The development of the platform started in the distant 1990 as a combat helicopter Ka-60 "Kasatka". The helicopter was created in difficult times for Russia, it was not without failures. The development was overshadowed by the accident of an experimental prototype near the Moscow Ring Road, in which two test pilots were injured. The program managed to survive the setbacks. A lot of effort was spent, huge amounts of money were spent, time was lost, and most importantly, the rhythm ... And, nevertheless, the helicopter turned out beautifully, calm, with good flying and technical characteristics and ... "birthmarks".

The first birthmark is the "scheme". Throughout its history, the Kamov company developed helicopters of a particular scheme and never dealt with classical ones with a single rotor. And here again and for the first time instead of the traditional steering screw with blades - the screw with the shoulder blades in the ring (the French are particularly actively using such a construction, loving calling it - fenestron, "old window")

Second birthmark - "a foreigner will help us." For the first time, foreign units were used as the main components in the design of the helicopter. The main among them are the French Turbomeca engines with the beautiful name of the mountain top Ardiden 3G and the transmission of the Austrian company Zoerkler, which, attention, never developed helicopter gearboxes. The ideologists of the program explained their unusual choice by the fact that the Ka-62 is aimed at the foreign market.

The third is "fellow rivals". Simultaneously with the development of the Ka-62 in Tomilino (Moscow region, on the site of our National Helicopter Center, where the Kamov company is today), the Helivert company was created, which assembles from the foreign components of the direct competitor Ka-62 (maximum take-off weight 6.5 tons ), and the leader in the middle weight category - helicopter AW139 (6.5-6.8 tons). In addition to the absolute leader, in the middle / middle + whole niche there is a whole bouquet of helicopters, one is better than the other. All the world's leading helicopter manufacturers offer several models: Airbus Helicopters H175 / H160 / H155, Bell412EP / Bell525, Leonardo AW189 / AW139, Sikorsky S-76D and even South Korean "Surion".

As a result, the Ka-62 will face fierce competition, both domestically and abroad. Moreover, because of low demand in the market (in the first quarter of 2017 only two commercial medium / heavy helicopters were sold), competition will only increase, plus sanctions. So, the program turned out to be between two fires, on the domestic market - import components, on the foreign market - high competition with sanctions risks.

A similar situation arose in Poland several years ago when, turning away from the former Soviet Union, the Poles "deployed" their models to the west, but they were not needed by anyone, and were forced to build "foreign" fuselages for the helicopters AgustaWestland and Sikorsky S-70i.

Let's return to our copters. The first hovering of the Ka-62 passed on April 28, 2016, and only a year later, on May 25, 2017, the first flight took place (not so easily and smoothly). And the first flight is just the beginning. Ahead there is hard work to bring "to mind". A good helicopter is like a musical instrument that requires the finest tuning, time and patience ... The Ka-62 expects a hard struggle for a place in the market, it needs serious state support and a traditional tractor-customer in the person of the Ministry of Defense. But the budget possibilities are not bottomless, and the patience of the military is not unlimited.

The fate of the Ka-62 is very similar to our other helicopter programs. The reason for the difficult destinies of our new helicopters is that for a long time we do not have a balanced helicopter policy. We are losing positions, as it is now fashionable to say, the competence of the leading helicopter builder (and developer, and manufacturer, and repair, and service). Sometimes it seems to me that helicopters are being developed not for flying, but for constantly developing, developing and periodically upgrading ...

Happy birthday Ka-62!