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Post by TsarSamuil on Jun 27, 2012 12:40:07 GMT -5
New Bomber Outline Takes Shape – Russian AF Commander.
15:01 27/06/2012
MOSCOW, June 27 (RIA Novosti)
The outline for a design of the Russian Air Force's future strategic bomber, known as PAK-DA, has been worked out, Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said on Wednesday.
"The outline of this aircraft is already formed, and the technical and tactical characteristics are being set out," Bondarev told a news conference at RIA Novosti dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Russian Air Force.
"I think we have the resources and funding to make the plane on time, so it is ready when we need it as a replacement or addition to our Tu-95 and Tu-160 strategic bombers," he added.
The AF commander did not specify the number of new bombers expected to enter service with the Air Force after 2020.
Bondarev also denied any knowledge about the ongoing conflict between Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who has responsibility for military-industrial affairs, and the Armed Force’s General Staff over the need for a new “traditional” strategic bomber.
Rogozin said on his blog last week that it would be undesirable for Russia to "go down the American route," and produce a bomber like the Northrop B-2, and repeated his earlier calls for a hypersonic air vehicle system instead of a traditional long-range bomber.
In earlier comments, Rogozin had appeared to dismiss the need for PAK-DA, saying long-range bombers would fall victim to air defense systems long before reaching their targets.
Rogozin's comments came just days after President Vladimir Putin called on Russian industry to develop PAK-DA.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jul 2, 2012 15:35:42 GMT -5
Russia Looking at 2020 for New Generation Long-Range Bomber.
12:52 02/07/2012
MOSCOW, July 2 (RIA Novosti)
The Russian Air Force may receive its first PAK DA next generation long-range bomber about 2020 instead of 2025 as initially planned, Russia’s acting deputy Air Force commander, Major General Alexander Chernyayev, has said.
“I think the first models of the Prospective Air Complex for Long Range Aviation (PAK DA) will be supplied to the Air Force approximately by 2020,” Chernyayev said in an interview published on the Russian Defense Ministry website late last week.
Russia's Long Range Aviation commander, Major General Anatoly Zhikharev, has said the Air Force could receive the new strategic bomber in 2025.
The general look of the new strategic bomber has already been worked out, and engineers are currently finishing work on aircraft specific operational requirements, Chernyayev said.
“We have everything today to develop the plane on time and put it into operation together with [Tupolev] Tu-95MS Bear, Tu-160 Blackjack and Tu-22M3 Backfire [strategic bombers], which have proven their high reliability,” he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered development of the new long-range strategic bomber to be sped up in mid-June.
“I know how expensive and complex this is,” Putin said during a conference on defense orders. “The task is not easy from a scientific-technical standpoint, but we need to start work,” he said, adding that otherwise, Russia could miss the boat.
Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has said previously that a new aircraft assembly line in Russia's Kazan plant (KAPO) would build PAK DA and the new Antonov An-70 propfan transport aircraft. The same plant previously built the Tu-95MS and Tu-160.
Currently, only Russia and the United States operate intercontinental range bombers. Most other nuclear-capable nations rely solely on intercontinental ballistic missiles, based on submarines or in land-based silos, or cruise missiles. The United States has expressed an interest in successor systems to its B-1, B-2 and B-52H long-range bombers.
Chernyayev also said in his interview the Russian Air Force was planning to modernize its Tu-95MS, Tu-160 and Tu-22MS bombers, as well as Ilyushin Il-78 Midas air-to-air refueling tanker aircraft.
Russia’s strategic air forces operate a total of 63 Tu-95MS and 13 Tu-160 bombers. Altogether, they are capable of carrying 850 long-range cruise missiles.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jul 31, 2012 18:01:15 GMT -5
Vid, en.rian.ru/video/20120731/174883557.htmlStrategic missile carriers armed with nuclear weapons are protecting Russia’s air borders. A RIA Novosti film crew visited one of the military airfields where the Tu-95MS and Tu-160 are based. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Aug 2, 2012 16:07:00 GMT -5
Russia Could Deploy Unmanned Bomber After 2040 - Air Force.
