Re-engined with PowerJet SaM-146 turbofans, Russia’s Beriev Be-200 amphibian is scheduled to make its maiden flight in March 2020, with Russian certification delayed until November 2021.

The latest details have been revealed by Ilya Konyukhov, the UEC-Saturn project’s director, in a presentation at a recent industry event in Moscow. The first of several new engines for the program will be supplied in December 2019.

The SaM-146 engine is a product of PowerJet, a joint venture between Russia’s NPO Saturn (part of United Engine Corporation, UEC) and the French manufacturer Snecma (part of the Safran Group) and is currently deployed on only one platform, the slowly unwinding Superjet 100 (SSJ100) Russian regional jet program. As such, the limited fleet of SSJ100’s is impeding the engine’s timely development towards more economically-viable production rates.

This is where the Be-200 re-engining solution fits in. According to the project’s schedule, the adopted version of the engine and its nacelle is to be certificated in Russia by late 2020, while certification of the re-engined aircraft – dubbed Be-200ChS-146 – has now been shifted to November 2021. The project leaders are hoping to eventually win type certification from Europe’s EASA and the U.S. FAA, thus opening up international market opportunities for the aircraft.

The prospect of replacing the engine type has been mulled over for some time, but the decision was finally announced at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in May 2018. The Be-200 stirred considerable interest at the seaplane and amphibian show in Gelenzhik in September. For example, the U.S. company Seaplane Global Air Services signed a contract for 10 Be-200s, including four firm orders. “Two of them will be delivered with the [existing] D-436 engines in place but, further ahead, the entire fleet will be re-engined with SaM-146s,” explained Konyukhov.