JAKARTA. Nov 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Production Association has commenced the assembly of 30 BE-103 amphibious aircraft this year.
The Sukhoi Company's Deputy Director General Boris Bregman told Interfax-Military News Agency at INDO DEFENCE-2004 EXPO & FORUM that five of the aircraft would be sold in Russia, while the rest exported.
"The aircraft feature U.S.-made equipment as requested by the customers. The Komsomolsk-on-Amur Association is running a contract on 20 BE-103 delivery to China. Last year it delivered the first three aircraft to the U.S. The first of the batch has reached 130 flight hours over the past nine months in America, and has taken off 500 times, 350 from water," he said.
According to him, the association is going to deliver another 100 lightweight BE-103 amphibians to foreign customers by 2009. The aircraft is in demand in a variety of Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, China, India, as well as in Saudi Arabia, Australia, the U.S., Canada, Greece, France, Israel and some countries in Latin America, e.g. Brazil.
Bregman added that the contract with Bulgaria for two aircraft is being negotiated now. Up to ten BE-103s are expected to be delivered to the country in future. Also, negotiations are underway with Malaysia to deliver three to five aircraft. Malaysia plans to acquire a total of ten such aircraft in the long run.
"We are going to take part in an official contests to be held by Saudi Arabia for a fleet of lightweight amphibian patrol aircraft. We have an agreement with the MSA Group to deliver nine BE-103s to Brazil. Also, some Chilean, Brazilian and Venezuelan firms expressed their intention to purchase a total of 30 such aircraft during the FIDAE-2004 arms show in Santiago. The corresponding contracts will be signed in 2005," Bregman said.
He added that if all the agreements turned contracts, the BE-103 would be put in real mass-production which will optimize the expenses for its development, all-round tests, certification in Russia and the U.S. thus making it real good for export.