17:43 02/08/2012
MOSCOW, August 2 (RIA Novosti)
Russia could deploy a "sixth-generation" pilotless strategic bomber aircraft after 2040, Long-Range Aviation Commander Lt . Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev said on Thursday.
"That could be around 2040-2050," Zhikharev said.
Russia's Tupolev design bureau is currently developing a new-generation strategic bomber aircraft, PAK DA, due to be in service around 2025. The new aircraft will replace the existing fleet of Tu-160, Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 bombers.
The future development of Russia's long-range aviation in Russia has been the subject of some debate in recent months.
Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in June he was in favor of development of the PAK DA bomber project for the air force, just hours after saying the project was unnecessary, in apparent contravention of President Putin's call a week before for domestic aerospace industry to develop just such an aircraft.
Rogozin, who has special responsibility for the military-industrial complex, had previously insisted Russia had no need to develop a new long-range bomber to replace its existing fleet.
“These aircraft will not get anywhere. Not ours, not theirs,” Rogozin said in an interview with Izvestia in June.
"I'm ready to insist on my point of view," Rogozin said later in June on his Twitter blog. "With modern air defense systems, these targets will be destroyed on the way," he said.
In May, Rogozin called on Russia's defense industry to develop hypersonic air-breathing weapons as a future strike system. He cited American development work in the X-51, Falcon, HiFire and HyFly programs as examples of what he described as the perspective threat posed by U.S. hypersonic development work.
At present only Russia and the United States operate intercontinental range bombers. Most other nuclear-capable nations rely solely on intercontinental ballistic missiles based on submarines or in land-based silos, or cruise missiles.
Russia’s strategic air forces operate a total of 63 Tu-95MS and 13 Tu-160 bombers.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Aug 27, 2012 13:36:01 GMT -5
Deputy PM Repeats Call For Hypersonic Bomber.
18:00 27/08/2012
MOSCOW, August 27 (RIA Novosti)
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin repeated his appeal on Monday for Russia to develop a hypersonic aircraft for its PAK-DA long-range bomber requirement.
"I think we need to go down the route of hypersonic technology and we are moving in that direction and are not falling behind the Americans," he said on Rossiya 24 TV. "We will use this technology when developing a new bomber."
Long-range military aviation is vital to Russia and "the question is will we copy the Americans' forty-year experience and create a [Northrop] B-2 analog...or will we go down a new, ultramodern technology route, looking to the horizon, and create a machine able to penetrate air defenses and carry out a strike on any aggressor," he said.
Rogozin's latest comments come just days after a test of America's X-51 Waverider hypersonic unmanned test vehicle failed after a control fin broke up and the aircraft fell into the sea. The aim of the test was to prove Waverider could fly for around five minutes at hypersonic speed using a "scramjet" engine.
Russian Air Force Long Range Aviation commander Lt. Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev has previously said the first PAK-DA (an acronym for future long-range aircraft) bomber should enter service by around 2020, and its outline design is currently being devised. Russia's Tupolev design bureau, which designed most of Russia's serving bombers like the Tu-95MS, Tu-22M3 and Tu-160, is leading the program.
In June, President Vladimir Putin ordered initial development of the new long-range bomber for strategic aviation. Speaking during a conference on defense orders, Putin said: "We have to develop work on the new PAK-DA long-range bomber aircraft for Long-Range Aviation. The task is not easy from a scientific-technical standpoint, but we need to start work," Putin said.
Rogozin initially said in June he saw no need for PAK-DA to replace the air force's ageing Tu-95MS cruise-missile carriers and Tu-160 supersonic bombers.
“These aircraft will not get anywhere. Not ours, not theirs,” he said in an interview with Izvestia in June. He later clarified his statement by saying he was in favor of developing a future bomber, but it should not just be a B-2 copy and should employ hypersonic technology.
In May, he called on Russia's defense industry to develop hypersonic air-breathing weapons as a future strike system. He picked out American development work in the X-51, Falcon, HiFire and HyFly hypersonic programs as examples of what he described as the perspective threat posed by U.S. hypersonic development work.
