Kamov puts high hopes on Turkey helicopter contract

Chief design engineer of the Russia`s Kamov helicopter company Sergei Mikheyev hopes to sign a contract with Turkey for supply of 145 Russian combat helicopters Ka-50-2, he said at a press conference in Moscow titled "The Kamov helicopter company in the 21st century".

Six years ago the Turkish authorities held a tender for supplying modern combat helicopters for the country’s defense ministry and chose US military helicopters produced by the Bell company, Mikheyev recalled. Kamov took the second place at the tender.

However, sometime later Turkey reconsidered Russia’s proposal. In 1997 the Russian party had proposed not only to supply helicopters to Turkey, but also to start their joint production in this country. The US proposal included only helicopter supplies.

Since the middle of 2002 Turkey has held talks with Kamov on signing a contract for supplies of Russian helicopters, Mikheyev said. "The talks are drawing to a close and we hope that all issues will be settled by the end of the year," he emphasized.