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Kamov V-60 Scout Helicopter 1981

The Russian lightweight military helicopter project was launched in 1981 in response to the US single-seat Light Helicopter Experimental program. This resulted in the two-seat RAH-66 Comanche, which entered development [but was eventually cancelled. Two preliminary designs were offered by Russian helicopter design houses. Mil offered the Mi-36 weighing 3.4 tonnes, powered by two 650hp TV-0-100 turboshafts; Kamov offered the V-60, weighing 2.2 tonnes. It would have been paired with the V-80 [Ka-50] single-seat attack helicopter.

Kamovtsy like to give an example of attack aircraft - such as the Su-25. But the tactics and objectives of the attack helicopter and attack aircraft are completely different. The smaller targets still need to be found somehow. To date, the task for a single-seat helicopter is unsolvable. Maybe someday, the piloting code with maneuvering will be partially overloaded with artificial intelligence and they will make a reliable automatic search for targets up to an individual infantryman.

Since 1981, by decision of the Commission of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on Military-Industrial Issues No. 280, work began on the creation of a helicopter with the code V-60. The appearance of the helicopter according to the Decision was formed in accordance with the Terms of Reference of the Ministry of Defense as a new component created at that time in the structure of the army aviation to provide instrumental reconnaissance, target designation and relaying of tactical information. The helicopter dimension was limited by a take-off weight of 2.2 ÷ 2.5 tons. Work on the formation of the appearance of the V-60 helicopter was deployed in a wide range of activities for the targeted use of the helicopter, both in the interests of the army aviation and the Navy.

The variety of target applications of the V-60 helicopter determined its structural and layout configuration. The helicopter was developed according to the coaxial rotor design, which allows optimizing the glider, both for solving the tasks of the army aviation and the Navy, taking into account the experience of the design bureau in the field of autonomous basing and operation of helicopters on small tonnage ships of the fleet

In 1984, when the comparative tests of the V-80 and Mi-28, OKB im. N.I. Kamova made a proposal to create a specialized helicopter optical-electronic and radar complex, designed to conduct reconnaissance on the battlefield, provide target designation and ensure group actions of attack helicopters. The carrier of this complex was to be a new helicopter V-60, which was also designed for multipurpose , transport and ship options (currently it has been developed in the form of an army multipurpose helicopter Ka-60). Such a complex was designed to increase the effectiveness of the use of combat helicopter groups that are not equipped with such sophisticated and expensive reconnaissance and surveillance equipment.

Russia's armed forces, which, unlike other nations, never possessed lightweight helicopters. The smallest helicopter in Russian army aviation service was the Mil Mi-8/Mi-17m 'Hip'. It weighs more than 11 tonnes, making it uneconomical for many tasks and more vulnerable in combat conditions than a smaller helicopter.

In accordance with the tactical and technical specifications (TTZ), the V-60 helicopter was equipped with one gas turbine engine TV-0-100 of the Omsk Motor Engineering Design Bureau (OMKB) with a take-off power of 690 hp. Management of work on the V-60 helicopter was assigned to the deputy chief designer of OKB im. N.I. Kamova V.G.Krygina.

As a result of the work, a technical project was completed and a full-scale helicopter mock-up was built, on which the volume of operational and technological work necessary for the project was tested. The helicopter cockpit in transport modification allowed to accommodate up to 6 people, including the pilot, with special equipment necessary for the modification. To solve the tasks of reconnaissance and target designation by the team of authors of the Design Bureau, Gubarev B.A., Mikheev S.V. and Vagisom V.P. a technical solution was developed for the control system of the coaxial rotor, providing the installation of an electron-optical or radar module above the system of coaxial rotors, which made it possible to provide a circular panorama of view and preserve the habitable volume of the cockpit without changing the basic design of the fuselage (AS No. 1064596, later replaced by patent RU No. 2263607).

However, the changing requirements for army aviation, which at that time was only in its infancy, did not make this project a reality. The events of the late 1980s-1990s at first slowed, and then completely stopped the program for creating a new version of the helicopter, in connection with which at the Design Bureau named after N. I. Kamov, it was decided to transfer the reconnaissance and target designation complex to a new development - Ka-52, created in the first half of the 1990s based on the Ka-50, and which could be used not only as a "command" machine, but also as an attack helicopter, capable of conducting independent combat operations, including at night and under difficult weather conditions.

Of all the Russian helicopters flying into the air, this was the most raw, problematic and unnecessary. In general, these tasks should be solved by UAVs, parts of which were deployed in the first place. UAVs were not exotic in the Soviet Army yet, and in the 70-80s, the Soviets were ahead of the rest. It’s just that the parts of the UAV were first sent to the army aviation, which until the 21st century had been eating crumbs.

The first V-60, weighing 2.2 tonnes, should not be confused with the much later and totally unrelated multirole Ka-60 military helicopter, weighing 6.5-tons.