Big planes, Transport, Stealth-Bombers, AWACS etc.

[TsarSamuil]

The Concept Of The Future Fleet – Ekranoplan.

South Front
Dec 20, 2016

[TsarSamuil]

Russia's Next-Gen Stealth Bomber to Replace Tu-22, Tu-95 and Tu-160 Planes.

Sputnik
MILITARY & INTELLIGENCE 18:27 24.02.2017

Developers of the Russian new-generation strategic bomber, known as the Advanced Long-Range Aviation Complex (PAK DA), have defended the preliminary design of the project, according to Evgeniy Fedorov, scientific director of the Russian State Research Institute of Aviation Systems.

According to him, the Defense Ministry submitted very strict requirements for the new aircraft.

"The military mentioned everything they could, including a strategic bomber, an operative and tactic missile-carrying bomber and even a long-range interceptor capable of launching space vehicles," Fedorov told the Russian news agency RNS.

The PAK DA project was launched in 2009. The new aircraft is being designed to replace all three bombers currently in service with the Russian long-range aviation, including the Tu-22M3 long-range bomber and the Tu-95 and Tu-160 (aka the White Swan) strategic bombers.

"Money is also taken into consideration in the development of the PAK DA. The Tu-160 is a masterpiece but it is extremely expensive. The new plane is expected to be cheaper but much easier in production. The preliminary design was approved and the decision was made to start building the aircraft," he pointed out.

The PAK DA is being developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau. The new bomber will be significantly different from the Tu-160. It will have a flying wing design. The new bomber will be subsonic. The loss in speed will be compensated with advanced stealth and electronic capabilities.

The new bomber is expected to make its first flight sometime before 2021, with the first deliveries starting in 2023.

The aircraft will be capable of carrying air-to-surface and air-to-air missiles as well as conventional and smart-guided bombs. A 2016 report mentioned that the PAK DA was expected to have a range of 6,740 nautical miles. It will also be able to carry 30 tons of weapons.

According to Russian Aerospace Forces Commander Viktor Bondarev, the new bomber will feature an outstanding stealth capability and an artificial intelligence-guided missile.

"It is impossible to build a missile-carrying bomber invisible to radars and supersonic at the same time. This is why focus is placed on stealth capabilities. The PAK DA will carry AI-guided missiles with a range of up to 7,000 km. Such a missile can analyze the aerial and radio-radar situation and determine its direction, altitude and speed. We’re already working on such missiles," Bondarev was quoted as saying by the Russian newspaper Rossiskaya Gazeta.

[TsarSamuil]

With a View to the Future: Why Russia Needs PAK DA Next-Gen Stealth Bomber.

Sputnik
RUSSIA 14:19 02.03.2017

In a follow up to recent reports that Russian designers have made the first full-size model of the Russia's next-generation strategic bomber, known as the Advanced Long-Range Aviation Complex (PAK DA), Russian defense analysts explained why the country needs such an advanced aircraft.

The developers from Russia's Tupolev design bureau have recently created a full-size model of the prospective advanced long-range bomber, known by its Russian initials as PAK DA.
The new aircraft is expected to make its first flight sometime before 2021, with the first deliveries starting in 2023. The first public demonstration of the aircraft is expected in 2018.

It is estimated that the new aircraft will have an operational range of about 12,000 kilometers and travel at subsonic speeds. The plane’s airframe will consist of radar-absorbent material.

Furthermore, it was reported that the new fifth generation bomber will be able to carry a 30-ton weapons payload including different variants of air-to-surface and air-to-air missiles as well as conventional and smart-guided bombs.

The bomber "is to be equipped with the latest radio-electronic warfare equipment of domestic manufacture, unparalleled in terms of effectiveness," the designers revealed.

It will have a flying wing design, which is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft that has no clearly defined fuselage. The crew, payload, fuel, and equipment are typically housed inside the main wing structure.

The new aircraft is being designed to replace all three bombers currently in service with the Russian long-range aviation, including the Tu-22M3 long-range bomber and the Tu-95 and Tu-160 (aka the White Swan) strategic bombers.
Commenting on the reports, Viktor Murakhovsky, Editor-in Chief of Arsenal of the Fatherland journal said that the new bomber will be a worthy replacement to the aircraft that were developed back in Soviet times.

"The creation of a new aircraft is not a fast process. Thus the combat effectiveness of the existing fleet of the long-range aviation needs to be constantly maintained, partially with the help of modernization," he told RT channel.

However these aircraft can't fly forever, he noted.

