Amphibious aircraft with 1,000 tonnes takeoff weight in the works

PanARMENIAN.Net - Beriev Aircraft Company is working on amphibious aircraft with over 1,000 tonnes takeoff weight, Russian Aviation says.

Beriev Aircraft Company is an aircraft manufacturer specialising in amphibious planes, and a subsidiary of the United Aircraft Corporation.

Russian designers are working on an amphibious aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of over 1,000 tonnes, well over twenty times that of the massive Beriev Be-200 series of amphibious aircraft, the press service of the United Aircraft Corporation has announced.

“The Beriev Aircraft Company is working on projects of future amphibious aircraft with a takeoff weight of over 1,000 tonnes. Such aircraft can deliver cargo and passengers across great distances at altitudes and speeds inherent in aircraft, using the transport infrastructure of existing maritime ports,” the company said in a press release.

The company did not clarify which project it was talking about. However, in the past, the company was known to have floated the concept of the Be-2500, a super-heavy seaplane with a planned maximum payload of up to 1,000 tonnes, a maximum takeoff weight of 2,500 tonnes, a wing span of 125.5 meters, a length of 115.5 meters, a top speed of 800 km and a projected range of 16,000 km.