World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseIn 1931, Georgy Mikhailovich Beriev designed a flying boat aircraft that were branched into civilian transport (as the MP-1) as well as military reconnaissance (as the Morskoi Blizhniy Razvedchik ("Naval Short Range Reconnaissance"), or MBR-2). Visually they were characterized by the large engines mounted high above the fuselage as well as the inverted gullwings. They were built at the Beriev OKB ("Development Design Bureau") factory in Taganrog in southern Russia. The Soviet Navy began using the all-metal MBR-2 flying boats in 1940, but production ceased when the area was conquered by German forces in the fall of 1941.

SPECIFICATIONS

MBR-2M-17

Machinery	One Mikulin M-17B inline 12-cylinder engine rated at 680hp
Armament	1x7.62mm bow ShKAS machine gun, 1x7.62mm dorsal turret ShKAS machine gun, optional 500kg of bombs, mines, or depth charges
Crew	4
Span	19.00 m
Length	13.50 m
Height	4.82 m
Wing Area	55.00 m²
Weight, Empty	2,475 kg
Weight, Maximum	4,100 kg
Speed, Maximum	200 km/h
Service Ceiling	4,400 m
Range, Normal	650 km

MBR-2bis

Machinery	One Mikulin AM-34N V-12 engine rated at 750hp
Armament	1x7.62mm bow PV-1 machine gun, 1x7.62mm dorsal turret PV-1 machine gun, , optional 300kg of bombs, mines, or depth charges
Crew	5
Span	19.00 m
Length	13.50 m
Height	4.40 m
Wing Area	55.00 m²
Weight, Empty	5,990 kg
Weight, Maximum	4,245 kg
Speed, Maximum	275 km/h
Service Ceiling	4,900 m
Range, Normal	1,500 km

Photographs