February 15, 2014: Suddenly India is buying 15 US-2 seaplanes from Japan. Discussions over this sale have been going on since 2011. The growing tension with China has made India eager to increase ties with Japan, where China is also a threat. Technically air-sea rescue aircraft, the US-2s will be based in the Nicobar and Andaman Islands, which are in the Indian Ocean just west of Indonesia. This would enable the Indians to more easily patrol the western approaches to the Malacca Straits. Each year, half the world’s oil shipments, and a third of all commerce, pass through these straits. India fears that China may use its growing fleet to dominate the waters around the straits. The US-2s will make it easier to keep an eye on the Chinese.

The US-2 is a 43 ton, four engine amphibious maritime patrol aircraft that can carry twenty passengers, 12 stretchers or a ton of cargo. Japan uses them for search and rescue and uses a crew of eleven for these missions. Maritime patrol is similar and the aircraft has a sea-search radar as well as viewing ports for the crew. Cruising speed is 480 kilometers an hour and max endurance is about nine hours. The US-2s cost $110 million each and it would be up to India to arm them as the Japanese constitution forbids the export of weapons.

A seaplane is more expensive to build and maintain, but these aircraft can land and take off from the water and be stationed anywhere along the coast (or up a river). During World War II amphibious maritime reconnaissance aircraft often took advantage of this and were very useful. Currently only Russia and Canada build seaplanes like this and Russia is an enthusiastic backer of these amphibious aircraft.

In 2013 the Russian Defense Ministry bought six Be-200 jet powered seaplanes, for about $40 million each. Most seaplanes use turboprop engines and using jets makes available a faster seaplane that can carry more. The Be-200 was developed in the 1990s, using a combination of Russian and Western technology. It first flew in 1998, and over a dozen are on order configured as fire-fighting aircraft. This was the main reason it was designed in the first place. Five of these are already in service. This model can carry twelve tons of water (which it could scoop from a river in 12 seconds). The 43 ton aircraft can carry seven tons of cargo or 72 passengers. The aircraft was offered in an anti-submarine configuration but there were no takers. Built to fly low and slow (it cruises at 500 kilometers an hour), the Be-200 was ideal for anti-submarine warfare. It is unclear what the Russian military intends to do with it. Because most of Russia lacks roads and airfields, but has plenty of rivers and lakes, the Be-200 would greatly increase rapid access to many of these areas, especially those beyond the range of helicopters. Current endurance is about four hours per sortie. This can be increased by using some of the cargo capacity for additional fuel, to get endurance up to eight hours or more.