First flight of the Beriev Be-200 twin-turbofan amphibian, long-delayed because of funding problems, is now expected in the hands of chief test pilot Gennady Kaliuzhnyi at Taganrog on September 11, shortly after Farnborough '98. As a scaled-down version of the elegant Beriev A-40 amphibian, of which two prototypes have been flying for several years, and have appeared at several Western trade shows, the Be-200 has been developed to meet a contract from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations for search and rescue roles.

Four prototypes are being built for this program, including two for static, systems and fatigue tests, and the second flight vehicle is scheduled to fly before year-end. Beriev is now faced with a tight time-scale; formal flight presentation of the Be-200 to its launch customer is scheduled for September 25, and first delivery of the seven on order for the Russian Ministry (actually the second prototype) is due by late 1999.

Negotiations are continuing with the Russian Ministry of Forests for 10 to 15 long-term Be-200 orders for fire-fighting roles, although the required finance is unlikely to be available for some time. Production is being undertaken by Beriev's associated Irkutsk factory within IAPO, which also builds the two-seat Sukhoi Su-30 series, including the MKI versions for India. Interest has also been expressed by South Korea in a version of the Be-200 for maritime patrol.

For export, the Be-200 has a target fly-away sticker price of $22 million to $25 million, which Beriev claims is similar to that of the CL-415, although its twin ZMKB Progress D-436-powered amphibian is very much larger, with an initial maximum takeoff weight of 37.2 tonnes. The prototype has lost its originally-designed winglets, but is scheduled to increase its MTOW to 42 tonnes. Meanwhile low-key flight development is continuing of one A-40 prototype, but Beriev is still hoping to be able to go ahead with its plans to replace the original D-30KPV turbofans with Zaporozhnye D-27 propfans similar to those powering the Antonov An-70, in a modified Be-42 for Russian military SAR use.

By John Fricker