Rostec proposed to create a special Be-200 fire-fighting squadron

During the Hydroaviasalon (International Exhibition and Scientific Conference on Hydroaviation) held in Russia on a seashore at Gelendzhik on 1-5 October 2020, the Rostec State Corporation has proposed to create a specialized squadron for extinguishing natural and man-made fires within the framework of humanitarian projects, both in Russia and abroad.

A steady demand exists for seasonal rental of amphibious aircraft, especially with crews experienced in firefighting, but due to the limited number of available aircraft it is impossible to satisfy all incoming requests. The published initiative plans to refurbish the fleet of Be-200 amphibious aircraft operated by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS/EMERCOM) in order to meet requirements for this kind of assistance, especially from foreign nations.

Sergei Chemezov, General Director of Rostec, has pointed out that there were many countries with an acute problem of wildfires, but only a handful of them had any aerial firefighting equipment in their inventory, that is why they were asking Russia to provide it on a seasonal basis. Nevertheless, so far it was not always possible to provide assistance since the few available aircraft of the Be-200 type were often actively involved in work on the domestic territory. For these reasons, a creation of a specialized internationally deployable squadron not only boost sales but also become an important humanitarian project.

At the same time, Russia also needs to improve their own EMERCOM’s aviation firefighting capabilities. As a part of the renewal of the Russian Be-200 fleet, another six new-built aircraft should be ordered in the near future. This could help forming the formation of the international squadron using the existing Be-200 aircraft from early batches, which would be then decommissioned. However, the implementation of the initiative would require legislative changes, especially legislation which allows systematic use of aircraft of state and experimental aviation for commercial purposes.

In Juny 2020, Russian Be-200Es were involved in firefighting tasks in Turkey, especially tasked with elimination of large fires near strategically important facilities. The total flight time was about 500 hours. In this case, the request for assistance in combating forest fires came from the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, while the signature of the service agreement, as well as the deployment of the aircraft were organized by the Russian UAC (United Aircraft Corporation), assisted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia and Russian EMERCOM, with the active support of the representative office of Rostec State Corporation in Ankara. The representatives of the UAC have voiced their opinion about such activities having a direct commercial impact in increased export orders for Russian aircraft in the future.

Photo: Rostec.ru