Russia offers waterbomber to Riau

Russia offers waterbomber to Riau

PEKANBARU, Riau: The Russian government has offered Riau province Russian-made waterbomber, the Be-200 multirole amphibian aircraft, to fight forest fires in the Riau area of Sumatra, Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Mikhail M. Bely said during a visit here on Wednesday.

"This is my first visit to Riau. I am offering Russian aircraft to help put out forest fires in Riau," the ambassador was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.

Bely arrived with the leader of the IRKUT cooperation -- a Moscow-based aviation products and development company -- to assess economic and trade cooperation prospects.

Bely praised Riau as being a fast-developing province with abundant natural resources. "For the purpose of this cooperation, which should be mutually beneficial, I come here to introduce a project that could initiate such cooperation," he said.

He said the Be-200, manufactured by Irkutsk Aviation Plant, a major plant in IRKUT, has four retractable water scoops that can scoop 12 tons of water in 18 seconds continuously from a water reservoir.

A fully fueled aircraft can fly 200 kilometers from the airfield to a water reservoir, making successive trips between the site of a fire and a reservoir, over a range of 10 kms from the fire zone to the reservoir, www.aerospace-technology.com said. The aircraft can drop water on the fire in 0.8 to one second and make the 200 km return flight for refueling. The tanks can be removed quickly for carrying cargo, according to the website.

Bely said the model cost US$26 million per unit.

Irkutsk Aviation Plant has been manufacturing over 20 types of aircraft since 1934. The plant is known for its Sukhoi Su-30 fighter series.

Nazief Susila Darma, the head of Riau's agency for investment promotion, said the Russian government was interested in selling the aircraft to help the province cope with forest fires, which were prevalent in the dry season. Land clearing activities for agriculture have been largely blamed for the fires, which have also been a major concern in Malaysia and Singapore.

"The Riau governor has supported the idea of using a waterbomber to put out forest fires. In this regard, we warmly welcome the Russian government's offer," Nazief told Antara. However, he did not reveal whether a purchasing arrangement had been made. -- JP