Representatives from the Ministry of Defence recently visited the Kamov Helicopter facility in Moscow and witnessed the performance of Ka-226T helicopters. Russian Helicopters which is a parent company of Kamov Helicopters has been chosen to deliver around 200 units of Ka-226T rotorcraft to India. Earlier, it was decided that the helicopters will be developed by Indo Russian Helicopter Pvt Ltd (IRHL), a joint facility of Russian Helicopters and HAL in Tumkur in Karnataka.

The officials from the Ministry of Defence and the Indian military officers took part in the demonstration flight of Ka-226T. This visit by the MoD officials comes within the framework of the procurement process. The delegation also visited prototype production facility and design bureau of the Kamov Helicopters.

The delegation also saw the digital models of Ka-226T, first digitally developed Russian rotorcraft.

The production of the same rotorcraft will be initially set up at Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant of Russian Helicopters, and will later be transferred to the joint facility at Tumakuru, under the ambitious Make in India initiative. However, the Ka-226T that will be produced in India will bear a different technical configuration catering exclusively for the Indian defence forces.

The delegation level visit which was earlier discussed during Nirmala Sitharaman’s visit to Moscow has proved to be very beneficial. The delegates were allowed to assess the performance levels of the Ka-226T copters. They were also able to gauge the scientific and technical potential of this Russian helicopter. Director General of Russian Helicopters Andrey Boginskiy said that they were really enthusiastic about delivering 200 units of the Ka-226T.

The light utility Ka-226T copter features a coaxial main rotor system. It has a maximum take-off weight of 3.6 tons. It also has a transporting payload capacity of 1 ton. The Ka-226T can be attached to transport cabin, which can shelter up to 6 people. It has also reported being cost-effective with high-end state-of-the-art avionics suite.

The Government of Karnataka has already allocated over 600 acres of land for the development of the project in Tumkur. The capital of the joint venture is estimated to be at Rs 30 crore, with HAL holding shares up to 50.5 percent. Russian Helicopter holding 42.5 percent of shares and the rest by Rosoboronexport.