The Kamov Ka-27 (NATO reporting name Helix) is a military helicopter developed for the Soviet Navy, and currently in service in various countries including Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, South Korea, People’s Republic of China, Republic of China and India. Variants include the Ka-29 assault transport, the Ka-28 downgraded export version, and the Ka-32 for civilian use. In the above photo, the heavy helicopter Kamov 32A12 HB-ZFX is operated by Heliswiss International AG.
The Ka-32A11BC multipurpose helicopters have been successfully operated in Portugal for more than five years. In 2006, KAMOV JSC won the tender for the supply of the Ka-32A11BC fire-fighting helicopters, which were to replace the Aérospatiale SA-330 Puma which have very high operating costs. The Ka-32A11BC features high power-to weight ratio and ease of handling, owing to a coaxial-rotor design. The absence of tail rotor and the tail boom reduced to the main rotors diameter facilitate manoeuvring near obstacles and make it possible to assure exceptional accuracy hovering in heavy smoke and dust conditions. The Ka-32A11BC equipped with the suspended fire-fighting system Bambi Bucket of capacity up to 5 tons. The service life has been extended up to 32,000 flight hours.

The Ministry of Defence of Kazakhstan hosts a regular international exhibition of weapons systems and military equipment KADEX. The first exhibition was held in 2010.

The deal was signed between Russian Helicopters, which designs and manufactures civil and military rotorcraft, and Kazakhstan Engineering, the country’s core defence company, at the Kadex-2012 arms exhibition.

“We consider it is necessary to establish an efficient system of Russian helicopters’ operation in Kazakhstan. We hope this cooperation […] will help us to strengthen [our] positions in Kazakhstan and at the Central Asian market as a whole,” Russian Helicopters Deputy General Director Igor Pshenichniy said.

Kazakhstan also wants to build Russian helicopters on its territory, the country’s Emergency Services Minister Vladimir Bozhko said on Friday at an acceptance ceremony for two new Ka-32A11BC helicopters.

Kazakhstan’s Emergency Ministry is reequipping its entire fleet of helicopters. The co-axial rotor Ka-32 will be used in the fire fighting, rescue and medical evacuation roles.

World map of Kamov Ka-27 operators

Civilian in Blue, Military in Red, and both in Purple.

Meanwhile, the Kazakhstan government has placed additional orders for eight EC145 helicopters in terms of a framework agreement covering 45 of these multi-role rotorcrafts, which are to be assembled in-country by the Eurocopter Kazakhstan Engineering joint venture. These latest bookings – announced at the KADEX-2012 military exposition in Astana – consist of six EC145s in a medical evacuation configuration for the Ministry of Emergency Situations, along with two to be operated by the Ministry of Defense for search and rescue missions. They follow Kazakhstan’s initial acquisition of six similarly-configured EC145s last year, which were assembled and delivered during 2011 to both of the government ministries.

With operations adjacent to Astana International Airport, the Eurocopter Kazakhstan Engineering joint venture is responsible for helicopter assembly and customization, along with maintenance, support and training services. Eurocopter Kazakhstan Engineering also pursues sales activities throughout the region.

KADEX 2012

This year’s exhibition is the second running of Kadex, which is held every two years. More than 200 leading designers and producers of military, dual- and special-use technology from 20 countries took part in the first exhibition in 2010, and official delegations from more than 40 states held meetings and talks.