The new bomber is expected to become one of the chains in the system of strategic "non-nuclear" deterrence.

The PAK DA, he said, will have cutting-edge equipment and advanced air-launched weapons, most prominently, long-range cruise missiles and hypersonic striking powers.

Meanwhile, military expert Vasily Kashin, Senior Research Fellow at the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies noted that both Tu-95 and Tu-160 remain visible to the modern anti-missile defense systems, thus Russian Aerospace Forces do need a more modern aircraft with lesser radar visibility.

"It will considerably expand our possibilities and will provide a certain advantage to our forces. It is quite expensive and complicated to create such an aircraft. Long-range combat aviation is not exploited as intensively as civil aviation, and so its working lifespan is considerably longer.

On the whole, Russian long-range aviation is younger than that of the US," he said.

[TsarSamuil]

Giant naval ship dubbed Caspian Sea Monster roamed waters in the 60s.

IN THE NOW
Mar 9, 2017



This giant beast is part plane part ship. The Ekranoplan was built to make the Soviet Union a naval superpower. Meant for water travel it could reach over 310 mph. It was dubbed ’The Caspian Sea Monster’ in the USA, after it was spotted by a satellite in 1967. The hybrid was tested for 15 years. In 1980 a pilot error caused a crash beyond repair. Today several companies are trying to copy the craft, but without success.

[TsarSamuil]

Russia’s Tu-95MS ‘Bear’ Strategic Bomber And Missile Carrier.

South Front
Apr 9, 2017

[TsarSamuil]

That is far away..

PAK DA: Russian Defense Ministry Reveals When New Stealth Bomber Will Fly.

Sputnik
MILITARY & INTELLIGENCE 17:47 27.04.2017

Russia's next generation strategic bomber, known as the Advanced Long-Range Aviation Complex (PAK DA), is due to make its maiden flight in 2025-2026 and may enter mass production a few years later, according to Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said that the maiden flight of Russia's next generation strategic bomber, known as the Advanced Long-Range Aviation Complex (PAK DA), may take place between 2025 and 2026, RIA Novosti reported.

According to him, the PAK DA is expected to start being mass produced between 2028 and 2029.

"We expect [the PAK DA's] maiden flight to take place in approximately 2025-2026, and the plane's mass production may start in 2028-2029," Borisov said during a visit to the Kazan aircraft plant,

In early March, some media outlets reported the creation of the first full-size model of the PAK DA, made of wood, as well as several mock-ups made of composite materials in line with the "flying wing" design. The information was never officially confirmed.

Earlier, Russian Aerospace Forces Commander Viktor Bondarev had said that the PAK DA bombers are expected to enter service in 2023.

The new aircraft is being designed to replace all three bombers currently in service with the Russian long-range aircraft, including the Tu-22M3 long-range bomber and the Tu-95 and Tu-160 (aka the White Swan) strategic bombers.

It was reported that the new fifth generation bomber will be able to carry a 30-ton weapons payload, including different variants of air-to-surface and air-to-air missiles as well as conventional and smart-guided bombs.

The bomber "is to be equipped with the latest domestically manufactured radio-electronic warfare equipment, unparalleled in terms of effectiveness," the designers revealed.

It is estimated that the new aircraft will have an operational range of about 12,000 kilometers and travel at subsonic speeds. The plane's airframe will consist of radar-absorbent material.

Last year, Russian Long-Range Aviation Commander Lieutenant-General Anatoly Zhiharev touted the PAK DA as "a fundamentally new plane with a new sighting and navigation system. According to him, "this plane will be equipped with the latest communication systems and electronic warfare, and will have little visibility to radar."

Bondarev, for his part, also touted the new bomber's stealth capabilities, adding that the PAK DA will carry AI-guided missiles with a range of up to 7,000 km.

"Such a missile can analyze the aerial and radio-radar situation and determine its direction, altitude and speed. We're already working on such missiles," Bondarev was quoted as saying by the Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

[TsarSamuil]

Russian Su-27 intercepts US B-52 bomber over Baltic – Moscow.

RT.com
6 Jun, 2017 10:17

A Russian Su-27 fighter jet was deployed to intercept a US B-52 strategic bomber over the Baltic Sea, and in a separate incident hours later, a MiG-31 intercepted a Norwegian warplane approaching Russian airspace near the Barents Sea.

Russia’s air defense detected the aircraft on Tuesday morning at around 7:00 GMT, the statement said. The Su-27 of the Russian Baltic Fleet was deployed in response and shadowed the American aircraft after identifying it, as the bomber was flying in neutral airspace over the Baltic Sea along the border, the ministry said.

