Egypt awarded Russian arms vendor Rosoboronexport a contract for 50 Kamov Ka-52 Alligator combat helicopters, according to Russian media reports. Details of the transaction remained scarce, but it is thought that some of the Egyptian helicopters are maritime version Ka-52K Katran, which was unveiled earlier this year.
The Katran may equip the two Mistral class landing ships that were built by DCNS/STX France for Russia. France stopped delivery after joining the sanctions regime against Russia for its annexation of Crimea. Almost the same day the Ka-52 deal became public, Egypt was revealed as the buyer of the ships. Russian sources insisted that, although Egypt can base its Kamovs on the Mistrals, the Ka-52K is not a part of the Mistral deal.
Moscow and Paris signed the €1.2 billion Mistral deal in January 2011. Both ships have been built and tested at sea. The Vladivostok should have been delivered to Russia in November 2014, and the Sevastopol the following year. But on Sept. 3, 2014, French President François Hollande announced that due to Russia's “recent actions in Ukraine,” the two ships would not be delivered. Following negotiations, Paris and Moscow rendered the contract ineffective in August. Deputy defense minister Yuri Borisov confirmed Moscow’s readiness to clear Russian-made equipment on both ships to be sold to another buyer. The equipment includes a KRET suppression system for electronic warfare, according to the manufacturer.
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http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2015-09-28/egypt-orders-ka-52-combat-helos-considers-mig-35sThe KA-52 is a good piece of kit. Slightly less mission flexible than my girls - they have pretty much zero cargo capacity, but faster and just as maneuverable. Flies rings around the Apache variants and, like all Russian engineering, is very forgiving of intermittent and shoddy maint cycles.
