The Beriev Be-2500 Neptun (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Бериев Бе-2500 Нептун) is a super heavy amphibious transport aircraft that, as of 2007, was in design and development by Russian design firm

Beriev The PJSC Beriev Aircraft Company (russian: Таганрогский авиационный научно-технический комплекс им. Г. М. Бериева, , Beriev Taganrog Aviation Scientific Technical Complex), formerly Beriev ...

. The maximum takeoff weight is estimated at 2500 tons, hence its name.

Design and development

It has been designed to serve both as a conventional jet aircraft, flying at high altitudes transcontinentally, as well as a craft using the ground-effect at intercontinental routes across the sea. It is planned to fly via intercontinental routes, taking off from normal seaports without needing special infrastructure. The concept is thought to have some connection with the

Lun-class ekranoplan The ''Lun''-class ekranoplan (also called Project 903) is the only ground effect vehicle (GEV) to ever be operationally deployed as a warship. designed by Rostislav Alexeyev in 1975 and used by the Soviet and Russian navies from 1987 until ...

of the 1970s. If it entered service, it would become the new largest airplane in the world. The concept of the aircraft was developed in the 1980s by the Beriev Design Office in collaboration with

TsAGI The Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (also (Zhukovsky) Central Institute of Aerodynamics, russian: Центра́льный аэрогидродинами́ческий институ́т, ЦАГИ, Tsentral'nyy Aerogidrodinamicheskiy Institut, ...

and

TsIAM The P. I. Baranov Central Institute of Aviation Motor Development (also known as the "Central Institute for Aviation Motor Development named after P. I. Baranov" or simply "Central Institute of Aviation Motors", CIAM or TsIAM, ''Tsentralniy Insti ...

. There are two versions of the design that differ in the arrangement of the gear units and in the geometric design of the dragon structure. Initially, the NK-116 engine was designed to be installed, but foreign engines were also introduced, including the Rolls-Royce Trent 800 and General Electric GE. The NK-116 plans were developed by Samara (Kuznetsov Design Office) by 1994. Beriev is planning to cooperate with foreign partners in the development of the aircraft, including financing issues. It was estimated in 2007 that the cost of a development program would reach $ 10–15 billion. The company claims that such aircraft would operate as a "flying ship" that would compete with the shipping and air transport industries and could easily be integrated into the existing infrastructure.

Specifications (Be-2500)

References

*Soviet and Russian Ekranoplans, Sergey Komissarov and

Yefim Gordon Yefim Gordon (russian: Ефим Гордон, born 1950 in Vilnius, Soviet Union) is a Lithuanian aircraft photographer and author who specializes in Soviet aircraft and Russian aviation. Biography Gordon graduated in 1972 from the Polytechnic ...

, Ian Allan Publishing Midland, Pages 192 - 199. {{Beriev aircraft Be-2500 Ekranoplans Six-engined jet aircraft Twin-tail aircraft

Design and development

Specifications (Be-2500)

See also

References