Which one is more expensive?
... “although their projects were ready to reach the specified speed, their maintenance and operating costs significantly exceeded the permitted ceiling.”
...Firstly, “their project” from the Moscow Helicopter Plant named after. Even today M.L. Milya is not ready to “develop the given speed”, and secondly, it is very interesting: which of the “effective” managers from Russian Helicopters managed to calculate the costs of the Ka-92 project, if they are “ZERO” in aviation , and even more so in helicopters! But the main thing is that it is not available to them due to secrecy, but the Kamov people themselves have calculated everything a long time ago, which is why they are proposing this project for development.
On Wikipedia, the cost of the Ka-92 was announced = $30 million, while the Mi-38, which is significantly inferior to the Ka-92 in everything, in particular in speed by 1.5 times, is today offered to customers at a price of $40 million: “Imaginary achievements and real failures of the holding..." (Publishing "Our Version". 04/11/2016).
Innovation engine
One of the features of the previous modification of the Ka-226T was the Arrius 2G1 engine produced by the French company Safran Helicopter Engines. However, in 2022, the United Engine Corporation Rostec began work on import substitution of the French power plant with the Russian VK-650V engine. In addition to the Ka-226T, it is planned to be installed on Ansats and other vehicles of a similar class.
Photo: United Engine Corporation
When designing and manufacturing the VK-650V, innovative approaches and technologies were used, which made it possible to quickly create an engine demonstrator. In particular, 12% of the engine consists of parts made by 3D printing; work is underway on a digital twin of the product. Ground tests of the demonstrator engine started in January 2022, flight tests are scheduled for 2023.
The VK-650V engine has a take-off power of 650 hp. At the same time, a digital control system is being developed - the latest system of automatic regulation and control with full responsibility (FADEC) - BARK-5V. The type certificate for the power plant is planned to be obtained in 2023.
Flight tests of the Ka-62 helicopter will be completed in September
According to Rostec, which includes the holding, “the leasing company has agreed on the possibility of purchasing three Ka-62 multi-purpose vehicles under financial lease terms for further transfer to operators in the Far East.” Gazprombank Leasing became the launch customer for the newest Russian Ka-62 helicopter. The company can count on purchasing a vehicle from the first production batch,” the statement says.
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The Ka-62 helicopters will be manufactured in Primorye and can be delivered to the customer in 2022. However, the helicopter does not yet have a type certificate; the developers expect to receive it after completing the flight test program by the end of the year.
Who needs the Ka-62?
General Director of Gazprombank Leasing Maxim Kalinkin noted the multi-purpose purpose of the Ka-62: “transportation of passengers and cargo to hard-to-reach places, implementation of medical, environmental, rescue and other social tasks.”
Experts generally agree with this assessment. The editor-in-chief of the Vzlet magazine, Andrei Fomin, explained to Gazeta.Ru that the Ka-62 may be in demand “where the Mi-8 is too large.”
“The G8 lifts 24 people or 4-5 tons of cargo, and the Ka-62 lifts 15 people or 2.5 tons of cargo. At the same time, its speed is higher than that of the Mi-8, and its fuel consumption is lower. In addition, the Mi-8 weighs 13 tons, and the Ka-62 - 6.5. If the task is to transport not 30 people, but 15, or, say, to transport one patient from a hard-to-reach area to a hospital, then the Ka-62 is a more economical option,” Fomin explained.
He also noted that the characteristics of the Ka-62 are very close to foreign helicopters, which are actively purchased by Russian businessmen and officials for fast flights over short distances. For example, during his presidency, Dmitry Medvedev used an Agusta Westland AW139 helicopter for flights from his Gorki residence to the Kremlin and Vnukovo airport.
“In general, these are helicopters of the same class and, in theory, the Ka-62 should compete with the AW139. We’ll soon see how successful he will be, and whether the helicopter will be in demand among VIP passengers,” Fomin noted.
Is the helicopter outdated?
At the same time, the vice-president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, Doctor of Military Sciences Konstantin Sivkov, commenting on the contract to Gazeta.Ru, recalled that the Ka-60 helicopter, on the basis of which the Ka-62 was created, is a very old development that began back in 1984 .
“Almost everything we have now in aviation is a continuation of projects started in the Soviet Union. The Su-57 - the Russian answer to the F-22 - began to be created in the Soviet Union, the Mi-26 - a Soviet helicopter, the Mi-8 with all its modifications - too, and even the combat Ka-50 and Ka-52. With the exception of a few small machines, nothing new has been created in modern industry. 30 years for a new car is a lot,” explained Sivkov
“In developed countries, such as the USA and the USSR, helicopters are created from scratch, from the moment the task is set to the moment it is accepted into series within 4-5 years. And here for 30 years. That says it all,” Sivkov emphasized.
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Andrei Fomin, however, assured that over the years of work on the project it has undergone great changes, and the two flight samples of the Ka-62, which were shown at MAKS 2021, differ significantly from the first machine.
“The Ka-62, which in the early 90s was planned as a civilian version of the Ka-60, is not the helicopter that we see now. The external contours are the same, but the car is different,” the expert noted. According to him, some changes are visible to the naked eye - for example, the design of the tail unit has changed.