"The undertaking of this work allows us to lay the basis for creation of a national competitor in hypersonic weapons," he said, adding development of such a weapon should be discussed at the highest levels of state.
Aerospace specialists say Rogozin's comments are more likely to be relevant to a future air-launched missile, rather than the bomber that launches it.
"I very much doubt it would be possible to make a hypersonic bomber by that time [2020]," he said. "And there is no point. A supersonic bomber would be useful, but not hypersonic. Probably, he is talking about a missile," said Maxim Pyadushkin, editor of the Russia/CIS Observer aviation magazine.
"In the Soviet-era there was considerable research into high-speed weaponry, culminating in projects such as the Raduga Kh-90, which is sometimes referred to as GELA," said Douglas Barrie, air warfare analyst at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.
"None of the work resulted in an in-service weapon. Elements of this research could be re-invigorated as the basis for a weapon for the PAK-DA within the next 10-15 years. The PAK-DA - should the required substantial funding be made available - will be at best supersonic, if not a subsonic design with some stealth characteristics," he added.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Dec 27, 2012 11:25:05 GMT -5
Airborne Forces to Get New Command Control Systems in 2013.
MOSCOW, December 24 (RIA Novosti) - Russia’s Airborne Assault Forces (AAF) will start taking delivery of new Andromeda-D automated command and control systems (CCS) next year, the Defense Ministry said on Monday.
The first Andromeda-D systems will be deployed in four AAF divisions across Russia: in Novorossiisk, Ivanovo, Tula and Ulyanovsk, ministry spokesman Col Alexander Kucherenko said.
The system, which uses digital telecommunication equipment, can be deployed at fixed-site or mobile command and control stations and is geared to AAF specifics as a highly mobile military service.
It will take up to three years and about 4.5 billion rubles to complete the transition to the new system, AAF chief Col Gen Vladimir Shamanov said.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 5, 2013 14:17:26 GMT -5
Russian Air Force to Get 48 Il-476 Transports.
MOSCOW, February 5 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Air Force's Military Transport Aviation (MTA) will receive a total of 48 Ilyushin Il-476 heavy transport planes by 2020, rather than the previously stated 39, its commander Col. Gen. Vladimir Benediktov said on Tuesday.
The Russian Defense Ministry said last October it had signed a contract worth about 140 billion rubles ($4 billion) with Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) for the delivery of 39 Il-476 planes by 2020.
“The MTA will receive its first series-produced [Il-476] planes by 2014, and a total of 48 by 2020,” Benediktov said.
The Il-476, (also known as the Il-76-MD-90A) is a significantly modernized variant of the Il-76 Candid transport plane, featuring a fully-digital flight control system, new avionics and PS-90A-76 engines with improved fuel efficiency systems.
A prototype of the plane carried out a maiden flight from the Aviastar plant in Ulyanovsk in September and will undergo a comprehensive test program for another year.
The Russian military has not received significant numbers of new large transport planes in the past 20 years.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 8, 2013 13:52:11 GMT -5
Upgraded Ruslan Heavy Lifter to Start Testing ‘Soon’
ULYANOVSK, February 7 (RIA Novosti) - Modernization of the Antonov An-124-100 strategic heavylift aircraft Ruslan is nearing completion and the plane will soon undergo a series of standard trials, Russia’s Aviastar aircraft plant said on Thursday.
The aircraft has been modernized to “improve its performance, enhance its reliability and increase its service life,” the aircraft maker said.
The upgrade will first be tested on the ground before proceeding with flight trials, it said, specifying that a total of three Ruslans will be upgraded this year.
In previous years Aviastar modernized just one to two planes annually.
A single Antonov An-124-100 can carry up to 120 tons of cargo, including ‘outsize’ (unusually large) cargo.
Ukraine’s Antonov design bureau said in late December that NATO will continue chartering Antonov An-124 Ruslan planes until at least December 31, 2014.
The Alliance has been using six An-124-100 planes, provided by Ukraine’s Antonov state company and Russia’s Volga-Dnepr group, to transport heavy equipment across the globe by air since 2006 under the SALIS (Strategic Airlift Interim Solution) program.
