Russia buys planes to aid firefighters

MOSCOW, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- The Russian Emergencies Ministry will boost its fire fighting squad with eight Be-200 Altair amphibious planes in the wake of the worst wildfires in the country in decades.

The $330 million contract with the Beriev Aircraft Co. for the planes was signed Thursday at a hydro-aviation conference in Russia's Black Sea resort town of Gelendzhik, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports.

The Be-200 can perform firefighting, patrol, cargo, passenger transport and search-and-rescue missions. It's able to carry up to 72 passengers or 3,200 gallons of water, with four retractable water scoops taking up the full water load in 14 seconds.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last month boarded a Be-200 to take part in a firefighting mission in Ryazan in western Russia, a flight that included the plane collecting water from a river and dumping on the flames.

The purchase of the Be-200 planes comes after Russian authorities for weeks had been overwhelmed by the worst wildfires in the country decades. The government mobilized nearly 200,000 people and dozens of planes to fight what proved to be an increasingly uphill battle.

Aided by a severe drought and the hottest summer since temperature recordings began 130 years ago, the fires raged for nearly 8 weeks in several provinces of the country, destroyed 2,000 homes and claimed the lives of more than 50 people. Estimates put short-term economic losses at $15 billion.

The agriculture sector was hardest hit. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev promised farmers aid worth $1.15 billion after one-quarter of grain crops in the country were destroyed by the fires.

Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu last month announced that he would boost his crisis response teams in a bid to stop future fires earlier.

"We plan to create three large squadrons, in the Far East, Siberia and central Russia, which will include not only Be-200s but also Mi-26, Mi-8 and Ka-32 helicopters," Shoigu said last month, RIA Novosti reports.

Produced by Russia's Mil, the Mi-26 Halo, the largest helicopter ever built, and the Mi-8 Hip, are among the world's most successful choppers fit for military and civil use.

While the Mi-26 Halo is a heavy-lift machine often likened to a flying crane, the smaller, more agile Mi-8, the world's most produced chopper, is a medium twin-turbine transport helicopter that can also act as a gunship.

The Kamov Ka-32, used for transport, medical or firefighting missions, is the civil version of the anti-submarine chopper Ka-27.