After the American warplane left the airspace near Russia, the Russian fighter jet returned to its base of deployment, the statement said.

Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis, cited by Fox News, said that the US plane was engaged in a "routine mission" and insisted that the "vast majority" of intercepts are absolutely safe.

Norwegian plane intercepted

Later on Tuesday, Russia scrambled a MiG-31 to intercept what it then “visually identified” as an anti-submarine P-3 Orion belonging to the Royal Norwegian Air Force, which was traveling over neutral waters along the Russian border over the Barents Sea with transponders switched off.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said the interceptor escorted the foreign aircraft, which changed its course and turned away from the border, before the MiG-31 returned to base. The mission is a standard response to craft without transponders approaching Russian airspace.

The Norwegian Ministry of Defense has said that there was nothing illegal or unusual about either the flight itself, or a military plane not using a transponder, which helps radars identify and locate an aircraft mid-flight.

"There has been a Norwegian Orion in the area, which happens several times a week. It was flying in international airspace," Norwegian armed forces spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Ivar Moen told Reuters. "It was identified as normal by Russian fighter jets, in the same way Norwegian forces identify Russian planes."

Russia and NATO have long negotiated over the voluntary use of transponders for military flights over sensitive areas, and while there have been partial and informal arrangements in places, such as the Baltics, no overarching agreements exist.

The intercept comes amid NATO’s continued string of training exercises near the Russian border. The defense block is currently conducting one of the biggest drills this year in Romania, with another to take place in Estonia. The alliance claims it is necessary to build confidence among member states in Eastern Europe and the Baltic in the face of the alleged threat from Russia.

Moscow has repeatedly criticized what it sees as growing anti-Russia hysteria in Europe and considers the military build-up near its borders a threat to its national security. It accused NATO of fearmongering to justify bigger defense spending by allies.

[TsarSamuil]

Blackjack returns: Russia unveils newly built Tu-160 supersonic strategic bomber.

RT.com
16 Nov, 2017 19:23

A newly built Tupolev Tu-160 long-range heavy strategic bomber – the first one since 1992 – was rolled out of the hangar as Russia resumes production of the world’s largest operational bomber that NATO designates as Blackjack.

The new Tu-160, which is nicknamed White Swan in Russia, was revealed at the Kazan Aviation Factory, a branch of Moscow-based Tupolev Design Bureau, on Thursday. The aircraft was built, using parts stored since Soviet times, to establish if the factory was capable of resuming serial production of the legendary bombers.

The bomber will now undergo testing on the ground, before taking to the skies in February 2018. The serial production of Tu-160s, which remained stalled since 1992, will resume after the aircraft proves that it matches the assigned criteria, Major-General Sergey Kobylash, the chief of Russia's Long-Range Aviation, told RIA-Novosti.

Russia’s military announced the decision to resume production of the Tu-160s in modernized Tu-160M2 variation back in 2015. The serial production of the bombers is likely to begin in early 2020s, with the Defense Ministry planning to purchase at least 50 aircraft. The modernized planes will get new improved engines, also seeing analog onboard equipment replaced with digital hardware.

“All the Tu-160 planes currently in service with the Russian Air Force will be fully modernized. Taking into account the pace of reproduction and the level of modern technology, I assume that it’s going to happen in the coming years,” Kobylash said.

Blackjack is largest combat aircraft in the world, with maximum takeoff weight of about 275 tons. It can cover a distance of more than 12,000 kilometers without refueling. The record distance it covered during one flight was 18,000 kilometers, spending more than 24 hours in the air. The bomber is equipped with variable-sweep wings, which it wedges against the fuselage when switching to supersonic speed.

The Tu-160 and other long-range aircraft resumed patrol flights over the Pacific and Atlantic in 2007. The bombers also proved their effectiveness during Russia’s air campaign in Syria as they took off from airfields in Russia to strike terrorist targets.

[TsarSamuil]

WATCH a New Russian Radar Plane Take to the Sky for the First Time.

Sputnik
MILITARY & INTELLIGENCE 14:47 19.11.2017

Russia's Zvezda news network has published a video of the maiden flight of the advanced Russian airborne early warning and control aircraft A-100 (AWACS).

During the November 18 flight, specialists checked the A-100's aerodynamic characteristics as well as the performance of its avionics and part of the equipment of the radio engineering complex.

The Beriev A-100 aircraft, also known as "the flying radar", was constructed on the base of the Il-76MD-90A (Il-476) transport aircraft.

