Citing “continued demand and interest,” Kaman's Aerosystems division will extend production of the commercial K-Max utility helicopter past the 10 helicopters the company announced when it restarted production in 2015. Kaman sees opportunities to sell the K-Max for firefighting, construction and other operations.
Kaman (Hall 3 D118) built 38 single-engine, intermeshing-rotor K-Max helicopters, including three for testing, before it stopped production in 2003. Twenty-two of the 35 helicopters Kaman sold to the commercial market remain in use for firefighting, logging and infrastructure construction projects such as installing powerlines.
The manufacturer announced the production restart in June 2015; it plans to deliver the first two helicopters from the current production run in July to China-based Lectern Aviation for use by the State Forestry Administration of China.
Terry Fogarty, Kaman senior director of business development for K-Max, said he continues to field inquiries from potential users about the heavy-lift platform—so much so that Kaman now plans to build it through 2019 at a minimum. “We didn’t get into this to build only 10,” Fogarty said. “We expect this production line to be open for years to come, and we want the marketplace to know that.”
Kaman is also actively working with Lockheed Martin on an optionally piloted version of the K-Max, which could serve to extend the hours the helicopter operates—using it for unmanned firefighting flights at night, for example. Military sales remain a possibility after the U.S. Marine Corps used two of the helicopters for resupply missions in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2014.
Following initial deliveries to Lectern, plans call for delivering one K-Max every eight weeks from the current production run, starting with one for Rotex Helicopter of Switzerland; two for Helicopter Express of Chamblee, Georgia; and two for Rotak Helicopter Services of Anchorage, Alaska. Agreements for other helicopters are pending. Kaman builds K-Max airframes in Jacksonville, Florida, and installs systems and wiring at its final assembly and flight-test facility in Bloomfield, Connecticut.