PO-30 Orca UP (Western Sahara)

NOTE: This article is about the up-armoured PO-30 Orca in ArmA 3's semi-official Western Sahara Creator DLC. For the baseline version in ArmA 3 itself, see PO-30 Orca.

Orca UP
Faction	ION
Type	Light Utility Helicopter
Seats	10 seats: 1× Pilot 1× Co-Pilot 8× Passengers
Item capacity	3000 mass
Top speed	~ 290 km/h
Service ceiling	~ 4,600 m
Fuel capacity	800 fuel units
Weight	6154.5 kg (all variants)
Can be slingloaded	No (all variants)
Primary armament	Armed only: 2× DAGR Rocket Pod [Default]
Secondary armament	Defensive: 168× Countermeasures (Flare/Chaff)
Variants	Armed, Unarmed
Games

The PO-30 Orca UP is a light utility helicopter used exclusively by ION private military contractors in ArmA 3. It was added with the release of the Western Sahara Creator DLC.

Overview

• Roles:
  • Utility helicopter
  • Troop transport

«

This light utility helicopter, primarily used by ION Services in "hot zones", has been outfitted with dust filter and armor plates to protect against small arms fire from the ground. Field Manual

»

Design

A specialised model of the PO-30 Orca helicopter, it features a dust filter and addon armour plates to protect the crew and passengers against small arms fire.

Features
It is available in two variants: armed or unarmed, with both featuring armour plates that cover exposed sections of the passenger cabin, nose, both sides of the engine, and lower half of the cockpit.

All windows have also been reinforced and are more durable against gunfire. As with the baseline PO-30, the armed variant is outfitted with stub wings which have pylons that support dynamic loadouts.

PO-30 pylon configuration

Armament
By default, the armed version has two DAGR pods mounted on its stub wings. Each pod carries 12 air-to-ground guided rockets.

In addition to its default loadout, the armed version's dual pylons can also support other types of weapons.

• The left pylon (1) supports any of the following:
  • ASRAAM (1×)
  • Scalpel (1×)
  • DAGR (12×)
  • DAR (12×)
  • Twin Cannon 20 mm
  • Skyfire (19×)
• In addition to the same weapons available for mounting on the left pylon (1), the right pylon (2) also supports:
  • Minigun 6.5 mm

Drawbacks
Although its addon armour package improves its resistance to small arms fire, the PO-30 remains just as vulnerable to surface-to-air missiles and other heavy anti-aircraft weapons. Since the windows are not fully covered by the armour shell, the pilot and co-pilot can be killed by a well-placed shot from a skilled sharpshooter or a large calibre round.

Crew Capacity
No matter the variant, the PO-30 has a crew that consists of the pilot and a co-pilot. Up to eight passengers may be seated in the cabin section.

Variants

• PO-30 Orca (UP)
• PO-30 Orca (UP, Unarmed)

Baseline variant.

It is armed with twin rocket pods fixed to both stub wings on both sides of the fuselage. This variant can transport up to eight passengers.

Unarmed variant.

The two stub wings are removed on this variant, though its functionality remains unchanged in all other aspects.

Camouflage

• Black
• Black, Custom
• Hex
• ION Services
• Black - [Armed]
• Black, Custom - [Armed]
• Hex - [Armed]
• ION Services - [Armed]

1/8

• Black: Matte black paint scheme.
• Black, Custom: Black and white paint scheme with livery meant to imitate an Orca whale's head.
• Hex: Light tan/dark tan/dark green cell pattern camouflage.
• ION Services: All-black paint scheme with the ION Services company logo painted on both sides of the fuselage.

Protection

Regardless of variant, the PO-30 has a base armour value of 80.

Hull

Hull damage is calculated based on the integrity of other components on the PO-30. Until all other parts of the helicopter have been critically damaged, the hull itself can never be "destroyed".

Engines

Each of the PO-30's engines can survive 80 points of damage (there are two in total). They take 300% additional damage from high-explosive (HE) type munitions.

If damaged: Reduced power output and makes it difficult to gain both speed and altitude.
If destroyed: Can potentially blow up the PO-30 instantly if it is at critical "health" status.

Fuel tank

The PO-30's fuel tank can withstand up to 80 points of damage before it ruptures. Destroying the PO-30's fuel tank can potentially result in a total loss if the PO-30 is at or near "critical" health status.

If damaged: Gradually leaks fuel over time; up to 50% of remaining capacity.
If destroyed: All fuel will be drained after several seconds.

Instruments

Consists of the pilot/co-pilot flight instruments, Multi-Functional Displays (MFD) and Helmet Mounted Display (HMD). They can take 160 points of damage before they fail. 100% of incoming damage will be shared with the PO-30's "health" pool.

If damaged: Occasional flickering of MFDs and HMD. Other instruments remain unaffected.
If destroyed: MFDs and HMD disabled. Instruments will malfunction and may not display proper readings.

Main rotor

The main rotor is able to take up to 360 points of damage before it fails. It receives 250% additional damage from HE-type munitions. At least 10% of incoming damage will be shared with the PO-30's "health" pool.

A disabled main rotor makes it increasingly difficult to maintain the PO-30's lift. Unless the tail rotor has also been disabled however, the PO-30 can still be (reasonably) controlled at low airspeeds.

Tail rotor

The tail rotor can resist up to 240 points of damage before failing. It takes 600% additional damage from HE-type weapons. At least 30% of incoming damage will be shared with the helicopter's main "health" pool.

A disabled tail rotor will drastically increase torque from the main rotor. At low airspeeds, the PO-30 will become extremely difficult to control due to constant yaw shifting to one side.

Sensors

Designed exclusively for transporting troops, the PO-30 has only one passive-type sensor available:

Sensor type	Max range (Air/Ground)	Min range (Air/Ground)	Affected by environment?	Target max speed (km/h)	Azimuth coverage (°)	Elevation coverage (°)	Friendly identification range (m)
Passive	A: 16,000 m G: 16,000 m	A: 16,000 m G: 16,000 m	Nothing	1e+10 km/h	360°	360°	12,000 m

Passive Radar

The PO-30's Passive Radar can detect Active Radar threats in any direction (regardless of the helicopter's facing direction).

Armament

NOTE: Only the weapons used on the default loadout for the PO-30 are listed here. For full details on ordnance that can be mounted on the PO-30, refer to the dynamic loadouts article.

The armed version is outffited with DAGR rocket pods. Control of the rocket pods is exclusive to the pilot:

DAGR

Main article: Dynamic loadouts#DAGR

Short-ranged, infrared-guided air-to-ground anti-vehicle rockets.

Due to the PO-30 lacking an IR Sensor module, any launched DAGRs can only be guided by MCLOS or with a laser lock-on. Infrared lock-ons can only be achieved if the pilot attempts to maintain a lock by using the seeker on the DAGR itself.

Slingloading

Main article: Slingloading#PO-30 Orca

The PO-30 has a maximum lifting capacity of 2,000 kg, and is able to slingload and transport a variety of light vehicles and equipment.

The PO-30's capabilities are comparable to that of the AAF's Hellcat helicopter, which essentially means its lifting options are quite lacklustre. It cannot transport any moderately heavy vehicles for instance, and the PO-30's engines will be greatly taxed regardless of its weight's cargo.

Note that both variants of the PO-30 (armed and unarmed) have the same maximum load capacities.

Gallery

External links

• Wikipedia: Kamov Ka-60

See also

Aircraft of comparable role and configuration

• PO-30 Orca (Baseline CSAT counterpart)
• MH-9 Hummingbird (NATO counterpart)