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How Air Tankers Fill Water Tanks in a Beriev-Be 200 for Firefighting

When a fire is extremely large, such as an out of control forest fire, air tankers are typically used to supplement the efforts of ground firefighting. The Beriev-Be 200 air tanker is considered one of the larger, amphibious tankers.

  1. History

    • The Beriev-Be 200 is a Russian-built air tanker, developed in the 1990s, to fight fires. The aircraft requires a two person team to pilot its large body, as well as pick up and drop water or retardant to extinguish fires.

    Function

    • The Beriev-Be 200 fills its tanks using four water scoops located on its underbelly. The aircraft glides across a lake or other body of water and scoops up to 12 tons of water within a 14 second span of time.

    Significance

    • While firefighting, the Beriev-Be 200 needs to return to the body of water to refill the water tanks. Overall, the tanker can provide 270 tons of water to a needed area before needing to refuel.

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