The Kamov Ka-60 ''Kasatka'' (russian: " Касатка", ("Killer Whale") is a Russian medium twin-turbine military

transport helicopter A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to maintaining supply l ...

under development by

Kamov JSC Kamov (russian: Камов) is a Russian rotorcraft manufacturing company based in Lyubertsy, Russia. The Kamov Design Bureau ( design office prefix Ka) has more recently specialised in compact helicopters with coaxial rotors, suitable for n ...

. It performed its first flight on 24 December 1998. The civil version is known as Kamov Ka-62.

Design

The Ka-60 has an estimated local military market of 200 units (

Army aviation An army aviation unit is an aviation-related unit of a nation's army, sometimes described as an air corps. These units are generally separate from a nation's dedicated air force, and usually comprise helicopters and light support fixed-wing airc ...

units, Border Police and the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

). The Ka-60 is to be used for

aerial reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of ima ...

, for transporting air-assault forces, radio-electronic jamming, for special-operations missions and for various light-transport missions. Variations for foreign sale are expected. Manufacture is to take place at

Ulan-Ude Ulan-Ude (; bua, Улаан-Үдэ, , ; russian: Улан-Удэ, p=ʊˈlan ʊˈdɛ; mn, Улаан-Үд, , ) is the capital city of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia, located about southeast of Lake Baikal on the Uda River at its confluence wi ...

. The civil version, the Ka-62, can carry up to 15 passengers or of cargo (internally or externally), has a top speed of 167 kn (310 km/h) and a range of 380 nmi (700 km). It features a five-blade main rotor and shrouded tail rotor, and is powered by a pair of

Safran Ardiden The Safran Ardiden is a turboshaft designed and produced by Safran Helicopter Engines for single and twin-engine helicopters. Launched in 2003 as a more powerful TM 333, it first ran in 2005 and was introduced in 2007. The Ardiden 1 ''Shakt ...

3Gs, and later by in-development

Klimov The JSC Klimov (or Joint Stock Company Klimov) presently manufactures internationally certified gas turbine engines, main gearboxes and accessory drive gearboxes for transport aircraft. Originally established as ''Kirill Klimov Experimental De ...

VK-1600s. It has a 30-minute run-dry gearbox by Zoerkler, and can operate on one engine up to 9,500 ft (2,900m).

Development

The development of the helicopter was long. The program started in 1984, but the first prototype Ka-60-01 flew in December 1998, and the second in 2007.Butowski, Piotr. ''Rosyjskie śmigłowce: kryzys nie mija. Helirussia, Moskwa, 25–27 maja 2017 r.'', "Lotnictwo Aviation International" Nr. 7/2017, p. 36-37 A civil version, the Ka-62, was initially proposed when the Ka-60 programme was launched, but no production followed owing to development problems with the Ka-60's Saturn RD-600V 1500 hp engines. Instead, an agreement was signed in April 2011 to use the

Turbomeca Ardiden The Safran Ardiden is a turboshaft designed and produced by Safran Helicopter Engines for single and twin-engine helicopters. Launched in 2003 as a more powerful TM 333, it first ran in 2005 and was introduced in 2007. The Ardiden 1 ''Shakt ...

turboshaft A turboshaft engine is a form of gas turbine that is optimized to produce shaftpower rather than jet thrust. In concept, turboshaft engines are very similar to turbojets, with additional turbine expansion to extract heat energy from the exhaust ...

for a revised Ka-62. The main rotor will be driven via a new transmission, while the helicopter will have a revised cabin with larger windows and new avionics. First flight of the Ka-62 was planned for May 2013, with certification in 2014. Four prototypes and an initial batch of 16 Ka-62s for the Russian

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

were planned,Butowski ''Air International'' September 2012, pp. 66–67. with another 12 ordered by South American civilian customers. Russian certification was expected in 2018, with European

EASA The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitori ...

certification following in 2020.Mladneov ''Air International'' June 2016, pp. 6–7. The Ka-62 was unveiled in 2012 and flight tests began in 2017. After 434 test flights with three prototypes during 700h, it was certified on 30 November 2021 by Russian regulator Rosaviatsia. Deliveries should begin in 2022, planned production is six units in 2022, eight in 2023 and 10 in 2024. A cargo hook, a winch, a medical module and an anti-icing system should be certified until 2024.

Variants

;Ka-60: Basic multi-role model. ;Ka-60U: Training version. ;Ka-60K: Naval version. ;Ka-60R: Reconnaissance version. ;Ka-62: New version for the civilian market. It has a redesigned fuselage with a high degree of composites, a larger cabin than the earlier demonstrators and will be equipped with Turbomeca Ardiden 3G engines. ;Ka-64 Sky Horse: Western certified export version equipped with two General Electric T700/CT7 turboshaft engines and five-blade main rotor.

Operators

MAKS Airshow 2013 (Ramenskoye Airport, Russia) (519-10)

; *

Russian Air Force " Air March" , mascot = , anniversaries = 12 August , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = , decorations = , bat ...

(100 on order) ; * Atlas Taxi Aereo (7 on order) ; *

Vertical de Aviación Vertical de Aviación is a charter airline based at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia. As the name implies, it flies mainly Helicopters, but the company also operates fixed wing aircraft such as the Jetstream32. Although the ...

(5 on order)

Specifications

References

Sources

* Butowski, Piotr. "Russia's Restyled Helicopter". ''

Air International ''AIR International'' is a British aviation magazine covering current defence aerospace and civil aviation topics. It has been in publication since 1971 and is currently published by Key Publishing Ltd. History and profile The magazine was fir ...

'', September 2012, Vol. 82 No. 3. pp. 66–67. . * Butowski, Piotr. ''Rosyjskie śmigłowce: kryzys nie mija. Helirussia, Moskwa, 25–27 maja 2017 r.'', "Lotnictwo Aviation International" Nr. 7/2017, p. 44–45 * Jackson, Paul. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 2003–2004''. Coulsdon, UK:Jane's Information Group, 2003. . * Mladenov, Alexander. "Kamov's Six Tonne Twin". ''Air International'', January 2014, Vol.86, No. 1. pp. 74–75. . * Maldenov, Alexander. "Ka-62". ''Air International'', June 2016, Vol. 90, No. 6. pp. 6–7. . * "Nezavisimaya Gazeta", No.241 (1812), 25 December 1998
translation

External links

Kamov Ka-60
{{Kamov aircraft Fantail helicopters

Ka-60 The Kamov Ka-60 ''Kasatka'' (russian: " Касатка", ("Killer Whale") is a Russian medium twin-turbine military transport helicopter under development by Kamov. It performed its first flight on 24 December 1998. The civil version is known ...

Military helicopters 1990s Soviet and Russian military transport aircraft 1990s Soviet and Russian helicopters Twin-turbine helicopters Aircraft first flown in 1998