hi i think the russian air force is not in deep crises i have not read all the threads but if u look at it now i have at home sattlite tv and i watch russia news if u look at i now russia has payed off alll it debt and if un is going to a put a ban on iran for exporting goods iran is 4 th biggest exporteer of gas and oil they say if that happes 1 barrel will cost 100us nealy double wat is now at 60 us dollara a barrel so russia is the biggest etxporter of oil and money is right now flodding in to them so they have money to fun dlots of stuff now they have massive pipelines trough asia and eourope and middle east and the us are one of the biggest buyers that buy the most oil so they are oredering massive ammonts of oils so it means that Russia will have lots money to spend on the army and airforce and navy and also lots of other projects.

No one (who is knowledgeable enough) doubts that Russia HAS money.

The problem is that the money is not being used to overhaul the air force in sufficient numbers.

GarryB, I agree with most of your points in your last post, good thinking.

The only one I don’t agree is related to strategic bombers. Russia doesn’t necessarily need the aviation component of the nuclear delivery triad.

Khruschev was right after all, despite being rediculed: strategic aviation has outlived its usefulness…

The money could be better spent on beefing up theater and medium range strike capability, such as Su-32 and the new Tu-22M4 modification.