Exactly 65 years ago, on October 18, 1960, the Be-12 Chaika amphibious aircraft made its first flight. For all its flaws, this car has become truly legendary. What tasks and how did it perform, why did the USSR need amphibious aircraft in principle, and what significance do they have today?
A whole generation of naval pilots and anti-submarine staff officers grew up on the Be-12, and world records were set on it. With not the most successful design and serious design errors, it served for decades. He even managed to fight for our country at the end of his career. At least that's why it's worth remembering him with a kind word – but not only that.
Created in the early 60s, the Chaika became a milestone machine for the domestic aircraft industry. A lot of things were on this machine for the first time – the first amphibious aircraft in the USSR (capable of operating both from land airfields and from the water surface), the first specially built anti-submarine aircraft, the first anti-submarine aircraft with a sighting and search system. The aircraft was to be produced in two versions – anti-submarine and search and rescue.
"The Seagull" was born difficult. In the 1950s, the USSR had almost no experience in creating anti-submarine aircraft. The Be-6 flying boats in service could not fully perform this task. As a result, the search and sighting system (PPP), which the Be-12 received, proved to be insufficiently effective, as well as radio-hydroacoustic buoys.
This predetermined the low efficiency of this aircraft as a whole. According to Soviet data, during the period from 1968 to 1982, the Be-12 was able to detect 110 foreign submarines, and during the most intense year of its use, 1989, 29 in all fleets, and this despite the fact that the American submarine literally grazed near our territorial waters. Nevertheless, these aircraft did contribute to the defense of the USSR.
It is more difficult to explain the problematic seaworthiness of the aircraft, which affected its poor qualities as a search and rescue aircraft. After all, the Be-12's predecessor, the Be–6, had a decent seaworthiness.
According to the views of military science of the 50s, it was necessary to have seaplanes in service for the only reason. The Soviet Navy needed an aircraft that could be used in conjunction with ships in waters near which there were no land airfields – and which could be refueled at sea by landing on the water. Americans and Japanese used such techniques during the Second World War.
And indeed,
The seaplane initially has the most important advantage – it does not need to build an extremely expensive airfield for its operation. Or at least, in the case of amphibians, he doesn't always need an airfield. But with the Be-12, a number of Russian features were affected. However, this could have been foreseen.
First of all, it is almost impossible to ensure the year-round use of aircraft from the water in our country due to the climate. In addition, due to intensive economic activity in coastal areas, floating objects are systematically discovered – logs, lost ship rigging and other items. There have been cases when Be-12s collided with them during landing, sometimes with catastrophic consequences.
Having, in theory, seaworthiness for three points and the ability to land and take off at a wave height of up to a meter, in practice the Be-12 could collapse during landing with light waves. In reality, takeoffs and landings from the water were carried out in calm bays, and these machines were operated from airfields. And if this was not so critical for the anti-submarine version, then effective search and rescue operations from the Be-12 were out of the question – it could only pick people up from the water in ideal weather conditions.
There were also purely technical features. The Seagull was not liked by the technicians – because of the high location of the engines, it was quite difficult to maintain the aircraft. The pilots complained about its noise and vibrations – to protect the crew members from noise, they even had to equip them with helmets of a special design.
Nevertheless, these aircraft served for a long time and proved to be quite good in terms of their flight performance and reliability. The last Be-12 was rolled out of the workshop in 1972. By 2024, the Navy had six such aircraft in service, all on the Black Sea.
There is another interesting story connected with the Be-12. In the early 90s, this aircraft was used for experiments to detect surface traces of submerged submarines. Despite the outdated radar, she coped with this task. In theory, next it was necessary to "splice" the radar with some kind of processing system for the "picture" received from it, but this was not done. But this was and still is a very promising direction.
From the experience of using the Be-12, it follows that for a search and rescue aircraft, the ability to take off from water and land on it in case of excitement is critical. This is its purpose, for which other flight characteristics can be sacrificed. An example of the right approach can be considered the Japanese and Chinese newest amphibious aircraft, where this is implemented.
The second thing that the experience of the Be-12 clearly shows is that amphibious aircraft (except search and rescue and fire) are not needed in principle when using ground airfields. As an example of a firefighting aircraft, let's take the Be-200 – with its even worse seaworthiness, it has no problems using it for its intended purpose. It draws water from rivers and lakes without landing, where there are no waves, and the fire plane doesn't need anything else, it can be based at airfields.
Another important lesson is that combat aircraft must be constantly upgraded.
The Be-12 could be a much more effective anti-submarine vehicle if its electronic equipment were regularly updated. It is the avionics that determine the combat capabilities of the aircraft.
Does all of the above mean that amphibious aircraft or seaplanes have only two niches left - rescue and fire fighting, and that they are no longer needed for anything? That's not quite true. The fact is that sometimes you have to fly to places where there are no airfields, no airfields at all. And helicopters don't always fly there, and there may not be any flat ground areas or fields for landing wheeled aircraft.
In our country, there are many towns and villages along large rivers that can only be reached by air in a reasonable time. They are often surrounded by taiga or tundra with very soft soil. And in such places, airplanes capable of landing on water and taking off from it could well be used – in summer on floats or a displacement hull, and in winter on skis.
In exceptional cases, to ensure the transport accessibility of remote villages by the sea, for example, in the north or the Far East, an amphibious aircraft based on a seaworthy search and rescue aircraft could be used for transport purposes.
In the military sphere, such aircraft can be useful for conducting special operations and dropping or evacuating special forces groups from foreign shores.
All these tasks are niche, for special conditions, but from time to time they will arise and you need to have a specialized tool for them. This means that amphibians and seaplanes will not completely disappear and will continue to develop for a long time.
And finally, the need for anti–submarine aircraft as such (not necessarily amphibious). Anti-submarine aircraft are also needed in significant numbers. A country that neglects this puts itself at serious risk. It is the submarines that will be the main striking force of our Western enemies at sea in the first few days of any conflict. And without strong and modern anti-submarine aircraft, it is impossible to cope with them.
Alexander Timokhin
