Russian Air Force News & Discussion

[Klaus]

Then the SPV will need a considerable number of them. On the other hand, the Pantsyr is probably much more effective than the Tunguska or the Shilka. Afaik the range of the latter is only 8 and 2.5 km respectively.

As the German journal Russland Analysen reports, a Mi-35M has crashed in Dagestan on September 4. All four on board were killed in the accident. The reason apparently was bad weather.

http://www.laender-analysen.de/russland/pdf/Russlandanalysen243.pdf

 

[Feanor]

The second Su-30SM has joined the first, in trials. Irkut sure can put them out fast.

ÀÐÌÑ-ÒÀÑÑ

Also the VVS is finally repairing it's airfield network, and upgrading them with modern flight control. About time. However it wouldn't have been particularly practical prior to the recent reforms, because the number of airfields was too large. What's interesting is that the numbers are still strange. There were supposed to be 27 airfields left in MoD usage, however according to this article 12 have been repaired and upgraded, and 24 more are being worked on, for a total of 36.

ÀÐÌÑ-ÒÀÑÑ

 

[Klaus]

Is it known how many of the 30 units on order will be delivered to the VVS? And how many Su-30 SMs are required in total? I read that the contract includes options for a further ten.

 

[Haavarla]

If we look at the Navy AB in Krimea(Ukraine), which Russia is leasing.
In that agreement there is only a given numbers of older Su-24.
I think it was 16 units..
I think these will get replaced by the Navy allocated Su-30SM.
So there is a figure, i could be wrong though..

 

[Feanor]

If we look at the Navy AB in Krimea(Ukraine), which Russia is leasing.
In that agreement there is only a given numbers of older Su-24.
I think it was 16 units..
I think these will get replaced by the Navy allocated Su-30SM.
So there is a figure, i could be wrong though..

Supposedly 12 Su-30SM will replace the Su-24 there. Although it makes a lot less sense then replacing them with Su-34s.

 

[Klaus]

But the navy still has to replace the fighter regiment equipped with Su-27s in Kaliningrad. So they are gonna need at least 24 Su-30SM, what would leave only 6 (or 16, if the optional aircraft are also ordered) for the air force.

 

[Haavarla]

Yes Feanor, it could very well be 12, one full Sq. And a few Su-24MR stationed there too.

My point was, the Ukraine-Russian lease agreement included no more than 16 units of a total at that AB.

Klaus@
Remember the regiment structure is long gone now.
Are you sure it is two Sq of Su-27 allocated to Kaliningrad to the Navy?

 

[Feanor]

Yes Feanor, it could very well be 12, one full Sq. And a few Su-24MR stationed there too.

My point was, the Ukraine-Russian lease agreement included no more than 16 units of a total at that AB.

Klaus@
Remember the regiment structure is long gone now.
Are you sure it is two Sq of Su-27 allocated to Kaliningrad to the Navy?

Well nobody can be sure of it nowadays, but to the best of my knowledge it's still a regiment.

 

[Feanor]

But the navy still has to replace the fighter regiment equipped with Su-27s in Kaliningrad. So they are gonna need at least 24 Su-30SM, what would leave only 6 (or 16, if the optional aircraft are also ordered) for the air force.

The AVMF gets underfunded in general. I wouldn't be surprised if they only get one squadron out of the current batch, and the Su-27s in Kaliningrad stay as is for some time longer.

Also, it seems the modernized An-70 has resumed flight testing, after two years of overhauls and modifications to the requirements of the Russian MoD.

http://mil-deal.livejournal.com/10843.html
http://bmpd.livejournal.com/342042.html

However no real testing is possible until the aircraft is either handed over to Russia for trials, or a joint trials are held in Ukraine.

 

[Feanor]

The MoD has just signed a 139 bln rouble contract (~4.7 bln dollars) for 39 Il-76MD (Il-476) medium-heavy transports. The aircraft will be built and delivered 2014-2020.

bmpd -

And KAPO will deliver 144 Mi-8MTV-5 to the MoD by 2020, though some of them may not be intended for the VVS. They will also build 3 Mi-8MTV-2, and 32 Ansat-U light helos. These numbers are kind of small, as far as Mi-8 purchases go. Comparable Mi-8 helos have already been delivered to the MoD, over the last several years. Given the ramping up in military spending it would seem like a small number. However KAPO is not the only producer of Mi-8 helos, and the Mi-8AMTSh produced by Ulan-Ude is not listed here. Also not listed are small short-term contracts for deliveries of Mi-8 helos, typically special variant units. Over all this means we should expect to see in excess of 300 new Mi-8 helos delivered to the military over the next 7 years.

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/348166.html

 

[Klaus]

If the total requirement is for 400 Mi-8, as it has been anounced, then about 230 Mi-8AMTSh will be procured in total (about 20-30 Mi-8MTV 5 have already been delivered, plus 144 ordered).

The latest AIR International unfortunately doesn't contain much information concerning the Russian Air Force.
Weapons tests of the Su-35 have commenced. After their completion, six aircraft will be delivered to a fighter squadron this year, with 38 to follow until 2015 (not including the four aircraft already delivered).
A second contract for another 48 fighters is being prepared at the moment. All this is not new, but Russian officials added, that a contract for more Su-30SM fighters will also be signed soon (in addition to the one for 30 units). The exact number of Su-30s to be ordered is not known (although the original contract included options for a further ten).

