Be-12
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The Beriev Be-12 ''Chayka'' ("Seagull", NATO reporting name: Mail) is a
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...
-powered amphibious aircraft designed in the 1950s for anti-submarine and maritime patrol duties.


Design and development

The Beriev Be-12 was a successor to the
Beriev Be-6 The Beriev Be-6 (USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 34", NATO reporting name "Madge") was a flying boat produced by the Soviet Beriev OKB. It was capable of accomplishing a wide variety of missions, such as long-range maritime reconnaissance, coastal ...
flying boat, whose primary roles were as an anti- submarine and maritime patrol bomber
aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...
. Though tracing its origins to the Be-6, the Be-12 inherited little more than the
gull wing The gull wing is an aircraft wing configuration, known also as ''Pulaski wings'', with a prominent bend in the wing inner section towards the wing root. Its name is derived from the seabirds which it resembles. Numerous aircraft have incorpora ...
and twin oval tailfin configuration of the older aircraft. The Be-12 has turboprop engines, which gave it an improved speed and range over the Be-6. The Be-12 also had retractable landing gear, which enabled it to land on normal land runways, as well as water. The Be-12 was first flown on October 18,
1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...
, at
Taganrog Taganrog ( rus, Таганрог, p=təɡɐnˈrok) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of the Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: History of Taganrog Th ...
airfield, and made its first public appearance at the 1961
Soviet Aviation Day Russian Air Force Day (russian: День Военно-воздушных сил, Den Voyenno-vozdushnykh) is a professional military holiday of Russia celebrated on 12 August to honor the active and reserve personnel, as well as veterans of the Ru ...
festivities at Tushino airfield. A total of 150 aircraft were produced, in several variations, with production ending in 1973.


Operational history

The Be-12 entered service with
Soviet Naval Aviation Soviet Naval Aviation (AV-MF, for ''Авиация военно-морского флота'' in Russian, or ''Aviatsiya voyenno-morskogo flota'', literally "aviation of the military maritime fleet") was the naval aviation arm of the Soviet Na ...
, or AV-MF (''Aviatcia Voenno-Morskogo Flota''), in the early 1960s in the maritime patrol role, and is one of the few amphibians still in military service in the world. Initially its role was ASW patrol, but when newer missiles enabled
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
submarines to launch from further offshore it was converted to the search and rescue role (Be-12PS). Small numbers are still in service. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, some aircraft were converted to
water bomber Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
s for the suppression of forest fires. During development of the Beriev Be-200 unique fire-fighting equipment was tested using a specially modified Be-12P, code-named "12 Yellow". After installation of the fire-fighting system, the aircraft was registered as RA-00046 and given the designation Be-12P-200. This modified Be-12 was also used to trial firefighting operations envisaged for the Be-200.Gordon, Sal'nikov and Zablotskiy 2006, pp. 79–80. According to figures released in 1993, the Russian Navy had 55 aircraft in service. By 2005 this had dropped to 12, and by 2008 there were only nine aircraft still in service. A surviving Be-12 is preserved at the Central Air Force Museum at Monino, outside of Moscow. Other examples exist at the
Ukraine State Aviation Museum The State Aviation Museum is an aviation museum located next to Zhulyany Airport in Kyiv, Ukraine. The museum offers both aircraft exhibits and interactive displays. The museum is one of the larger aviation museums displaying Soviet technology. ...
at Kyiv, Ukraine and at the Taganrog Air Museum, in southern Russia. It has been reported that the planes have been conducting patrols of the Crimean coast in the context of the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...
. 


Variants

;Be-12 :Twin-engined maritime reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare flying-boat. 2 prototypes and 130 production airframes built. ;Be-12EKO :Projected ecological reconnaissance version. Not built. ;Be-12I :Projected scientific research version designed in 1991. Not built. ;Be-12LL :Conversion for testing the 3M-80 'Moskit' anti-shipping missile. Nose radar replaced with missile seeker head. One aircraft converted in 1980. ;Be-12N :ASW version fitted with new sensors, avionics, MAD sensor and Nartsiss search/attack system. 27 aircraft converted. ;Be-12Nkh :Utility transport, experimental passenger transport version. Military equipment removed, additional windows fitted. 2 built, both converted from Be-12. ;Be-12P : Firefighting version. One 4,500 L tank and two 750 L tanks installed. Four aircraft converted in 1992. ;Be-12P-200 :Technology demonstrator for the Beriev Be-200. Fire-fighting configuration. One aircraft converted. ;Be-12PS :Maritime Search and rescue version. Life rafts and survival equipment carried. 6 crew. 10 built new, 4 converted from Be-12. ;Be-12SK :One aircraft converted in 1961 for use in SK-1 nuclear depth charge tests. ;Be-14 :All weather, day/night SAR version. Additional SAR and medical equipment. 6 crew. AI-20D engines. One built. ;M-12 :Stripped-down Be-12 used for record-setting flights. 2 Crew. Later returned to standard configuration.


Operators


Current operators

; *
Russian Naval Aviation The Russian Naval Aviation ( rus, Авиация Военно-морского флота России, r=Aviatsiya Voenno-morskovo Flota Rossii) is the air arm of the Russian Navy, a successor of Soviet Naval Aviation. The Russian Navy is divid ...
– received ex-Soviet Union aircraft. Nine Aircraft still in operation with the Black Sea Fleet. RIA Novosti news agency
Russian Navy to receive 4 new amphibious planes by 2013
; *
Ukrainian Naval Aviation The Ukrainian Naval Aviation ( ua, Морська Авіація, Morska Aviatsiya) is a component of the Ukrainian Navy. During the breakup of the Soviet Union, significant portions of the Soviet Naval Aviation were based in Ukraine, which were ...
– received ex-Soviet aircraft, two still in operation.


Former Operators

; * Azerbaijani Air Forces – inherited three aircraft from the Soviet Union. They were decommissioned around 2000, and scrapped in 2018. ; * Egyptian Air Force – operated two or three Be-12s circa 1970, crewed by Soviet personnel, to maintain surveillance on the United States Navy's 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean.''Air International Magazine'', August 1995, p. 88; example photo, p. 83. ; *
Soviet Naval Aviation Soviet Naval Aviation (AV-MF, for ''Авиация военно-морского флота'' in Russian, or ''Aviatsiya voyenno-morskogo flota'', literally "aviation of the military maritime fleet") was the naval aviation arm of the Soviet Na ...
– passed its aircraft to successor countries: Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan. ; *
Syrian Air Force ) , mascot = , anniversaries = 16 October , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = * 1948 Arab-Israeli War * Six-Day War * Yom Kippur War * ...
; *
Vietnam People's Air Force The Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF, ), formally refers itself as the Air Defence - Air Force (ADAF, ) or the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF, ), is the aerial warfare service branch of Vietnam. It is the successor of the former North Vietnamese ...
– four aircraft exported in 1981.


Specifications (Be-12)


See also


References


Notes


Bibliography

* Yefim Gordon, Andrey Sal'nikov and Aleksandr Zablotskiy (2006) ''Beriev's Jet Flying Boats''. Hinckley, UK: Midland Publishing. * * {{Beriev aircraft Be-0012 1960s Soviet patrol aircraft Flying boats Gull-wing aircraft High-wing aircraft Amphibious aircraft Twin-turboprop tractor aircraft Aerial firefighting aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1960 Twin-tail aircraft