Ministry of Emergency Situations set to order Be-200

Published: 11/8/1999

Sergey Shoigu, Minister for Emergency Situations (MES), has claimed that the Ministry intends to acquire 20 Be-200s in the near future. During a visit to the Irkutsk aviation plant (IAPO), which produces the Be-200 Ch S to fight fires under the order of MES, Shoigu said that Budget 2000 would make Rb 400 m ($15.4 m) available to enable the production of four Be-200s for MES. The Be-200 has an Su-27 navigation system and all-weather search engines. It can carry 12 tonnes of water on board: twice as much as the most modern Canadian aircraft of this type. Capable of flying at 710 kilometres per hour for 4600 km, it can be used not only to fight fires, but also as a passenger aircraft to carry rescuers. According to a representative from IAPO, which also produces the Su-37 and Su-30, 50% of capacity could be set aside for the Be-200 Ch S project. He added that interest had been shown by China, Australia as well as other countries, confirming earlier reports, which also suggested that South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia are potential buyers. Bombardier is currently in negotiations with the Russian-Swiss joint venture, Betair (www.concise.org. 7th October 1999), on the support of the development and certification of the Russian amphibian.

Article ID: 1058