Two Russian Be-200 amphibious aircraft have arrived in Turkey to help extinguish forest fires, the press service of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC, part of Rostec) reported.
The request for assistance in fighting forest fires was received from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey. Be-200 amphibious aircraft with Russian crews will be on duty in the vicinity of Antalya, Izmir and Bodrum for four months.
"Two Russian Be-200CHS amphibious aircraft have arrived in Turkey and are starting work on preventing the spread of forest fires on the territory of the Republic of Turkey since June 16. The signing of the contract of services and dispatch of aircraft was organized by the UAC with the assistance of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia, EMERCOM of Russia and the active support of the mission of Rostec state corporation in Ankara", the message stated.
According to Yuri Slyusar, General Director of the UAC, the Be-200 " proved itself in the course of firefighting and rescue operations in Europe and South-East Asia. "The Be-200CHS is an export-oriented product that arouses great interest among foreign customers. Joint work with Turkish partners shows that we can have a good potential for developing cooperation, including in the supply of aircraft in the interests of updating the fleet of the Turkish fire service, " Slusar added.
In September last year, the government of the Rostov region reported that a Turkish delegation led by the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of the country, who visited the Taganrog aviation scientific and technical complex named after Beriev (TANTK), was interested in the possibility of purchasing the Be-200 produced there. The meeting resulted in negotiations on possible deliveries of amphibious aircraft to Turkey to extinguish forest fires.
The Be-200CHS is the only amphibious jet in the world, which gives undeniable advantages in speed when fighting fires, can take on board 12 tons of water, and has a large capacity for the number of water discharges per hour. At a distance of "airfield-fire" - 100 km and "airfield-reservoir" - 10 km for one refueling, the aircraft is able to dump up to 270 tons of water on the fire.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Marina Lystseva / TASS
Based on materials from RIA Novosti