Beriev A-40

The Beriev A-40 Albatros (also Be-42, NATO reporting name: Mermaid) was a jet-engined amphibious flying boat designed by the Beriev Aircraft Company for the anti-submarine warfare role. Intended as a replacement for the Beriev Be-12 amphibian and the land-based Ilyushin Il-38, the project was suspended after only one prototype had been manufactured, with second 70% completed, due to the breakup of the Soviet Union. The project was later revived and an order has been placed by the Russian Navy.

Development

The maiden flight was unplanned; during a high-speed taxi test, the airplane became airborne and ran out of runway, with the crew being forced to continue the takeoff. The subsequent flight and landing went without further incident, but the test crew were downgraded from their duties afterwards despite having saved the aircraft.

On 5 September 2008 the deputy commander of Russian Naval Aviation, Maj.Gen. Nikolai Kuklev, announced that the A-42 is to be adopted as a main SAR and antisubmarine aircraft of the Russian Navy, and a provisional contract for 4 SAR-outfitted aircraft has been awarded to the company, with deliveries to start in 2010. All four aircraft are expected to be in service by 2013. A contract to replace the aging fleet of Be-12 and Il-38 aircraft is under consideration.

Beriev

The Beriev Aircraft Company, formerly Beriev Design Bureau, is a Russian aircraft manufacturer (design office prefix Be), specializing in amphibious aircraft. The company was founded in Taganrog in the 1934 as OKB-49 by Georgy Mikhailovich Beriev (born February 13, 1903), and since that time has designed and produced more than 20 different models of aircraft for civilian and military purposes, as well as customized models. Today the Company employs some 3000 specialists and is developing and manufacturing amphibious aircraft.

Pilots flying Beriev seaplanes have broken 228 world aviation records. The records are registered and acknowledged by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. In November 1989 BERIEV Aircraft Company became the only defense industry enterprise to win the Prize for Quality awarded by the Government of Russia.

In mid-2002, Irkut raised its 40 percent holding in the Beriev Design Bureau to a controlling stake.

Aircraft designed by Beriev

Beriev Be-200

The Beriev Be-200 Altair (Russian: Бериев Бе-200) is a multipurpose amphibious aircraft designed by the Beriev Aircraft Company and manufactured by Irkut. Marketed as being designed for fire fighting, search and rescue, maritime patrol, cargo, and passenger transportation, it has a capacity of 12 tonnes (12,000 litres, 3,170 US gallons) of water, or up to 72 passengers.

The name Altair was chosen after a competition amongst Beriev and Irkut staff in 2002/2003. The name Altair was chosen as it is not only the name of the alpha star in the Eagle constellation, but also because "Al" is the first part of the name of the Beriev A-40 Albatross amphibious aircraft, whose layout was the development basis for the creation of the Be-200, "ta" stands for Taganrog, and "ir" stands for Irkutsk.

Development

The Be-200 was designed by the Beriev Aviation Company, with the Russian Irkutsk Aircraft Production Association (now part of the Irkut Corporation). Beriev are responsible for development, design and documentation; systems-, static-, flight- and fatigue-testing of prototypes; certification and support of the production models. Irkut's duties comprise production preparation; manufacture of tooling; production of four prototypes and production aircraft; and spare parts manufacture. Both companies now fall under the umbrella of the state-owned United Aircraft Corporation.

A40

A40 or A-40 may refer to:

Roads

Other

See also