Shoigu Praises Russia’s Firefighting Fleet

Moscow News ^ | August 2, 2007 | Bojan Soc

[JohnA]

MOSCOW - Advantages of Russia's firefighting fleet of aircraft over foreign competition are apparent, Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu told a press conference at RIA Novosti Tuesday as he spoke about Russia's recent effort to help several European nations fight rampant fires.

"One Ilyushin 76 tanker carries seven times more water than a Canadair. It takes 42 tons of water on board, while a Canadair carries only 6 tons," Shoigu said.

The minister also mentioned outstanding performance features of Russia's B-200 plane and MI-26 helicopter, which alongside Il-76 play a key role in the ministry's firefighting campaigns.

"B-200 takes twice as much water [as a Canadair], its crew is two times smaller, it can offload four times more water after a single fueling," said Shoigu. Russian firefighting planes can also land on water and take off from it, he added.

According to Shoigu, Russia's serial manufacturing of such aircraft is unrivaled globally in terms of quality and performance features.

Since July 21 Russian aircraft have splashed water to put out fires raging in Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Monte­negro and Portugal. During the July 21-30 span these aircraft have logged in 59 hours 48 minutes of flight time, releasing a total of 2,694 tons of water.

Speaking about a concerted continental effort to curb fires, Shoigu said that Russia's earlier initiative to set up a European Center for Fighting Catastrophes hasn't achieved visible progress yet as Moscow's European partners keep delaying action on the issue.

[samtheman]

Smokey the Russian Bear.

[JohnA]

Smokey the Russian Bear.

Actually, not a bad idea. At least you'd get results..

Shoigu is a Tuvan, making him a a blood relative of our North American aboriginals. How many of our people in North America make it to this level? Often cited as a potential political successor and perennially popular, he's been part of Russian government since Yeltsin - a survivor.

An emergency services minister from the get-go, he once threatened to quit his job if his workers didn't get a flood relief project in on time. How many of our bureaucrats would do the same?

Check this image: http://www.nato.int/pictures/2002/020925b/b020925s.jpg

[american_ranger]

Wowsers!! In 9 days multiple planes logged almost 60 hours of flight time.

[JohnA]

94% of 15K poll responders to this #1 top attraction MSNBC article run in Y2K wanted to give the Russians a chance to prove the IL-76 waterbomber in the USA.

[JohnA]

However, your series of mini-disasters perhaps doesn't count for much. If you have a real disaster you can always count on the Russians to help you out.

[Jabba the Nutt]

I’m glad to see Russia competing in a positive way, they need much more of this than in supplying Iran or China with arms. Second, yes their planes hold more water, but with their greater size is there a cost in manueverability? Can their planes fill up with water by skimming a lake?

[JohnA]

is there a cost in manueverability?

You don't use a ball peen hammer on a sledge hammer job.

Can their planes fill up with water by skimming a lake?

The Be200 does, yes.

[Hegewisch Dupa]

Not sure why the Orient Express is burning, but this is a cool pic

[JohnA]

That’s from this NATO exercise: http://www.nato.int/multi/photos/2002/m020925d.htm

[-YYZ-]

Interesting. The Be200 looks to be a considerably larger plane than the CL-415, which would make sense considering its considerably larger payload. I wonder if it need a comparably larger body of water to “land” and climb out from, compared to the CL-415? I also wonder about its fuel efficiency with turbofan engines as opposed to the turboprops of the Bombardier.

In any case, as you say, the CL-415 is not the ideal tool for every circumstance. If you don’t use a ball peen hammer for a sledge hammer job, the converse also holds true.

[JohnA]

You'd want to head off a wildfire front before it invaded the subdivision with 12 football fields' worth of liquids. Then, you go to work on the flanks after you took care of the front.

There are variables in any aircraft's takeoff requirements. You'd need to graph the thing.

I see through the Chinese media that Croatia just ordered up some Bombardiers and some Air Tractors (Australia has a lot of these). With the EU making noises that they want to federalize, this order should fit in with some kind of overall plan but I seriously doubt it does.