 

[Feanor]

The Su-25SM program is continuing on track, and by the end of this year a total of 67 Su-25SMs will have been handed over. Number 43 was handed over at the end of iirc 2010, with 8 more aircraft modernized in 2011, and 16 more due by the end of this year (some of them have already been handed over). Aircraft number 57 in the Su-25SM series was spotted recently.

The aircraft have been stationed at the airbase in Buddynovsk, South MD (at least 24, likely more), Chernigovka, East MD (at least 24), and are now being stationed at Krymsk, where they will share the base with the Su-30M2 and Su-27SM3.

alexeyvvo -

Its unclear whether news of the Su-25SM2 designation that circulated earlier were true or not. SM2 might just be the designation for the second major contract for 36 aircraft to be upgraded 2011-2013. A different factory is handling the upgrade, and there might be some minor changes that account for a different designation, without actually being the huge upgrade that the SM2 label seems to imply.

Also the first 2 Yak-130 aircraft from IAPO have been delivered, in addition to the 12 supplied by Sokol. These probably won't be the only Yak-130 delivered this year. A contract for a total of 55 has been signed, through 2018, with an option for 10 additional aircraft.

alexeyvvo -

EDIT: Actually 6 Yak-130 have been handed over to the Borisoglebsk training center so far this year.

http://www.arms-expo.ru/049057054048124050057048048055.html

EDIT2: More corrections, 3 aicraft have been handed over already, 3 more are about to be, they're complete, sitting at the IAPO airfield, waiting handover. 12 more aircraft are due before the end of this year, brining VVS total numbers to 30 planes. The current contract is for 55 aircraft, an option for 10 more, and the delivery date is by 2015, which explains the relatively high rate of production (compared to most VVS aircraft orders).

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/349752.html

 

[alexkvaskov]

A new domestically developed and produced UAV has been tested by the Russian Ground Forces.

Ð”ÐµÐ½Ð¸Ñ ÐœÐ¾ÐºÑ€ÑƒÑˆÐ¸Ð½ - О беÑпилотниках

With a range of 100km, it falls in the same class as the recently procured Searcher MK2 UAVs. The Orlan-10 could be accepted into service as early as the end of this year and the first examples will enter service in 2013.

 

[ghost]

First 6 Yak-130 delivered to Russian Air Force

It took 16 years since the first flight of this airplane till the time of delivery to air force. Not 100% full-cycle, but we may call this machine the first post-sovied era airplane full R&D completed and ardered for AF.

 

[Feanor]

It took 16 years since the first flight of this airplane till the time of delivery to air force. Not 100% full-cycle, but we may call this machine the first post-sovied era airplane full R&D completed and ardered for AF.

MMmm, no. These are the first produced at IAPO. Prior to this a squadron of 12 was produced at Sokol, and handed over to the VVS in iirc 2010-2011.

Also please don't make new threads when there are existing ones covering the subject.

 

[nevidimka]

HI Guys, sorry for bringing this up as this should be very old.

But I'd like to know more about the flying wing design being tested in the pic and if this is the way PAK DA is going to go or if its a cancelled design?

Also will there be a successor to the Tu22M? or will it be replaced by the Pak DA as well in the future?

 

[Klaus]

I don't think there will be a direct successor to the Tu 22M. This would be to costly as there are only 40 aircraft to be replaced. The two bombers, which are currently being developed, are the PAK DA and a light bomber, which will be unmanned.

 

[Feanor]

I don't think there will be a direct successor to the Tu 22M. This would be to costly as there are only 40 aircraft to be replaced. The two bombers, which are currently being developed, are the PAK DA and a light bomber, which will be unmanned.

What makes you say that? There was closer to 160 aircraft prior to the reforms, in both VVS and AVMF. I don't think total numbers would drop below 100, though actual readiness rates are anyone's guess.

The official line was that the PAK-DA would replace both types, though if anything, the PAK-DA might turn out to be a Tu-22M-type aircraft, that has longer range, and greater payload then current Tu-22Ms (but less then say a Tu-160). Given costs, and the difficulties Russian aerospace has in many areas, it would make sense.

 

[Klaus]

@Feanor: ruaviation recently published an article that stated that out of the total inventory of 115 Tu-22M3/MR, only 40 are still flying.

 

[Feanor]

@Feanor: ruaviation recently published an article that stated that out of the total inventory of 115 Tu-22M3/MR, only 40 are still flying.

Interesting. There were problems with engine resources. What exactly did the articles say? The last info I had was that most of the aircraft were down to a couple of hundred hours of engine resource, and were not being used for flight training, because the resource was being conserved in case of war. This could be what the article is referring to. However 115 aircraft sounds a little low. Could it be that the former AVMF aircraft are not counter here? They had 48 aircraft pre-reform, in two regiments. The airforce had iirc 4 regiments, in two divisions, so ~96 aircraft. A number of other aircraft were used as testbed (the Tu-22M5, and the Tu-22M3M programs), a few were at Lipetsk, and some were used for training. 115 is a little high for just VVS numbers, but rather low for the combined stats.

They were talking about starting up production again, like they have with Tu-160 engines but I don't know if that has happened. However if a replacement program does start, I suspect they will replace all the aircraft, not just the currently operating ones.

Meanwhile there was another A-135 test, probably of the 53T6 missile. There was a test last year, for the purposes of confirming the systems continuing operation. The test was conducted by the Air-Space Defense Forces (the new name for the PVO-Strani troops).

http://www.arms-expo.ru/049057054048124050057049053054.html
http://www.lenta.ru/news/2012/10/16/abm/
http://arms-tass.su/?page=article&aid=111557&cid=25