Russian amphibian plane to be demonstrated to Italian Prime Minister

Cooperation in the sphere of reacting to emergency situations will be on the agenda of the negotiations between Vladimir Putin and Silvio Berlusconi during the Russian President's visit to Italy which starts today, the Kremlin sources told RIA Novosti. This trend in cooperation is very topical both for Russia and Italy, and also for the whole European space.

According to the sources, the contacts of the Russian Emergencies Ministry with its Italian partners are actively developing. Russia has a great experience and unique technical equipment in this sphere. One of them is the multi-purpose amphibian plane Be-200 which can be used, among other things, to extinguish fires quickly. During Putin's stay in the summer residence of the Italian Prime Minister on Sardinia, this novelty of the Russian aircraft-building industry will perform its demonstration flight.

Experts say that this is the world's most perfect and effective amphibian plane. It can take on board up to twelve tons of water, and it takes the plane only fourteen seconds to perform this process. It can lift off from the ground and from water. In case of necessity, the Be-200 can be used as an ordinary cargo or passenger plane. And the crew of two men can transform the plane from one variant into another within an hour.