Will Manufacture The Heavy-Lift Helicopters Through At Least 2019

The Aerosystems division of Kaman Corporation has announced that it has extended production of the commercial K-MAX heavy-lift utility helicopter. The company resumed K-MAX production in 2015 after a more than decade long hiatus with an initial commitment to build at least ten new aircraft.

“Continued demand and interest in the capabilities of the K-MAX have provided us the confidence to extend production into 2019 at a minimum. This is great news for operators who need the K-MAX to perform their repetitive lift missions cost effectively. Our team has done a great job assessing the global market and working with potential and existing customers to secure additional orders for our K-MAX helicopter,” said Greg Steiner, President, Kaman Aerospace Group.

K-MAX aircraft are manufactured in the company’s North American facilities in Jacksonville, Florida and Bloomfield, Connecticut. Orders for new K-MAX aircraft have thus far come from China, Europe and North America.

K-MAX aircraft are used around the world for firefighting, logging, powerline construction and other missions requiring repetitive aerial lift capabilities. The U.S. Marine Corps maintains two unmanned K-MAX aircraft developed with Lockheed Martin. These aircraft successfully supported the U.S. Marine Corps in Afghanistan for thirty-three months from 2011-2014 carrying more than 4.5 million pounds of cargo. Additional unmanned firefighting and humanitarian missions for K-MAX are also being developed and tested.

Development of the K-MAX was led by Kaman founder and former CEO, aviation pioneer Charles H. Kaman, and received FAA certification in 1994. The single-engine, single-seat K-MAX is a rugged low-maintenance aircraft that features a counter-rotating rotor system and is optimized for external load operations and designed specifically for vertical reference flight. The aircraft can lift up to 6,000 pounds.

The company will have representatives at the Paris Air Show (June 19-22) to discuss sales from the extended production run.

(Source: Kaman news release. Image from file)

FMI: www.kaman.com