Incredibly, Russia’s 50-Year-Old Seaplanes Are Still Flying Around The Black Sea

A devastating Ukrainian strike on a Russian air base in occupied Crimea earlier this month destroyed potentially dozens of warplanes belonging to the Russian navy’s Black Sea Fleet.

But one old airplane apparently survived—a 1970s-vintage Beriev Be-12 seaplane. It’s either one of the Black Sea Fleet’s few remaining Be-12s, or a derelict former Ukrainian navy example.

Three of the twin-engine Berievs, none younger than 49 years, might still lumber around the Black Sea on patrol and rescue missions. Russian naval aviation reportedly operates three additional Be-12s as part of other regional fleets.

Be-12 sightings are rare. So it was news when one of the distinctive, gull-wing seaplanes appeared in commercial satellite imagery of Saki air base, on Crimea’s west coast, in the days following the Aug. 9 attack on the base.

The daylight attack—the result of a drone strike, ballistic-missile strike or commando raid—triggered explosions across Saki air base, home of the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s 43rd Independent Naval Attack Aviation Regiment.

The resulting fires burned to the ground as many as eight Su-27 fighters, four Su-30 fighter-bombers, five Su-24 bombers, six Mi-8 helicopters and a unique Il-20 telemetry aircraft, according to a Russian source.

A video from the tarmac in the hours following the attack depicts one destroyed Su-24. Commercial satellite imagery seemed to confirm eight Su-24 losses plus five Su-27/30 losses. The Ukrainian defense ministry for its part claimed its destroyed nine Russian planes.

It’s likely none of these sources is comprehensive. Combining them, it’s possible the Russian navy wrote off as few as nine aircraft and as many as 27. It’s possible, even likely, the 43rd Regiment now is ineffective. The Black Sea Fleet will need to rebuild the unit.

But it seems a Be-12 that was at Saki on Aug. 9 escaped damage. In satellite imagery from the raid’s aftermath, the seaplane sits in a revetement a short distance from the apron where most of the damage occurred.

Five days after the attack, someone photographed a Be-12 flying near Saki.

The 32-ton Beriev seaplane entered service with the Soviet fleet back in the 1960s. With its 330-miles-per-hour top speed, seven-ton payload and ability to land on water, it flew patrol and rescue missions—and was a modest export success.

The Ukrainian navy inherited seven Be-12s when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. They flew from Saki back when Crimea was still under Ukrainian control. As the Russians invaded Crimea in February 2014, one Ukrainian Be-12 managed to get off the ground and escape to Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine.

The Russians captured the other Beriev airframes. Weirdly, they actually returned to the Ukrainians many of the planes they captured in Crimea … including the Be-12 with the code Yellow 02.

In April 2014, Russian troops on the peninsula allowed a Ukrainian crew to fly Yellow 02 to Mykolayiv. Two years later that seaplane took part in Sea Breeze 2014, a NATO war game on the Black Sea.

Both surviving Ukrainian Be-12s flew until at least 2019, but in recent photos—including a couple from late 2021—the seaplanes appear to be in poor repair, and possibly grounded.

That makes sense, as the Black Sea has become a very dangerous place—especially for Ukrainian aircraft, and doubly so for slow Ukrainian aircraft. Keeping up a couple ancient seaplanes surely is a low priority for the Ukrainian navy, which no longer has any large armed warships and mostly fights with drones and land-based anti-ship missiles.

The air-defense situation over the sea is somewhat more favorable for Russian aircraft, which at least enjoy some protection from S-400 long-range air-defenses in Crimea.

Whether the seaplane that was at Saki on Aug. 9 is flyable, or has been flyable in recent years, is hard to verify. But the evidence indicates at least some of those three Be-12s that belong to the Black Sea Fleet still are operating off Crimea.