The Be-200 programme experienced a long sought-after revival in 2016 as the TANTK Beriev manufacturing plant in Taganrog began rolling out newly assembled aircraft. In 2017, the jet amphibian, initially designed for civilian use only, is set for delivery to its first military customer. Russian Naval Aviation intends to use its initial batch of six Be-200s for a mixture or combat and non-combat tasks. While it has proved next to impossible to sell the Be-200 to export customers, despite lots of marketing efforts over more than a decade, the second half of 2016 seemed at last to have turned the fortunes by opening up doors to foreign sales to China and Indonesia, with firm contracts expected to be signed with these countries in the foreseeable future.
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