Armed Assault Wiki
Register
Advertisement

NOTE: This article is about the PO-30 Orca helicopter in ArmA 3. For its up-armoured derivative in the semi-official Western Sahara Creator DLC, see PO-30 Orca (Western Sahara).


The PO-30 Orca is a light utility helicopter used by both CSAT forces and Russian Spetsnaz operatives in ArmA 3.

Overview[]

  • Roles:
    • Utility helicopter
    • Troop transport
« The PO-30 Orca is a transport and utility helicopter primarily developed for the Russian Air Force. The helicopter was intended to replace the Mi-8 and can be used for reconnaissance, transporting a full squad with combat gear and special operations. Armed variants of the PO-30 carry a Minigun and DAGR guided rockets.
Field Manual
»

Design[]

The PO-30 is a four-bladed, rotary-wing light helicopter with a fantail designed for both aerial reconnaissance and light transport duties.

Features
It has two variants: an unarmed version that has no weapons (due to lacking stub wings), and an armed version that has two stub wings located on either side of the fuselage.

Each of these wings have a single pylon on it that support dynamic loadouts.

Arma3-Orca-Loadout

PO-30 pylon configuration

Armament
By default, the armed version has both a minigun and DAGR pod mounted on its stub wings. The minigun has a single 2,000-round linked belt while the DAGR pod contains a total of 12 guided rockets.

But 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

Notable Traits
Quick and agile just like NATO's MH-9, the main difference (and advantage) with the PO-30 is that it actually has defensive avionics such as a Radar Warning Receiver (RWR).

Arma3-zafir-03

Offloading troops into battle.

It can deploy countermeasure flares to ward off incoming missiles, whereas the MH-9 would be completely helpless against such threats. Its ability to mount weapons ranging from anti-tank/anti-air missiles to rocket pods also makes it far superior to both of its NATO counterparts.

It can still transport passengers without having to sacrifice armament (MH-9), and it is able to mount a 20 mm gun pod instead of being limited to just 7.62 mm Gatling guns (AH-9).

Drawbacks
The PO-30 is not without its weaknesses. Like the MH-9, it is just as fragile due to being only lightly-armoured; despite its deceptively higher base armour values for each component. Furthermore, the PO-30's cabin is not bullet-resistant and can easily be penetrated by non-7.62 mm/12.7 mm gunfire. Any large calibre munitions can and will disable or outright destroy the aircraft with just a few shots.

As with the Mi-48, it also retains a somewhat distinctive (and loud) rotor sound which can be easily identified from many kilometres away.

Crew Capacity
Regardless of the variant, the PO-30 always has a seating capacity of ten personnel (including the crew). This consists of the pilot and co-pilot, and up to eight passengers in the rear compartment.

Variants[]

Arma3-render-orcaarmedblack
Baseline variant.

It is armed with a 6.5 mm minigun and rocket pod mounted on the end of stub wings fixed onto both sides of the fuselage. This variant can transport up to eight passengers.

Arma3-render-orcablack
Unarmed variant.

The two stub wings are removed on this version but it remains otherwise identical to the baseline helicopter (functionality-wise).

Camouflage[]

  • Hex: Light tan/dark tan/dark green cell pattern camouflage. Only used by Mediterranean CSAT forces.
  • Black: Matte black paint scheme. Exclusive to Russian Spetsnaz PO-30s.
  • Orca: Black and white paint scheme with livery meant to imitate an Orca whale's head.
  • Blue: Simple two-tone sky blue/white paint scheme.

Protection[]

Both variants of the PO-30 retain base armour values of 40.

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 40 points of damage (there are two in total). They take 300% increased 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 overall status of helicopter is at critical.

Fuel tank[]

The PO-30's fuel tank can only take 40 points of damage before rupturing. Destroying the PO-30's fuel tank will not result in a total loss unless the helicopter's damage levels are at critical.

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

Instruments[]

Consists of the pilot/co-pilot flight instruments, Multi-Functional Displays (MFD) and Helmet Mounted Display (HMD). They can incur 80 points of damage before failing.

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 can survive 180 points of damage before failure. It takes 250% increased damage from HE-type munitions.

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 120 points of damage before failure. It takes 600% increased damage from HE-type weapons.

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.

All weapon systems on the armed variant are controlled exclusively by the pilot:

Minigun 6.5 mm[]

Arma3-vehicleweapons-po30orca-minigun65mm
Main article: Dynamic loadouts#Minigun 6.5 mm

6.5 mm Gatling gun.

Useful against infantry and unarmoured ground vehicles.

DAGR[]

Arma3-vehicleweapons-po30orca-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, fired DAGRs can only be guided via MCLOS or through laser lock-on. Locking on via infrared is only possible if the pilot attempts to lock-on 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.