The plane is expected to replace the Beriev A-50 Mainstay AWACS aircraft, which is currently in service at the Russian Aerospace Forces.

Superior to its foreign analogues, the A-100 is specifically capable of managing the operations of fighter jets and bombers with guidance on air, land and sea targets.

[TsarSamuil]

Is The "Caspian Sea Monster" A Boat, Or A Plane?

Science Channel
Nov 21, 2017



At the height of the cold war, the CIA is confounded by a powerful new weapon dubbed the Caspian Sea Monster.

[TsarSamuil]

Boost to nuclear triad: Putin hails upgraded Russian strategic bomber.

RT.com
25 Jan, 2018 15:44

The modernized version of the Tu-160 strategic bomber will strengthen Russia’s nuclear triad, President Vladimir Putin said after witnessing the world’s largest combat plane in the air.

The revival of the Tupolev Tu-160 is “a serious step in the development of the high-tech industry and in strengthening the defense capabilities of our country because this is one of the elements of our nuclear triad in the air,” Putin said after the test flight of the nuclear-capable supersonic bomber in Kazan on Thursday. The country’s ‘nuclear triad’ is usually comprised of strategic aviation, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and nuclear submarines.

The staff of the Kazan Aviation Factory invited the president to fly aboard the modernized bomber in a year and a half when all the tests are completed.

Putin mentioned that he had already taken to the air in the previous modification of the aircraft, pointing out that the new version “only looks like the Tu-160 I flew (in 2005), but it’s a completely different machine and the prospects of its development are huge.”

One of the prospects, according the head of state, might be a civilian supersonic aircraft based on the Tu-160. Despite the commercial failure of Russia’s Tu-144 and British-French Concorde passenger supersonic jets in the past, Putin expressed confidence that large air carriers nowadays will be capable of effectively operating the expensive supersonic planes.

The Tu-160, which NATO designates as ‘Blackjack,’ is the largest combat aircraft in the world, with maximum takeoff weight of around 275 tons. Equipped with variable-sweep wings, which it wedges against the fuselage when switching to supersonic speed, the bomber can cover a distance of more than 12,000 kilometers without refueling.

The modernized version of the Tu-160 with new engine and digital onboard equipment was rolled out of the hangar in November last year. The bombers are expected to hit the production line in the early 2020s. The Defense Ministry plans to purchase at least 50.

[TsarSamuil]

WATCH: Maiden flight of modernized IL-78 aerial refueling tanker.

RT.com
29 Jan, 2018 14:57

A heavily modernized version of the iconic Il-78 aerial fuel tanker plane has performed its maiden flight. The plane boasts new engines and wings, as well as an increased flight range and fuel capacity.

The new plane, named Il-78M-90A, successfully took to the skies for the very first time on January 25. The plane was designed by the Ilyushin Aviation Complex and manufactured by Aviastar-SP in the city of Ulyanovsk.

It has become the very first aerial tanker produced in Russia since the demise of the Soviet Union, as the plant which used to manufacture earlier models of Il-78 remained in Uzbekistan. While the new Il-78M-90A bears a strong resemblance to its predecessors, the plane basically retains only its old airframe, featuring entirely new equipment. The machine is based on the modern Il-76MD-90A transport planes, also manufactured by the Ulyanovsk plant.

The new plane is fitted with new wings and modern PS-90A-76 engines, which are more powerful and some 14 percent more fuel-efficient than those of the Soviet-era models. The new machine therefore boasts a larger flight range and can carry more juice to refuel other planes. The Il-78M-90A has also retained an important perk from the original Il-78, as it can easily be converted into a general-purpose transport plane in the field. The aircraft can also be fitted with fire-extinguishing equipment.

The tanker can simultaneously refuel two smaller jets, such as Su-30s or MiG-35s, as well as one larger, long-range plane while airborne. When it is on the ground, the Il-78M-90A can refuel up to four other machines.

[TsarSamuil]

Eat my snow! Russian planes blast cascades of snow in whiteout conditions.

Ruptly
Feb 8, 2018



Russian Air Force pilots battled the elements on Thursday, as they carried out training flights under severe weather conditions and practiced landing on snow-covered runways at the Migalovo aerodrome in the Tverskaia Region.

SOT, Colonel Rusin, Head of 196 military transport air regiment (Russian): “The world's biggest production aircraft AN-124 Ruslan, a little bit smaller one AN-22 Antey, the legendary one, the most hard-working aircraft of military transport aviation Il-76 and the veteran AN-12 are flying today. Three types of them – AN-22, IL-76 and AN-12 are using both unsurfaced and concrete flight landing strips. AN-124 uses only the concrete one.”

