MOSCOW. Jan 14 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Emergencies Ministry's demand for BE-200 amphibians will grow many times if the plans to establish mobile fire-fighting parties throughout the country are realized, Vladimir Serov, deputy director general of the Russian-Swiss Beta IR joint venture, said on Monday.
The mobile parties are expected to include three BE-200 amphibians each, Serov told Interfax-Military News Agency.
A framework agreement on the supplies of 15 amphibians to the Emergencies Ministry was signed in 1996. The ministry has placed a solid order for construction of seven BE-200 units with the joint venture, and the work is underway at the Irkutsk Aircraft Production Association (IAPO). The first BE-200 prototype is taking flight and certification planes. It will soon be joined by the second prototype that will get the entire set of equipment required by the ministry. The fire-fighting modification of the aircraft is expected to acquire a state certificate in late 2002.
The federal purpose-oriented program of civil aircraft development for 2002 to 2010 and up to 2015 allocates RUB360m (USD11.81m) for the amphibian's development, Serov said. Another RUB840m (USD27.56m) is to be provided from extra-budget sources.
"The funds from the state budget will be enough to finance the plane's certification only," Serov said. Participants in the BE-200 program have to finance construction and fitting of the aircraft out of their own funds, he stressed.