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Ka-64 Sky Horse

The Ka-64 development of the Ka-60/62 series was reported by Janes, as of 2001, to be a joint venture with Agusta of Italy intended for export. Features include a conventional tail rotor, modified passenger cabin, Western avionics and option of General Electric CT7-2DL, LHTEC T800 or RRTI RTM 322 turboshaft engines. Production would be by UUAP at Ulan-Ude. Other sources report that in the 1990s the Ka-64 Sky Horse was a naval version with standard four-blade main and tail rotors.

The first half of the 1990s for the Russian aircraft industry was one of the most difficult periods of existence. After the "young reformers" began the "shock therapy", the domestic defense industry turned out to be left to its own devices. At this time, all kinds of “cream collectors” rushed to Russia. For Americans and Europeans, as well as for the Chinese, a unique opportunity has opened up for free access to advanced Soviet developments and Soviet intellectual capital. Moreover, domestic enterprises (in particular, those that were part of the MAP of the USSR) could give odds to any foreign competitors, including in terms of staff qualifications, not to mention the cost of development.

Ulan-Ude Avizavod (UAZ), then headed by the Director General Yu.N. Kravtsov, was required to diversify its lineup. Among the prospective projects, Kravtsov justifiably attributed the Ka-60, the draft of which was set by the Decisions of the Council of Ministers of the USSR in the mid-1980s. Despite the restructuring and spread of "new thinking", OKB named after N.I. Kamova by 1990 managed to protect the outline design and layout of this machine. The serial construction of the Ka-60 was supposed to begin at the UAZ. Under these conditions, Kravtsov began to engage in, as they say now, "direct marketing." He personally visited all kinds of aviation exhibitions, met with potential buyers, as well as with hypothetical partners.

The head of the Italian Agusta, Amedeo Caporaletti, flew to Russia, and immediately “took the bull by the horns”. He proposed to establish a Russian-Italian joint venture on an equal footing to design a civilian helicopter in the weight category of 6–7 tons. Moreover, in Russia, a promising machine developed by the joint venture should carry the name "Kamov" and be produced without Italian intervention. Rights to the rest of the world would be given to Italians. Already on May 7, 1995, an agreement was signed between Kamov and Agusta.

By the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 23, 1995 “in order to create a competitive helicopter to provide access to new unconventional ... markets to accept the proposal of the State Committee for Defense Industry of Russia, the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, the Ministry of Transport of Russia, and joint-stock companies Kamov, and Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant on the development of a Ka-62 helicopter and the organization of mass production together with the Italian company Agusta, a multi-purpose aircraft Oleta medium class Ka-64 with engines ST-7 of the American company "General Electric". The document was signed by BC Chernomyrdin, the then Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation.

The production was supposed to be launched immediately in Italy at the facilities of Agusta, and in Russia, in Ulan-Ude. But the design of the machine was originally planned to be carried out in the Italian engineering center in Cascina Costa, a small town in the province of Lombardy, where Agusta was based. Kamov was responsible for the airframe and its systems, rotor composite blades, and Agusta for transmission, vibration damping system, and avionics. Thus, the leading areas of each side, in which they had more experience and authority, would be recognized.

For Italians, this was the first experience of cooperation with a school of helicopter engineering other than American or European. The Italians, manufacturing Bell helicopters under license, built for some time precisely the 5-ton modification of Bell 212. The power plant for the project was proposed to be the American - General Electric T700 / CT7-2D1. But Italians immediately made a reservation that they could use other engines in their interests. Kamov had no choice: in the post-Soviet space, no one, then or now, had engines with take-off power of 1,100–1400 hp. with decent fuel efficiency and a fairly long life. The RD-600 Rybinsk Design Bureau for the Ka-60 was never completed.

The preliminary design was completed by February 1996. The Ka-64 was a helicopter with one main four-bladed rotor with a diameter of 13.5 m and a four-bladed tail rotor with a diameter of 2.5 m. The maximum take-off weight with external load was 6500 kg, and in certified for flight on instruments with 12 passengers - 6 tons. The height of the cabin was limited to 1.42 m, which, of course, is not comparable to the almost 2 meters of the heavier Mi-8, but almost identical to the popular Black Hawk.

In February 1996, the Kamovtsi returned to their homeland, as the Italians “began to have temporary difficulties”. Joint work continued, but rather by inertia. Many of the decisions of the Ka-64 project were later embodied in AW-139. Of course, to assert that the Ka-64 and AW-139 are the same helicopter would be categorically incorrect.