Zhuk-MSFE could well be flown on some tests.

That says nothing that such tests were finished and indeed they weren’t.

Zhuk-MSFE development was stopped some time ago, and funds were redirected to MiG-29 developments.

Also does not mean that it could not be made ready in a short time if requested. Furthermore there is no reason why Venezuela could not have opted for the Bars.

NO, NO, NO

The Alpha missile I posted above have nothing to do with the KLUB missile family (developed by the NOVATOR bureau). Apart from name, they have nothing in common.

The air-launched version of the KLUB cruise missile is called KALIBER. Here is a picture. Note that it is completely different from the ALPHA missile I am talking about.

Thanks UAZ.;)

I actually see MK2 as the most overrated fighter in PLA and that Venezeula got robbed blind on the deal if they paid as much as what was they did.

Even in PLANAF, I feel the recent JH-7A are more favoured right now due to its better range/payload + avionics.

I would agree with the comment about the MK2 being overrated but I would like to see some evidence for the JH-7A being a better aircraft?

It would not have taken alot for the Venzuelans to have got alot better aircraft than these from purely Russian sources. For a start they could have gone with the proposed but cancelled Su-30MK3 (maybe upgraded it with the Zhuk-MFSE instead of the MSE). Then there is the engines, the 117S will soon be available, and at least the AL-31FM1 and possibly even the AL-31FM2 are available now with full 3D TVC.

Frankly considering what is now available to the Flanker these aircraft are poorly equiped and probably over priced.

Pardon me… but who gives a damn? That is a local problem and Venezelans will have to deal with it by themselves.

You know, Bush is being criticized so often not because he is the worst and most cruel leader on the planet. He is criticized becasue if he does some BS, then many people in the wold are affected by it… unlike Chavez, whose acts normally do not get beyond local reach. That is the price you have to pay if you want to mix in the global policy.

BTW, thousands are dying in Darfur everyday..and you get excited by shutting down some TV station? :rolleyes:

The reality is that Bush made policy mistakes towards Chavez to start with but he is now increasingly living up to the dictatorial pariah state image that most would have regarded as ridiculous only a few years ago.

I think we all need to temper the Bush bashing here a bit, or are we forgetting that Chavez recently shut down the main opposition television station?:mad:

An Su-30MK# with TopSight & Mica-IR 😮 Ultimate WVR killing machine!

The Mig-29K will use the TopSight system but this is the first time I have heard of the Mica being considered for a Russian aircraft. What HMD does the MKI use?

The point I’m trying to make, Sealordlawrence, is that a decade ago whilst MiG was lying in intensive care, the politics favoured Sukhoi, who busily nurtured new export customers & filled the order books for Irkut, Knaapo & Tikhomirov-NIIP. Such was the runaway success of the Su-30, PAK-FA development could be funded in-house.
The genius of M.Pogosyan is that he knows he has the entire Su-30 MLU programmes’ in the bag, 2,000t/r module AESAs & supercruising Al-41Fs, will turn Su-30s into the poor man’s F-22, significantly enhancing their already formidable capabilities.
BUT he does NOT have a 5th Gen. fighter that is VIABLE for export (politically or economically), and under the consolidation that is UACorp, that huge Su-30 customer base will naturally look to MiG’s LMFS (vs the, no doubt more expensive & politically sensitive, F-35) as their complement/replacement. So whilst Sukhoi may dominate on the domestic market, MiG is well placed for global windfalls. Savy?

No, there is no reason what so ever to say that the Pakfa will be ‘unexportable’ and there is even less reason to say that current Flanker customers will want to buy a lighter fighter as a replacement. No flanker, no matter how upgraded is ever going to match the Raptor purely on the basis of its huge RCS, the Pakfa is the only vague hope on that front. Indeed India seems to be expressing interest in the Pakfa now.

There is no evidence or even reason to say that the Pakfa is/will be ‘unviable’ for export.

The Mig-31, and the Tu-128 for that matter were never used outside the PVO till there was a merger. Suggesting the Soviets had small, medium and heavy fighters is rubbish. Are you suggesting that the USAF had the same set up… F-5/-20, F-16, F-15?

The reality is that Mig-31s and Su-27Ps might have operated together but the heavy/light fighter mix was the Su-27 and Mig-29 because the Mig-31 was not a fighter… it was a pure interceptor.

Late model Mig-29s had a max takeoff weight of about 22 tons, late model (in Russian) service Flankers had a MTOW of about 33 tons while the Mig-31 had a MTOW of 45-50 tons. Are you going to expand that because the Mig-31 was in service since the late 70s to include heavy, medium, light, very light and super light… Mig-31, Su-27, Mig-29, Mig-23, Mig-21?

The Mig-21 has gone, been replaced with the Mig-29- or have you forgotten? :rolleyes: