VLADIMIR KARNOZOV / MOSCOW
Russian company is confident that it can meet new AH-X offset requirement
Russia's Kamov has approached its major South Korean partner LG International with a tentative proposal to use the Ka-60 Kasatka as the basis for the South Korean KMH indigenous multi-purpose helicopter.
KMH will be delivered in utility and light attack versions, and will be a 6,800kg (15,000lb) maximum-take-off-weight-class machine.
If Kamov and LG can agree terms, an official offer will be made by Russian state arms trade agency Rosoboronexport to the South Korean Government.
Kamov's willingness to share technologies used in its latest design, which is in manufacturer's flight trials ahead of an expected 2003 production start, is understood to be the Russian company's response to increased offset demands for South Korea's AH-X attack helicopter requirement. Seoul is now calling for offset worth 50% of the contract's value.
Kamov is offering its Ka-52K attack helicopter against the Boeing AH-64DApache Longbow and Bell AH-1ZCobra for the AH-X competition. The South Korean army requires an initial 36 attack helicopters worth around $1.8 billion.
AKamov source says the company is confident that the increased offset requirement can easily be met as Rosoboronexport had already offered 40% of the contract value.
At last month's Seoul air show the Russians unveiled the Ka-52K configuration. The original Ka-52 had a 30mm gun which has been replaced by a 20mm weapon on a retractable platform under the fuselage. A Kamov source says: "The 20mm gun has poorer accuracy and lethality, but if the customer wants it let him have it." The Ka-50 family's primary weapon, the KBM 9K121 Vikhr (AT-16) supersonic laser guided anti-armour missile, is the other principal armament.
Offering the Ka-60 for KMH could also be related to industry rumours in South Korea that the two helicopter requirements could be merged because of budgetary constraints and Seoul's desire to develop the local aerospace industry's capability.
Meanwhile, Korean Aerospace Industries and LG are understood to be discussing possible industrial co-operation on the KMH, as merging the attack and utility helicopter programmes could lead to a "winner-takes-all" situation.
Source: Flight International