Trivia[]

  • The Orca is based on the real-world Kamov "Ka-60 Kasatka" helicopter, which was previously available in ArmA 2's Private Military Company DLC.
  • Early in ArmA 3's Alpha, the Orca was explicitly referred to by its real-world designation (Ka-60). This was eventually changed after the release of Game Update 0.70.[1]
  • The side doors for the passenger compartment can be seen being opened in certain showcases. However, they cannot be opened manually in normal gameplay without the use of scripts.
  • Orca (Orcinus orca) is the species name for killer whales, which is also known in Russian as "Kasatka". Co-incidentally, the Orca has a separate unarmed variant that uses a paint scheme with livery meant to mimic an Orca whale's head.
  • The civilian Blue texture was only added after the release of Game Update 1.58.[2]
  • Prior to Game Update 1.78, the Orca's windows did not appear to shatter even if they were shot at multiple times by large calibre weapons.[3]
  • The Russian Spetsnaz were later shown to be users of the Orca in the non-canonical First Contact campaign[4], though the faction does not have access to the helicopter in regular gameplay.[note 1]
The information below details unused, pre-release or removed content.
  • Arma3-orca-04

    Unused Digital Green scheme.

    An hidden texture (Texture name: heli_light_02_ext_indp_co.paa) depicting the Orca with the AAF's Digital Green camouflage scheme exists within the game files but remains completely unused and cannot be applied even through the Virtual Garage.[5]
    • It is the sole texture variant that remains unusable outside of custom addons or scripts. Given that the civilian Blue version is available within the Virtual Garage, it is unclear as to why it was never implemented as an (optional) camouflage scheme.

Gallery[]

Notes[]

  1. Not available outside of the First Contact campaign.

References[]

  1. van 't Land, J.J. 2013, SPOTREP #00006, Arma 3, viewed 21 April 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00006>.
  2. Kovařič, V 2016, SPOTREP #00054, Arma 3, viewed 8 October 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00054>.
  3. Kovařič, V 2017, SPOTREP #00076, Arma 3, viewed 8 October 2023, <https://dev.arma3.com/post/spotrep-00076>.
  4. ARMA 3: Contact 2019 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., First Contact, Anomalous Phenomena
  5. ARMA 3 2013 [Video Game], Bohemia Interactive a.s., \a3\air_f\heli_light_02\data\heli_light_02_ext_indp_co.paa

External links[]

See also[]

Aircraft of comparable role and configuration[]

Vehicles of ArmA 3
Wheeled AFV-4 GorgonAMV-7 MarshallHatchbackHEMTTHunterIfritKartMB 4WDMSE-3 MaridOffroadProwlerQilinRhino MGS (UP) • StriderSUVTempestTractorTruckQuadbikeUGV StomperVanZamak (MRL)
Tracked 2S9 SochorAWC NyxBTR-K KamyshCRV-6e BobcatED-1D Mini UGV (ED-1E) • IFV-6a CheetahIFV-6c PantherFV-720 MoraM2A1 Slammer (A4 UP) • M4 ScorcherM5 SandstormMBT-52 KumaT-100 Varsuk (X Futura) • T-140 Angara (T-140K) • ZSU-39 Tigris
Rotor-wing AH-9 PawneeAH-99 BlackfootAR-2 DarterCH-49 MohawkCH-67 HuronDemining DroneMH-9 Hummingbird (M900) • Mi-48 KajmanMi-290 TaruMQ-12 FalconPO-30 OrcaUH-80 Ghost HawkUtility DroneWY-55 Hellcat
Fixed-wing A-143 BuzzardA-149 GryphonA-164 WipeoutCaesar BTTF/A-181 Black Wasp IIKH-3A FenghuangMQ-4A GreyhawkTo-199 NeophronTo-201 ShikraUCAV SentinelV-44X BlackfishY-32 Xi'an
Aquatic Assault BoatMotorboatRHIBSpeedboatSDVWater Scooter
(Parenthesis) denote variants.
Karts DLC | Helicopters DLC | Apex DLC | Jets DLC | Laws of War DLC | Tanks DLC | Contact DLC
Arma3-factionicon-csat CSAT - Vehicles (ArmA 3)
Wheeled IfritMSE-3 MaridQilinQuadbikeTempestUGV SaifZamak
Tracked 2S9 SochorAkinaka ED-1D (Sayyah ED-1E) • BTR-K KamyshT-100 Varsuk (X Futura) • T-140 Angara (T-140K) • ZSU-39 Tigris
Rotor-wing Jinaah AL-6Mi-48 KajmanMi-290 TaruPO-30 OrcaTayran AR-2
Fixed-wing K40 Abalil-3KH-3A FenghuangTo-199 NeophronTo-201 ShikraY-32 Xi'an
Aquatic Assault Boat (Rescue) • Speedboat HMGSDV
Parenthesis denote variants.
Helicopters DLC | Apex DLC | Jets DLC | Laws of War DLC | Tanks DLC | Contact DLC
Arma2-factionicon-russianspetsnaz Russian Spetsnaz - Vehicles (ArmA 3)
Rotor-wing Mi-48 KajmanMi-290 TaruPO-30 Orca
Fixed-wing To-201 Shikra
Helicopters DLC | Jets DLC
Advertisement