter. For a ranked view of the whole field, see our list of the best attack helicopters in the world, and for the history behind the type, our guide to attack helicopter history.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a Ka-52 helicopter cost?

No audited flyaway price is public. HistoryNet put it at $13.7 million in 2022, and Wikipedia reports a unit cost of $16 million as of 2023. Russian Wikipedia gives about 857 million rubles. Treat any single figure as an estimate.

How many Ka-52 Alligators are there?

Sources disagree on how many were built. Wikipedia, citing Butowski, gives more than 196, while Russian Wikipedia says about 131. Russia had 133 in service and Egypt 46 as of 2022, and Oryx had confirmed 66 as destroyed, damaged or captured by December 2025, so fewer fly today than were built.

Is the Ka-50 a good helicopter?

It has real strengths: the coaxial layout gives it unusual agility, and it was fitted with a rocket-assisted ejection system, which is rare in a helicopter. But only 18 to 19 were built, and the single-seat layout was considered undesirable by NATO. Only about a dozen were delivered in the 1990s, against a plan for several hundred. The Ka-52 added a second crew member to run the sensors. Our Ka-50 page has the details.

What is the deadliest attack helicopter in the world?

There is no agreed measure, so no honest single answer. The Ka-52 is one of the most combat-tested modern attack helicopters, and also one of the most lost: Militarnyi, citing Oryx, reported far more Ka-52 losses than Mi-28 losses in Ukraine as of March 2026. Our list of the best attack helicopters compares the main contenders.

Does the Ka-52 have a tail rotor?

No. Its two counter-rotating main rotors cancel each other’s torque, so the helicopter needs no tail rotor. The tail carries only fins.

Who operates the Ka-52?

Russia, through its Aerospace Forces and Naval Aviation, and Egypt, which ordered 46 in 2015. Algeria was reported to be negotiating for 12 as of 2022, but no delivery is confirmed in the sources we checked.