Be-200 goes into military service

The Russian Defense Ministry is renovating its amphibian aircraft fleet as part of the ongoing massive re-armament effort. Under a contract signed in May 2013 with Taganrog-based Beriev, the military will receive six Be-200 jet amphibians between 2014 and 2016. The contract is valued at 8.4 bln rubles (about $269 mln). Beriev expects to secure a follow-up order for eight more such airframes.

The Be-200 will become the first amphibian type to be procured by the Russian military in decades. The aircraft on order are to replace the Defense Ministry’s fleet of Beriev Be-12 turboprops, whose production ceased in the 1970s. According to available information, the new amphibians are planned to be deployed with two naval aviation units: on the Black Sea in Krasnodar Region, and on the Sea of Japan in Russia’s Far East. Either unit will receive one Be-200ES firefighting aircraft and two airframes in the Be-200PS SAR configuration.

The Be-200ES is powered by a pair of Motor Sich D-436TP turbofans. It received a Russian type certificate in 2003. The aircraft’s MTOW is 40 to 42 tons, depending on whether it takes off from water or land. The firefighting version can drop up to 12 cubic meter of water. The Russian Ministry of Emergency Relief operates six Be-200ES amphibians; one such aircraft performs similar functions in Azerbaijan. In 2010, Beriev obtained an EASA restricted type certificate for the firefighting variant.

According to the manufacturer, the Be-200PS SAR version differs only in the absence of onboard water tanks and associated scooping/dropping equipment.