Fourteen NATO nations and two partner nations (Finland and Sweden) have committed to using the An-124 aircraft for a minimum of 2,000 flight hours per year.
The SALIS contract provides two Antonov An-124-100 aircraft on full-time charter, two more on six days’ notice and another two on nine days’ notice. Since March 2006, An-124-100s have performed more than 2,100 flights under the SALIS program, carrying more than 120,000 tons of military and civilian cargo around the world.
The use of this type of aircraft is crucial for the alliance in light of the upcoming withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 13, 2013 11:57:03 GMT -5
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 15, 2013 13:45:27 GMT -5
Russian Navy Warplanes Start Arctic Patrols. MOSCOW, February 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Northern Fleet aircraft have started patrolling the Arctic Ocean on a regular basis, Defense Ministry spokesman Capt. First Rank Vadim Serga said on Thursday. “So far this week, Northern Fleet aircrews have made three flights to the Arctic region,” he said. Two flights were made by an Ilyushin Il-38 May maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft and one by a Tupolev Tu-142 Bear maritime reconnaissance and ASW aircraft, he said. The ASW aircraft take off from fleet airbases in the Murmansk and Vologda regions and fly over international waters above the Arctic Ocean and along the Northern Sea Route, Serga said. The Navy patrol aircraft monitor the pack-ice near the Northern Sea Route to assist navigation for civilian ships in Arctic regions, Serga said. These patrols are in addition to strategic bomber patrol flights which Russia resumed over the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans in August 2007. According to the Defense Ministry, Tu-95 and Tu-160 strategic bombers fly an average of 50 such patrol missions every year. Russia has officially set the goal of deploying a combined-arms force including military, border, and coast guard units by 2020, to protect its political and economic interests in the Arctic and boost Russia’s military security. The Russian authorities have recently been calling for tighter security along the country’s Arctic frontiers as rapid pack-ice loss is making the region more accessible to maritime traffic. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in December 2012 that Russia risks losing its sovereignty by the mid-21st century if it does not assert its national interests in the Arctic today. According to the US National Snow and Ice Data Center, in late 2012 the area covered by Arctic ice shrank to its lowest since 1979. “Climate change has increased the transport accessibility of the Arctic region. However, growing maritime traffic is likely to bring about more attempts at smuggling, illegal migration, drug trafficking… and other types of organized crime,” Yevgeny Lukyanov, a deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council, said at an international Arctic states conference in Norway’s Tromso. “That’s why Russia needs to cooperate with other Arctic states in strengthening and defending its Arctic borders and in monitoring transportation routes,” Lukyanov added. He denied Russia was pursuing military or geopolitical goals in the area.  |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 20, 2013 13:39:33 GMT -5
Russian Military Plans to Buy New Aerial Tankers – Source.
MOSCOW, February 20 (RIA Novosti) – The Defense Ministry and Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) are close to signing a deal for new Ilyushin Il-78 Midas aerial refuelling tankers for the Russian Air Force, a UAC source told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.
“The contract for the delivery of Il-78 planes is at the signing stage,” the source said without specifying the number of aircraft
The current list price for an Il-78 aerial tanker is about 3.5 billion rubles ($116 mln). Some media reports earlier speculated that the Russian Defense Ministry may order up to 31 new Il-78 planes.
The ll-78 is a four-engine aerial refueling tanker based on the Il-76 heavy transport plane. A modernized version of the Il-76MD-90A (also known as Il-476) will soon enter serial production at the Ulyanovsk-based Aviastar-SP plant. The new tankers will most likely be based on the Il-76MD-90A .
The Russian Defense Ministry said last October it had signed a contract worth about 140 billion rubles ($4 billion) with UAC for the delivery of 39 Il-476 planes by 2020. Military Transport Aviation's commander Col. Gen. Vladimir Benediktov later said the service would in fact buy 48 of the planes by 2020.
According to open sources, the Russian Air Force operates 19 Il-78 aircraft in the 203rd Guards Air Refueling Regiment.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 28, 2013 13:58:02 GMT -5
Airborne Forces to Take on Rapid Response Role - Minister.
