Paris, June 17, 2001

In the nearest future, a certification of the amphibious aircraft BE-200 is expected, thus turning a new stage in the implementation of the project of its creation.

Over ten years, the major participants of the project (TANTK, IAIA and BETA AIR) work at the creation of the amphibious aircraft BE-200.

Amphibious aircraft BE-200 is one of the new projects of the Beriev Design Bureau. The aircraft was developed with completely sealed fuselage, which from the start provided for the capacity of creating different versions of the aircraft for implementation of a wide number of tasks. The basic purpose of the aircraft is airborne fire-extinguishing by water or special foam extinguishing media. Beside that, the aircraft is capable of passenger transportation, search and rescue operations, ecological monitoring and patrolling of marine economic areas.

In its basic version, the aircraft is equipped with 12 ton water tanks and containers for chemicals that allow dumping of up to 270 tons of water or fire-extinguishing media on the source of fire per single fuelling. The water could be taken either while gliding over the surface or at the airfield with the use of ground equipment. Time required for filling of the tanks in gliding is 14 seconds.

BE-200, while possessing the performance and high efficiency of a land-based turbojet aircraft is capable of landing both on the ground and on the water, which considerably widens its application capacities and affords replacement of an entire combination of conventional means - airplane, helicopter, sea or river ship. BE-200 is the only contemporary amphibious aircraft equipped with turbofan engines. Two reliable D-436TP engines manufactured at the Zaporozhye Engine Building Plant are installed on the aircraft, while there is a capacity to equip it with the BMW Rolls-Royce BR-715 engines either.

Prototype and production aircraft BE-200 are manufactured by Irkutsk Aviation Industrial Association - one of the major aircraft manufacturers of Russia with a history of over 65 years and extensive experience in aircraft production. The best known product of IAIA of late are the aircraft of SU-27 - SU-30 family.

BE-200 made its maiden flight on September 24, 1998. From that moment, the first prototype made, within the framework of test program, 330 flights: 199 from the ground, 131 from water including 57 flights with water intake. The accumulated flight time is 279 hours.

The certification program was started in the first quarter of the year 2000. BE-200 performed 223 flights within the framework of certification testing, including 165 flights in the year 2000 and 58 flights in 2001. Accumulated flight time for the certification program made up 213 hours.

By today, the following test programs were completed:

• "Determination of Minimum Speed of Controlled Flight";
• "Determination of Flight and Takeoff and Landing Characteristics";
• "Failure Resistance of Systems and Equipment";
• "Determination of Stability and Conrollability Characteristics";
• "Determination of Aircraft Characteristics at Steep Angles of Attack".

By the end of this year, the second prototype, which is in the final stages of assembly, would join the certification program. In August 2001, a "Limited Type Certificate" should be issued for the amphibious BE-200 aircraft. That certificate would permit the use of the aircraft for fire-fighting and consequent delivery of BE-200 to Russian and foreign customers.

The first customer of the BE-200 aircraft in Russia is the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the demand of which is determined at 10 to 15 aircraft. The company BETA AIR has an initial firm order for seven aircraft from the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The first aircraft is to be delivered by the end of this year. Negotiations on supply of BE-200 aircraft are being held with China, South Korea, Israel and Greece. Considerable interest in different modifications of the BE-200 aircraft was revealed by Australia, Germany, France, Canada and Japan.

Promotion of the amphibious aircraft BE-200 into the international market is done by the BETA IR company in close cooperation with international organizations, among which is the "Russia-ASEAN" Cooperation Foundation, working with which provides for the promotion of the project in Asia-Pacific region - one of best suited regions for operation of amphibious aircraft.

By the present time, the BE-200 was demonstrated at the international aviation shows - Le Bourge-99,2001, MAKS-99 and Hydro Aviation Salon-2000. The marketing program during this year provides for the participation in MAKS (Russia), LIMA (Malaysia), and Seoul Aviation Show (South Korea).

The participants of the BE-200 project, in association with interested organizations and agencies are establishing Marine Pilots Training Center in Taganrog. Currently, work on preparation of training documentation, facilities and simulators, is under way. Training programs for training and conversion of flight and maintenance crews for the first customer - the Ministry of Emergency Situations have already been developed and approved.

TANTK, IAIA and BETA AIR work at creation of the network of after-sales maintenance and repair of BE-200 aircraft. The pattern of interaction on warranty aircraft service and spare parts supply to the customers has been developed and coordinated by the participants of the project.

Engineers of BETA AIR Company provide for the development and implementation of new aviation testing equipment and software products. Automated system of onboard monitoring, developed by the experts of the Company is more efficient and cost-effective as compared with standard testing equipment in regular use in aviation today.

Joint efforts of the participants of the project provide for successful progress of the BE-200 project and instill confidence in prompt certification of the aircraft.