Yes I know, but how likely is it that the PAK-DA will be shown? Therefore my point, he might have mixed it with the Okhotnik.

at least we know there is an Okhotnik prototype, but from all we heard so far, the PAK-DA prototype was never said to be unveiled this year … overall I have some strong reservation on this site’s reliability.

Deino, my question is not related to UAVs, but do you know if PLAAF is going to do any BFM exercises against VVS aircraft during Aviadarts circus?

With all due respect, sheytanelkebir made some claims which Tom Cooper proved incorrect, like USAF F-15C loss on January 27, 1991 (R-40 fired by MiG-25 missed and F-15 didn’t suffer any damage). On the other hand, Tom Cooper still collecting information about USN F-14A loss which appears to be second confirmed air-to-air kill of IrAF.

RIP to the pilot, but this loss appears to be also result of poor mission planning and recon. Just few days before the shootdown another Su-25 had a close call in the same area. Why was Su-25 was flying so low? The pilot was not deploying flares, the wingman did not provide warning of hostile fire, SAR was not available. VVS/VKS should have perfected by now CAS missions having experience of Afghanistan, Georgia-Abkhazia conflict of ’92, both Chechen wars, war in South Ossetia in ’08. It is time for VVS to move from Aviadarts airshows (which provide zero training value in real world) to more realistic exercises similar to Red Flag.

WAP volumes 17 and 36, Midland Publishing “MiG-29”. I also suggest reading Alexander Mladenov’s articles on legacy MiG-29 in AFM March 2013 and Air International February 2015. Below just two quotes from those editions.

Capt. Victor “Vick” Hristov of BVVS: “It’s a well documented fact that we rewrote the manuals during those first joint exercises, realising we had been systematically failing to utilise even 50% of the MiG-29s immense manoeuvring potential in air-to-air combat because of the numerous administrative restrictions imposed by the Warsaw Pact-minded bureaucratic training system still prevailing within the BVVS.”

“This is a unique feature of the MiG-29, representing an unmatched ability to venture- in a generally safe way- beyond normal AoA limits when needing to point the nose in turning air combat against agile opponents or avoid incoming missiles.”

F-35 does have better “care-free” handling at high AoA, and does have a higher in service AoA limit compared to legacy MiG-29. However, that doesn’t necessarily imply that old Fulcrums are vastly inferior at close range.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]252062[/ATTACH]

The difference in range between Su-30 and MiG-29M/35 is not as great as some forum members would like to think. Su-30SM/MKI maximum range is 3000km. MiG-29M/35’s range on internal fuel is 2000km, but with the new enlarged centerline drop tank it should reach about 2800km. So the real question is how often the airforces fielding Flankers, routinely operate with maximum fuel capacity and maximum payload.

Yeah those were handed over to the Knights, painted, and then parked. For what reason I have no clue.

TR1 do you know what will happen to those MiG-23s in a background? They don’t seem to be that derelict looking.

news sez Saudi Arabia stationing fighters in Turkey now.

lets get ready for WW3

We all know that Royal Saudi AF is a very formidable and willing force… as long as USAF is flying counter-air and SEAD missions ahead of them. Going back to topic, it seems strange that Su-34s are not carrying any AAMs anymore. A couple of R-73s is still useful in some scenarios.