Manufacturer catalog

Kamov

Kamov is the Russian and Soviet rotorcraft design bureau associated with Ka-series helicopters, especially compact coaxial-rotor designs for naval aviation, attack, rescue, utility, and specialist missions. Its legacy is now carried inside Russian Helicopters' National Helicopter Center Mil&Kamov, which Russian Helicopters describes as the official developer and certificate holder for Mi- and Ka-brand helicopters.

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Nikolai Kamov's design school grew from early Soviet autogyro work into a dedicated helicopter bureau after the Second World War. GlobalSecurity traces Kamov's institutional line through a 1940 experimental autogyro production plant and a 1948 design bureau tasked with naval helicopter development, while Russian Helicopters identifies 1948 as the beginning of the Kamov Experimental Design Bureau's coaxial-helicopter history.

Kamov's distinguishing engineering theme is the coaxial main-rotor layout: two counter-rotating rotors on the same axis instead of a main rotor and tail rotor. Russian Helicopters describes this arrangement as giving Kamov helicopters high maneuverability, good controllability, and small dimensions, traits that shaped shipborne Ka-series aircraft such as the Ka-27 family and later attack and civil utility helicopters.

The Kamov name remains important even though the current corporate structure is broader than the original design bureau. Russian Helicopters says its National Helicopter Center Mil&Kamov combines the design and engineering capacity of the Mil and Kamov schools and focuses on research, engineering, construction, and testing of helicopter prototypes.

Coaxial-rotor helicoptersNaval helicoptersAttack and reconnaissance helicoptersSearch-and-rescue and utility helicoptersHelicopter research, prototype development, and testing

Notable Systems

Ka-27, Shipborne anti-submarine and search-and-rescue helicopter, Aircraft & UAVs

Ka-27

Shipborne anti-submarine and search-and-rescue helicopter

Shipborne anti-submarine and search-and-rescue helicopter family developed around Kamov's compact coaxial layout for naval aviation.

Sources: GlobalSecurity Kamov Company, Russian Helicopters Ka-32A11BC
Ka-52, Attack and reconnaissance helicopter, Aircraft & UAVs

Ka-52

Attack and reconnaissance helicopter

Two-seat attack and reconnaissance helicopter in the Kamov line; Rosoboronexport markets the Ka-52E export version as a combat scout-attack helicopter with guided-weapons and target-designation roles.

Sources: Rosoboronexport Ka-52E, GlobalSecurity Kamov Company

Manufacturer History

  1. Autogyro production plant formed

    GlobalSecurity traces Kamov's origin to Experimental Facility of Propeller Articles No. 290, created near Moscow at Ukhtomsky station and headed by Nikolai Kamov.

    Sources: GlobalSecurity Kamov Company

  2. Kamov helicopter design bureau established

    Russian Helicopters and GlobalSecurity both place the postwar Kamov helicopter design bureau in 1948, with a naval-helicopter mission and Nikolai Kamov's coaxial design school at its center.

    Sources: National Helicopter Center Mil&Kamov, GlobalSecurity Kamov Company

  3. Naval Ka-series expands

    GlobalSecurity describes the Ka-25 as a major shipborne helicopter milestone and the Ka-27 as the later multipurpose naval successor, anchoring Kamov's long-running maritime helicopter specialization.

    Sources: GlobalSecurity Kamov Company

  4. NHC certified as Mi and Ka aircraft developer

    Russian Helicopters says Rosaviatsia issued the National Helicopter Center Mil&Kamov an Aircraft Developer certificate in April 2020, making it the official developer and certificate holder for Mi- and Ka-brand helicopters.

    Sources: National Helicopter Center Mil&Kamov

Predecessors
Experimental Facility of Propeller Articles No. 290
Successors
National Helicopter Center Mil&Kamov
Website links
National Helicopter Center Mil&KamovRussian Helicopters company overviewRosoboronexport Ka-52E product page

Kamov sourcing spans the Soviet-era design bureau, later JSC Kamov, and the current Russian Helicopters National Helicopter Center Mil&Kamov. Production of individual Ka-series helicopters may be associated with Russian Helicopters plants as well as the Kamov design lineage.

Manufacturer Sources

  • National Helicopter Center Mil&KamovPublisher: Russian Helicopters | Note: Official Russian Helicopters structure page supporting the current Mil&Kamov center, its R&D and prototype role, the April 2020 aircraft-developer certificate, and the Kamov design bureau's coaxial-helicopter specialization. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Russian Helicopters AboutPublisher: Russian Helicopters | Note: Official company overview supporting Russian Helicopters' Rostec ownership, whole-industry design/manufacturing/service role, R&D structure, and production-facility context. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • GlobalSecurity Kamov CompanyPublisher: GlobalSecurity.org | Note: Reference background supporting Kamov's older address in Lyubertsy, 1940 and 1948 organizational history, coaxial-rotor specialization, and Ka-series naval-helicopter lineage. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Rosoboronexport Ka-52EPublisher: Rosoboronexport | Note: Official export product page supporting Ka-52E role, mission description, combat scout-attack classification, and selected performance figures. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Russian Helicopters Ka-32A11BCPublisher: Russian Helicopters | Note: Official product page supporting Kamov coaxial design advantages and the Ka-32A11BC's descent from the naval Ka-27PS search-and-rescue helicopter. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Ka-52 Production Line ImagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Rights-clear image source for the Ka-52 production-line photograph used on the manufacturer page. | Accessed: 2026-07-11

Produced weapons

Category

Aircraft & UAVs

Crewed aircraft, drones, and loitering munitions.

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Ka-52, Attack and reconnaissance helicopter, Aircraft & UAVs2014 Russia-Ukraine War, 2011 Syrian Civil WarKa-52Attack and reconnaissance helicopterBuilt in: RussiaThe Ka-52 is a Russian two-seat attack and reconnaissance helicopter derived from the Ka-50 and built around a coaxial rotor layout, side-by-side crew cockpit, 30 mm cannon, and guided-missile hardpoints. In the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War it became one of Russia's most visible rotary-wing strike platforms, especially in southern Ukraine where Ka-52 and Ka-52M crews used longer-range anti-tank missiles against Ukrainian ground forces.
Ka-27, Shipborne anti-submarine and search-and-rescue helicopter, Aircraft & UAVs2014 Russia-Ukraine WarKa-27Shipborne anti-submarine and search-and-rescue helicopterBuilt in: Soviet Union / RussiaThe Ka-27 is Kamov's coaxial-rotor naval helicopter family, built around compact shipboard anti-submarine, maritime search, rescue, and utility missions. Russian naval aviation used the type around the Black Sea during the 2014 Russia-Ukraine War, where Ukrainian naval reporting and independent coverage documented a Russian Ka-27 destroyed during a March 2026 strike on forces at the Syvash drilling platform.