Kamov to take part in South Korean tender

Published: 3/2/2000

Ka-50 in new bid/ Kamov has announced that it intends to participate in South Korea"s helicopter tender, with its Ka-50-2 Erdogan that is currently competing in Turkey"s tender for a combat helicopter, although according to reports unlikely to win. Sergei Mikheyev, Chief Designer of Kamov, is sanguine about the company"s prospects in the Turkish tender for 145 helicopters due to be announced 16th March, although other reports have it coming earlier in the month, where it is competing against the likes of Boeing"s AH-64D Apache Longbow, describing the likely outcome as “political", but stresses the importance of taking part in international tenders as a critical element in the marketing of the Ka-50. Whether this is simply another effort by the Kamov management to temper undue optimism is unclear, but most reports appear to give Kamov and its partner a fairly good chance on winning the tender. Kamov is making concerted efforts to promote the helicopter on the world market, together with two variants, the Ka-52, Alligator and the Ka-50-2, Erdogan. The latter developed in the tandem configuration in conjunction with Israeli Aircraft Industries subsidiary Lahav, which provided the aircraft"s avionics at the request of the Turkish authorities, who wanted a tandem version as opposed to the original side by side Ka-50-2. The Ka-50, whilst unparalleled in performance some respects, has been dogged by maintenance problems according to sources within the Russian Army and concern has also been expressed over the durability of its unique coaxial contrarotating rotors in combat situations, although these concerns are dismissed by Kamov as being unfounded. Kamov however, have established marketing helicopters to South Korea and currently supply machines through the LG Corporation to a number of Korean users including government users such as the Seoul Fire Service and the Coast Guard since 1995, which are reported to be extremely happy with the performance of their Ka-32s announcing orders for additional aircraft in October of 1999. Kamov has also recently announced a plan for further modification of the Ka-32 for operation in the timber and construction industries in Korea, with an order of 5-8 aircraft currently being negotiated. Kumertau (KAPP) the manufacturer of the Ka-32 also has a maintenance base in South Korea. Associated articles: www.concise.org. 8th April 1999; 7th September 1999;19th October 1999;26th October 1999

Article ID: 1498