MOSCOW, February 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Airborne Forces (VDV) should expand the scope of their mission and be prepared to operate as a rapid reaction force, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday.
“The Airborne Forces are to be used as rapid reaction forces in responding to crises,” Shoigu told an meeting of senior officers at the Defense Ministry, but did not elaborate.
Shoigu also stressed the need to fulfil the 2013 state defense production order, in order to guarantee the comprehensive rearmament of military units.
Last Friday, General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov said a series of random checks in the Armed Forces last week revealed a number of systemic shortcomings. Combat alert checks were carried out in the Central and South Military Districts, VDV and military transport aviation units.
Alert-duty officers in some military units demonstrated an insufficiently prompt and effective response in processing orders via automated combat command and control systems, especially at VDV units and at the 201st Military Base in Tajikistan, Gerasimov said. He ordered military commanders at all levels to study the problems, draw up remedial plans and follow them meticulously.
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Post by TsarSamuil on May 24, 2013 14:01:46 GMT -5
Russian Military Orders 6 Be-200 Amphibious Planes. MOSCOW, May 24 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Defense Ministry has signed a contract with the Beriev Aircraft Company for the purchase of six Beriev Be-200 amphibious planes, Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) said on Friday. “The contract is worth 8.4 billion rubles [$268 million],” UAC said in a statement. “The first two planes will be basic Be-200ChS models, while the following four will be the Be-200PS version without firefighting equipment,” the statement said. It is the first purchase of Be-200 planes by the Russian military. The Defense Ministry may order eight more planes in the future, according to UAC. Be-200 is the world's largest multipurpose amphibious aircraft, designed for firefighting, search and rescue, maritime patrol, cargo and passenger transportation. The plane can carry 12 tons of water or 7.5 tons of cargo, or up to 72 passengers. At least five Be-200ChS firefighting planes are currently in service with the Russian Emergencies Ministry.  |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jul 26, 2013 13:33:09 GMT -5
Russian Defense Ministry Signs $100 Mln Deal to Overhaul 3 Tu-160 Bombers.
MOSCOW, July 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Defense Ministry has signed a 3.4 billion ruble ($103 million) contract with the Tupolev design bureau and Kazan Aircraft Plant to upgrade three Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers, Tupolev said Friday.
The delivery date for the supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber is December 31, 2015, the company said.
The ministry said last year at least 10 of the Russian Air Force’s Tu-160 bombers will be modernized by 2020, after which the upgraded aircraft will remain in service until a new-generation strategic bomber known as PAK-DA is developed.
The Tu-160, which entered service in 1987 and remains the largest supersonic aircraft in the world, is designed to engage strategic targets with nuclear and conventional weapons.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Aug 30, 2013 12:10:24 GMT -5
Kiev, Moscow Finalize Deal on An-124 Heavy-Lift Plane.
KIEV, August 30 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine and Russia are set to sign off on a joint production deal to modernize the An-124 heavy lift transport aircraft, with the final document to be signed in September, a Ukrainian government news bulletin said Friday.
The technical details were agreed during the MAKS 2013 airshow just outside Moscow, and the two countries will ink the final deal at a high-profile bilateral meeting in September, the bulletin said.
Ruslan planes that are nearing the end of their service life will be modernized and upgraded with new, Ukrainian-made, D-18T engines to be installed at Russia’s Ulyanovsk plant. The navigation system, landing gear and avionics will also be replaced, extending the An-124’s service life through 2025.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Yuriy Boiko said that a report by audit firm Ernst&Young indicated production should be profitable provided orders come in for more than 40 aircraft.
Boiko noted that Ruslan, in its basic modification, costs $300 million, and that there are currently optional orders for 61 aircraft, 50 of which from Russia’s Volga-Dnepr carrier.
Experts estimate market demand to 2030 for this aircraft at approximately 200.
A single Antonov An-124-100 can carry up to 120 tons of cargo, including ‘outsize’ cargo.
In December 2012, Ukraine’s Antonov design bureau said that NATO had called the heavy lift plane “unique” and said it would continue using it through 2014.
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