Yeah, I guess RBE-2 AA and M88-ECO are not upgrades. Do please learn to write and think, please.

The French are being somewhat economical in further developments compared to their contemporaries, though. The current upgrades seem slightly minimalist in comparison with the Gripen-NG and the future Eurofighter tranche plans. No thrust increase, no TVC tests or interest thereof, no canted radar array or swashplate(just plug the new antenna in place over the space occupied by the old)…

Regarding the UAE, my belief is that the dispute may have been on the potential development costs for the upgrades they wanted(specifically the uprated engines with new air intakes and the larger nose and AESA antenna) which Dassault was unwilling to bear on its own. Given the Mirage-2000 deal these costs may have been considered unreasonable.

I was given this link on another forum.

It states the following:

“Why is the maintenance and life support to Russian aircraft so expensive and complicated? First, the engine life is short and the TBO (Time Between Overhauls) low. After every 300 hours of flying, a lifespan of 3,000 hours, the engine has to be changed. The Su-30MKI has two engines. This gives it immense power and aerodynamics, which depend on canards and thrust vectoring for superb agility. After every 300 hours of flying, two engines, each costing $5 million, will need replacement.”

http://www.rediff.com/news/2000/nov/17ashok.htm

Now, why are the IAF TBO figures for the AL-31FP so low and expensive..:confused:
I think this report are somewhat outdated by now, but if this was true, what have IAF done to improve these figures over the years?

Newer versions of the AL-31 have higher TBO rates. If only the Super-30 deal included upgrading the engines to FM2 standard…

Possibly upping the price of the F-35 to gain back what they lost on that engine, then?

Maybe they could market it as a ‘development partnership’ to nations pursuing prospective 5-gen fighter programs, like India, Japan and South Korea.

http://pics.livejournal.com/bmpd/pic/000fshaf/s640x480

Recent photo of Nakhimov, certain elements of the ship have obviously been remove (SAM guidance bulbs). Apparently Sevmash got a 4 billion rouble contract for a “limited technical modernization” recently.

http://pics.livejournal.com/bmpd/pic/000fyc0e
Nevsky there as well.

Limited? I take it the main radars and sonar suite will be retained? No Poliment-K or Podberezovik-ET1?

Well well well. Pretty interesting modification on the vertical tail “supports”.

Is it just me or does the tail look ‘sawtooth’ edged in the second pic?

How many more prototypes to go, I wonder. So many future modifications potentially waiting to be tested. New engines, square ducts, stealthified IRST…

http://rusnavy.com/news/navy/index.php?ELEMENT_ID=13744

Russian Aircraft Carrier to Deploy Off Syria

Russian carrier strike group armed with missiles and torpedoes will be stationed off Syrian port Tartus, writes Izvestiya on Nov 28.

…

“Presence of any non-NATO force is very advantageous for that region, since it will prevent unleashing of armed conflict”, said ex-chief of Russian Navy Main HQ Admiral Viktor Kravchenko in the interview to Izvestiya.

…

“Of course, the Russian task force will be incomparably weaker than the US Navy’s 6th Fleet deployed in the Mediterranean Sea with one or two aircraft carriers and several escort ships at hand. But combat conflict is not in question today, because any attack on a Russian ship will be classified as declaration of war with all ensuing consequences”, explained the admiral.

…

Russian military says the cruise bears no relation to the situation in Syria, since it was allegedly scheduled a year ago.

Russian military sources say the cruise has nothing to do with the political situation, yet it’s conspicuous why they’d send one of their largest, most formidable battle groups there now…

And a relevant snippet for the Indian Navy,

Deck-based fighters MiG-29K which are to be tested during the cruise will be based on the Indian aircraft carrier being presently retrofitted at Sevmash shipyard.

P
Sure. Mine is a mere theoretical exercise, nothing more.

The fact is that I can provide sources for my estimates to infinity, it’s easy to do, but you can’t talk about diiferent “generations” with different detection capabilities without providing any evidence that range has been substantially increased during the last few years. Maybe SAAB’s brochure isn’t updated, surely it does not date at 1770 A.D..

😀

Yeah, I somehow doubt their official brochures would be advertising the capabilities of an older system that was no longer on offer…