Russian Helicopters expects to ramp up deliveries this year of the Kamov Ka-52 Alligator twin-seat attack helicopter to Egypt.
Speaking to reporters at the ARMY 2017 Military Technical Forum outside of Moscow, Russian Helicopters general manager Andrei Boginsky said 15 Ka-52s will be delivered to Egypt by year-end, with another 31 shipping over the next two years. In July, the Russian news agency Tass reported that Egypt had accepted an initial batch of three helicopters.
Russian Helicopters has completed training Egyptian engineers and mechanics in Russia as part of the 2015 contract for 46 Ka-52s in land-based configuration. According to a Kamov official who spoke to the media at the ARMY conference, a group of Egyptian servicemen has done familiarization training on the Ka-52K.
Russia and Egypt continue negotiating over a naval version—the Ka-52K Katran—but it was not clear whether those helicopters will be delivered under a separate agreement or converted to the new sub-type under the original order. The Katrans will be based on two Mistral-class large landing ships built in France under Russian orders, but delivered instead to the Egyptian navy.
Egypt’s order factors into an expected increase in deliveries by Russian Helicopters from 189 helicopters last year to 220 helicopters this year. While military orders have prevailed, Boginsky said the number of commercial buyers has increased threefold. He identified Iran as a promising new market and expressed hope of selling the Ka-226T to that country. Earlier this month, the manufacturer dispatched a Ka-226T demonstrator to Iran on a product promotion tour.
Also at the ARMY conference, Russian Helicopters’ Kazan Helicopters unit announced that it has started to assemble the first prototype of the Mi-38T medium multirole helicopter under a contract concluded with the Russian Ministry of Defence in July. It will supply two Mi-38Ts by 2019 for flight trials and evaluation purposes. This could lead to serial production of the military version of the Mi-38 produced by the JSC Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant.
The Mi-38T will have a revised set of onboard systems and Russian-made military equipment compared to the civilian certified Mi-38-2. The “T” version will have additional fuel tanks for increased range, with a fuel system capable of withstanding explosions. Provisions will be made for the crew to wear sea rescue suits.
The Russian defense ministry has awarded Russian Helicopters a contract to develop a “high-speed combat helicopter,” identified by the Russian acronym SBV. The contract provides funding for a concept study to be completed within the next couple of years, including definition of core technologies. The SBV shall incorporate some of the technologies tested during flight trials of the PSV (“Perspective high-speed helicopter”) prototype built using a Mi-24 airframe, the manufacturer said.
PSV flight testing provided “a sufficient base for the start of the next phase, being development of a brand-new high speed helicopter,” Boginsky stated. “The contact signed today is a serious step forward to the next generation of rotorcraft featuring higher speeds and higher performance overall.”
The ARMY conference also served as the venue to announce a recent contract for three Mi-8AMTS helicopters due for delivery in 2018 with special cabin configuration to a Russian government agency.