MOSCOW. Aug 3 (Interfax-AVN) - The construction of a 20-seat ground effect vehicle, Orion-20, weighing up to ten tonnes, at the Volga shipbuilding plant in Nizhny Novgorod is nearing completion, Director of the Association of Ekranoplan Developers, Producers and Consumers Yury Varakosov told Interfax-AVN.
"The completion of the Orion-20 flarecraft construction can be expected around the end of summer, and then its sea trials will begin," said the head of the association.
New scientific and technical solutions and equipment are being tried in the construction of the Orion-20 flarecraft, he said. "This civilian development is regarded as a base platform," he said.
"The first Orion-20 is due to be fitted with Czech M601 turboprop engines. But we are exploring the possibility of using Russian engines as well," Varakosov said.
Potential customers such as the Emergency Situations Ministry, the Federal Security Service (FSB) Border Service and several others have taken an interest in our flarecraft, he said.
The Flarecraft Association has an agreement with the Border Service and is providing technical support and optimization for the EK-12P flarecraft, he said.
"The Association is working on several larger flarecraft, including the creation of a necessary scientific and technical resource for the future," said the head of the association. The flarecraft design has been patented, he said.