In spite of the AW139 licence production programme being run by Russian Helicopters and AgustaWestland in Tomilino, Moscow Region, the Kamov Ka-62 advanced medium multirole helicopter remains high on the holding company’s priority list of helicopters with a takeoff weight of 6–7 t. Initially the Ka-62 was conceived as a civilian version of the Ka-60 military multirole helicopter, which first prototype flew its maiden mission as far back as December 1998. The second prototype was made in the Ka-60U trainer version in 2007.

Ka-60 was improved repeatedly, but its main weakness was its RD-600V engines and powertrain that never met the reliability requirement. As a result, the Russian Defence Ministry cut the financing of the Ka-60 programme last summer. Nevertheless, it remains interested in buying helicopters in the class. The military has made a decision that it will buy, further down the road, the militarised version of the commercial Ka-62 that is under development now to meet the most stringent commercial helicopter certification standards.

Kamov’s Ka-62 programme manager Alexander Vagin has told Takeoff that the Progress aircraft company in the town of Arsenyev begins to make parts of Ka-62 prototypes this year. In all, three flying prototypes, a static tests prototype and an ‘Iron Bird’ integrated full-scale test rig to test the avionics suite and aircraft systems are to be manufactured. The type of the engine to power the Ka-62 – the Turbomeca Ardiden 3G – has been selected finally. Russian Helicopters and Turbomeca made a long-term contract for 308 Ardiden engines in April this year and the two companies signed a firm contract for the first batch of 40 engines on 19 May, during the HeliRussia 2011 show. The first Ardidens are to be delivered to the Ka-62’s developer late in 2012. Compared to the Ka-60, the Ka-62’s reduction gearbox and powertrain will be from a different supplier too, while KumAPP JSC will continue to make the composite main rotor blades to equip the Ka-62. Development of the avionics suite has been vested in the Transas company. The Progress plant will make the airframe and handle the final assembly of all Ka-62 helicopters.

The Ka-62 prototype is to start its flight tests in the first half of 2013. Two more flying prototypes are to be made in the same year. The certification programme is supposed to be complete by mid-2015, with deliveries of production-standard Ka-62s to begin in 2016.