Ka-50 A-10C – Sharing Data II: Ka-50 to Ka-50

Part 2 of my ancient guide, covering the coordination within Ka-50s.

A Ka-50 flight is composed of up to four aircrafts. Each pilot is assigned a unique ID number from 1 to 4. You can see your wingmen (or your leader) and recognize them on the ABRIS by this number.
Assuming that you have already locked a target, you can now save it for your use or send its data to the rest of your flight.

Note: each aircraft must have the same frequency set on the R800L1 (VHF-2).

sharing-data-2-PRTz — Ka-50 PRTz target displayed on the ABRIS

Saving a target with the PRTz

Saving a target and making it appear on your ABRIS is very easy. Just select the correct target type button in the PRTz’s first row and press SEND/MEM.
E.g. if we have locked an enemy T-80, we will first select the armor target type, then press SEND/MEM. A diamond with a number (#1 for the first target) written into will appear in the ABRIS. This number is incremental, if you save another armoured target with the PRTz, it will appear as a diamond with a #2 in the middle.

This target representation will be later used to get its coordinates and send it to others (A-10s, for example). But we will delve into this aspect later.

Sharing data between Ka-50s

In order to send data about target you must select the recipient (from #1 to #4, or the whole flight), cycle between your saved targets by the corresponding target type button and then press “SEND/MEM”. The selected recipients will receive your data.
Now let’s see what happens if you are one of those recipients: some buttons on the PRTz will begin to flash (letting you understand who and what type of target you are about the receive), Betty will warn inviting you to take a look at the EKRAN and it will finally tell you that you have just received some data (“RECEIVE DL TARGET”). Press “SEND/MEM” to save, and the target will appear on your ABRIS. Quite easy, isn’t it?
Last important thing: the number written into target’s symbol couldn’t always be the same for the whole flight. E.g. if we have already saved an armoured target (target type #1, a diamond on the ABRIS) and your wingman will send you data about another one, you will see two diamonds on your ABRIS. The one we have saved before is the #1, and the one just received is the #2. But your wingman could have just one armoured target in his ABRIS, and it is identified by the #1. This means that our #2 is his #1 and vice-versa, and you don’t know that. So pay attention and try to avoid confusion!