[TsarSamuil]

Russia's Blackjack strategic bomber to get 1000km range-boost & 'special coatings'

RT.com
21 Mar, 2018 19:41

All Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers are scheduled to undergo “deep modernization,” the Russian Defense Ministry says. The upgrade will involve installation of new engines that will significantly boost their flight range.

The new engines are expected to be 10 percent more energy efficient. This would ultimately allow the bombers to fly 1,000 kilometers further, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov told journalists while visiting the engine manufacturing company located in Samara, Russian.

Nowadays, the long-range aircraft can already cover a distance of more than 12,000 kilometers without refueling. Its record distance without refueling has reached 18,000 kilometers.

The first bombers are expected to be equipped with new engines in 2021, the deputy defense minister said. The modernization of the Tu-160 airplanes is not, however, limited to the engines.

“We are going to… carry out deep modernization of the planes [that are currently] in service when only the fuselage would remain while all the avionics equipment and engines would be replaced,” Borisov said. He added that the Russian strategic bomber aircraft park is expected to be fully upgraded by 2030.

The modernized Tu-160 will be stealthier thanks to “special coatings.” It is also set to include new weapons that will outmatch their predecessors.

“One cannot even compare the Tu-160 aircraft equipped with the X-55, X-555 and X-101 missiles and a plane that we are hoping to get by 2030 equipped with new air-delivered ordnance that would have completely different effective distance,” Borisov said, commenting on the ministry’s plans. The overall effectiveness of the strategic bombers is expected to increase by 60 percent due to the modernization, Russian media reports, citing the military.

The Tu-160, which is nicknamed the ‘White Swan’ in Russia, and designated as ‘Blackjack’ by NATO, is the largest combat aircraft in the world, with maximum takeoff weight of around 275 tons. Russia’s military announced the decision to resume production of the bombers back in 2015 after it was stalled for more than a decade.

The first modernized version of the Tu-160 with new engine and digital onboard equipment was rolled out of the hangar in November of last year. In January 2018, it underwent its first flight trials, witnessed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia currently has a fleet of 11 regular Tu-160s and five upgraded Tu-160s. The bombers are expected to hit the production line in the early 2020s. The defense ministry plans to purchase at least 50 bombers of the kind.

[TsarSamuil]

1st since Soviet times: Russian anti-sub aviation flies to N. American shores via North Pole.

RT.com
28 Mar, 2018 13:42

For the first time in almost 30 years, Russian aviation has embarked on anti-submarine training flights over the North Pole to North American shores.

In fact, it was “the very first time since the Soviet era” that the Russian Air Force has honed its skills in this type of drill, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday. The minister stopped short of naming the exact aircraft or providing other details on the flight. This comes as Russia focuses on ramping up its defenses on its icy northern flank.

As of the beginning of this year, the amount of modern weaponry and military equipment in the Northern Fleet, operating in the frozen waters of Russia’s north, has reached almost 50 percent, according to Shoigu. While boosting its capabilities, the fleet received hundreds of pieces of modern equipment last year alone. The state of the art hardware included “five combat speedboats, seven logistics vessels, nine aircraft and 10 anti-air radar systems.”

During the first three months of 2018, the fleet received further additions, welcoming the brand new Ilya Muromets icebreaker into its ranks. The vessel has become the first one built specifically for the Navy in more than four decades. The Elbrus military logistics vessel is also about to join the fleet, while several other vessels are undergoing final tests before deployment.

Over the past few years, Russia has significantly beefed up its defensive capabilities on its northern borders, building new military facilities, refurbishing old ones as well as deploying more troops and hardware to the Arctic region.

The country currently has four bases there, including the northernmost military compound, known as ‘Arctic Trefoil.’ The installation is the world’s only permanent structure built at 80 degrees latitude north of the Equator.

Notably, Russia’s build-up in the Arctic region serves solely defensive purposes, the country’s top officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have repeatedly stated.

“We won’t threaten anybody, but using our advantages of a territorial nature in this case, we will ensure the security of Russia and its citizens. In this sense, the Arctic region is extremely important for Russia,” the president said in a documentary titled ‘Putin,’ aired earlier this month.

The development of the Arctic is not limited to military infrastructure – maintaining and developing Russia’s unique fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers is also a priority. The icebreakers serve both military and civilian purposes. The vessels accompany other ships through the ice along Russia’s northern coasts, and guide them into the mouths of large rivers, providing support for trade and logistics flowing through the Northeast Passage.


FILE PHOTO © Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation