December 25, 2004 at 9:01 am
Commission on Military and Industrial Problems Approves State Defense Order
The draft state defense order for 2005 was examined by the commission on military and industrial problems which is headed by government chairman, Mikhail Fradkov. As the newspaper Kommersant is reporting, the size of the state defense order came to 186.9 billion rubles, which exceeds the 2004 level by 26.7 percent.
The enterprises of the aviation industry next year are supposed to transfer to the armed forces two Tu-160 strategic bombers, ten Su-27SM tactical fighters, and also new precision air-to-ground missiles. It is assumed that two Mi-28N strike helicopters of a pre-production batch and two more Ka-50 helicopters will be built using the allocated funds.
However, Kommersant notes that one of the two ordered Tu-160 only will undergo overhaul and upgrade, all 10 Su-27SM fighters also will be upgraded from already existing Su-27 airplanes, and the two Ka-50 will be reassembled from earlier manufactured components.
Source: 24.12.04, AviaPort.RU
I wonder what the Ka-50s are for? One can notice a slight contradiction in this report and the one I posted in the Su-27SM & Su-27IB news thread- i.e. the number of Su-27s that are being upgraded in 2005. 10 or 17?