skip to content
stan runge

#1799

Beriev Be-12

🇷🇺 Soviet Union ·first flew 1960· maritime patrol aircraft

🎖️ military 2× turboprop ✓ still flying
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. Beriev Be-12 Gelenzhik 2Sept2004: Yevgeny Pashnin· CC BY-SA 3.0
  2. 2. Beriev Be-12P-200 Chaika AN0198039: Leonid Faerberg - Russian AviaPhoto Team· GFDL 1.2
  3. 3. Beriev Be-12PS "Chayka" (26695171832): Dmitry Terekhov from Odintsovo, Russian Federation· CC BY-SA 2.0
  4. 4. Berijew Be-12 Mail: Bernhard Gröhl· CC BY 2.5
  5. 5. 20260811 Vadim Zadorozhniy museum - Beriev Be-12 01: Sergey A. Demidov· CC BY 4.0
  6. 6. 20260811 Vadim Zadorozhniy museum - Beriev Be-12 02: Sergey A. Demidov· CC BY 4.0
  7. 7. 20260811 Vadim Zadorozhniy museum - Beriev Be-12 04: Sergey A. Demidov· CC BY 4.0
  8. 8. 20260811 Vadim Zadorozhniy museum - Beriev Be-12 06: Sergey A. Demidov· CC BY 4.0
  9. 9. 20260811 Vadim Zadorozhniy museum - Beriev Be-12 08: Sergey A. Demidov· CC BY 4.0
  10. 10. 20260811 Vadim Zadorozhniy museum - Beriev Be-12 10: Sergey A. Demidov· CC BY 4.0
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
Beriev Be-12, photo 1 of 10
1/10 Yevgeny Pashnin· CC BY-SA 3.0

what is it?

The Beriev Be-12 Chayka (Russian: Бериев Бе-12 Чайка, romanized: Chayka, lit. 'gull', NATO reporting name: Mail) is a Soviet turboprop-powered amphibious aircraft designed in the 1950s for anti-submarine and maritime patrol duties.

How to recognise it: 2 turboprops · 29.8 m wingspan

base stats

  • speed 530 km/htop speed
  • range 3,300 kmwithout refuelling
  • size 36 tmax take-off weight
  • built 140made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

  • First flew 66 years ago, in 1960.
  • Top speed is 4.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
  • Wingspan of 29.8 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
  • Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 6 African elephants (~6 t each).
  • Range of 3,300 km: 18× Amsterdam to Brussels.

turboprop: A jet-style turbine turning a propeller: efficient on short hops.

spec sheet

first flight
1960-10-18
introduced
1965
status
still flying
number built
140
role
maritime patrol aircraft
origin
🇷🇺 Soviet Union
makers
Beriev
engines
2× Ivchenko Progress AI-20D / AI-20
crew
4
length
30.1 m
wingspan
29.8 m
height
7.9 m
max take-off weight
36 t
top speed
530 km/h
range
3,300 km
ceiling
8,000 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q794491, Wikipedia: Beriev Be-12 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.

stan runge ef9524a source