Source: Mosnews.com
Russian Defense Ministry intends to freeze the production of the Ka-50 assault helicopter, the Izvestia newspaper reports. The newspaper cited its sources in the headquarters of the Russian Air Force and in the General Staff as saying that the ministry will prefer the Mi-28 project as the future basis of the nation?s helicopter force.

The sources said that closed conferences had been held at the Defense Ministry and it was decided to allocate very little money for production of the Ka-50 helicopters and tests of the more advanced Ka-52 gunship. Only 8 million rubles (about $240,000) were allocated for completion of the Ka-52 project in 2004 and in 2005 the ministry will allocate only 5 million rubles (about $150,000) for the project, Chief Designer of the Kamov design bureau, the producer of the Ka-50 and Ka-52 helicopters, has told Izvestia.

The Ka-50 helicopter, nicknamed ?Black Shark? by the Russian media, was approved for use in the Russian air force in 1995. The country spent nearly 1 billion U.S. dollars for its development which started in the 70s. The gunship uses the parallel rotor scheme which allows for extraordinary flight characteristics, but at the same time increases the cost of production and reduces the reliability.

At present, there are five Ka-50 helicopters in the Russian Air Force.

The Mi-28 uses more traditional scheme with one main rotor and one tail rotor. The military hold that this aircraft is more reliable and hence more fitting for general military operations.