Russian aircraft may put out Indonesian forest fires

The Beriev Be-200 aircraft. Source: Shutterstock / Legion-Media

Russia has agreed to offer Indonesia a Beriev Be-200 aircraft to put out forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, the Straits Times reported on October 8. The Beriev water bomber can carry up to 37,200 kg of water and fly up to 3,850 km without refueling.

“These amphibious aircraft can fly then land on a river, lake or sea to scoop up a very large amount of water and then take off again to douse fires over an area of between 1 hectare to 1.6 hectares,” Dr Sutopo Purwo Nugroho from Indonesia's disaster management agency told the paper. “So, with just one strike the fires are gone.”