“The current version is designed taking into account the requirements of the USA and the EU, and this means a different composition of equipment, increased safety measures, including protection of the fuel system. Even the windows have become larger, because these are now emergency exits through which you can leave the helicopter in the event of an accident,” Fomin noted.
The expert emphasized that part of the blame for the delay in the project lies with foreign suppliers, who stopped supplying components after 2022. At the same time, the second and third flight prototypes were built just two years ago, when the project began to actively develop.
According to Russian Helicopters General Director Andrei Boginsky, during four years of testing, the Ka-62 completed more than 250 flights and underwent design changes. At the same time, Boginsky called the helicopter “in demand on air passenger routes” in Russia.
No replacements
Konstantin Sivkov also expressed doubt that the Ka-62 will be able to displace the Mi-8.
“The Mi-8 is a well-functioning and reliable machine, the accident rate is extremely low. No one yet knows what condition this helicopter will be in, what accident rate it will exhibit. In any case, there will be a period of experimental experimental operation, and then they will look at where to apply it. The need to replace the Mi-8 and its derivatives will arise when a machine appears that differs from it in fundamentally new capabilities with approximately the same dimensions,” the expert noted.
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According to Sivkov, such “fundamentally new capabilities” could be increased payload capacity, much greater speed, increased flight range, very high efficiency or even greater reliability.
“In all other cases, if there is no such qualitative leap in performance, there is no point in replacing the Mi-8 with a new machine, because a developed logistics system already exists for the Mi-8. Moreover, not only here, but in all countries of the world, there is a large number of trained flight personnel, there is a huge number of well-coordinated technical personnel, and a large number of spare parts.
And changing all this, throwing it away and installing a new car is a huge expense. And these expenses can be made only if this machine gives some kind of breakthrough. Such a breakthrough is not yet visible on the Ka-62,” concluded Sivkov.
Deputy Director of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis Alexander Khramchikhin noted that the demand for the helicopter on the market and the success of the Ka-62 project will be clear only a few years after its purchase and operation.
“Obviously, only the implementation of this project will show how successful it is, because this is not the first project that has been very delayed, both in our practice and internationally,” explained Khramchikhin.
Future plans
Currently, the world fleet of helicopters with gas turbine engines is more than 50 thousand helicopters, of which approximately 8 thousand are Russian, which is almost 15% of the world fleet, distributed across all continents and 100 countries.
HeliRussia 2021
© Olga Sokolova/Ridus
As for engines, Rostec plans to increase its share in the global helicopter engine market from the current 10-12% to 20% by 2035. It is planned to achieve such results through the launch of VK-650 V and 1600 V engines to the market, as well as the adaptation of Russian helicopter engines to foreign platforms in traditional sales markets.
The most important direction in the development of the domestic helicopter industry for the foreseeable future will be increasing the production of light twin-engine Ansat helicopters, as well as helicopters with a maximum take-off weight of 4-7 tons - Ka-62. The next promising helicopter is the Mi-38.
HeliRussia 2021
© Olga Sokolova/Ridus
In general, if we summarize, we can conclude that the Russian helicopter market is at the stage of equilibrium, teetering on the brink of stagnation. Although the supply of new domestically produced Mi-8MT/MTV helicopters currently covers the retirement of Mi-8/T/P helicopters, and the supply of Ansats partially replenishes the Mi-2 and Ka-26 that are being decommissioned, they do not make a general difference. Imports of helicopter equipment are still at a fairly high level, although below the record level of 2013. In addition, the helicopter accident rate remains high.
"Noodles" again!
...But we can predict in advance that the military will not agree to reduce the crew.”
...Don’t “predict”, because a “flying platform” is not a high-speed product and is not inherently suitable for mass production. It was not the military that went against the Kamov single-seater, but the general designers of the Moscow Helicopter Plant named after. M.L. Mil and to help them - the United States in the person of Sergei Sikorsky, who in Moscow personally pushed for the replacement of the Ka-50 with the Mi-28. The American envoy turned out to be stronger than our military and, as a result, ex. Minister of Defense Sergei Ivanov, instead of the outstanding Ka-50 “Black Shark”, put into service the mediocre, and even crude Mi-28N. As for the military, from lieutenant to colonel everyone was in favor of the single-seat Ka-50, which showed high combat qualities in the second Chechen War. They (the military) are still on his side today, which cannot be said about the ministerial generals, who are far from the work of combat helicopters, but close to corruption.
Instead of a pilot-operator, the “Black Shark” has automation, which, as you know, thinks faster than a human and more accurately! And in general, the whole world is switching to unmanned aerial vehicles, and give multi-seat attack helicopters to cost center designers, managers from Russian Helicopters and ministerial generals!? Therefore, single-seat capability is not a reason, but just an inappropriate reason for replacing the best helicopter in the world with a dead Mi-28N. Il-2 attack aircraft with one pilot in V.O.V. was the most massive combat aircraft in history (Wehrmacht soldiers called it “Schwarzer Tod”), which fought at higher speeds and also at low level flights. The Su-25 attack aircraft still flies with a single-seat cabin, although its speed is 2 times higher than that of helicopters: it confidently finds targets and also flawlessly destroys them with the same avionics as the Ka-50.
