The Kamov ka 31

The Kamov Joint Stock Company (then, Kamov DB), began development of the Ka-31 medium-weight naval helicopter in 1980 and the first flight took place in 1987. This development was the direct result of the cancellation of the shipborne Antonov An-71 AWACS aircraft. The An-71 was intended to be deployed on the Soviet Navy's first true aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov (then known as Tbilisi). The An-71 was cancelled in favour of the Yakovlev Yak-44. Though Yak-44 was in development (and not yet cancelled) at that time, the Soviet Navy wanted a stop-gap measure and began investigating other viable platforms to act as an AEW, on sea.

Kamov Ka-31 at MAKS 2007

With the wealth of knowledge in operating shipborne helicopter operations, the Soviet Navy selected the tested and reliable Kamov Ka-27airframe. The Kamov Design Bureau was already in the process of developing the Ka-29. Nizhny Novgorod Radio Engineering Institute was working on a Radar Design to be used on the An-71, the same design (with suitable changes). So they were all mated in 1980 and the design was known as Ka-29RLD. The radar development took time, and it was not until 1987, did the first flight took place. The production version of the Ka-29RLD/-31 was very different from the Ka-29 from which it was derived.