No Irbis for this bird. The radar should be a variant of N-001V.

The engines are designated as AL-31F-M1 which have thrust of 13,500 kgf.

haavarla, the SM2 was a really deep and prohibitive upgrade of vanilla Flanker. In this version basic Flankers would get almost all goodies that the Su-35 posses. Among those are the 117S and the Irbis.

The SM3 is another interim solution. Its radar should be improved, we know its engines are, and it packs Su-35’s avionics.

Don’t worry… it won’t pass unnoticed here.

An F-15 down (for whatever reason)… seems impossible:p Like someone has slapped Chuck Norris:D

Because the VVS needed a jet than can be introduced quickly. And to keep the production line open as the Su-35 is about to commence state trials, and after these are done deliveries will follow on.

The rumour is that the SM3 should be “the closest thing” to the Su-35, avionics wise.

So far there were no pics of its cockpit.

I sincerely hope that the Arab League considers the wishes of the “rebels” in making their decision about the air strikes. I also hope they don’t conveniently ignore the rampant carnage and bloodshed that Ghadafi has already inflicted on his own people. If they don’t, as far as I’m concerned, they will have lost any credibility and legitimacy they had remaining.

Do you have any hard proof on this?

Why don’t you just go there and kick his a$$?

Leave your rant for the general discussion part of the forum and do something constructive, as most of other members do.

I would like to differ…..my understanding of creativity (atleast in the case of machines) is that it has to be practical and useful. How can something that does not meet these two criteria become creative???

I’m sorry, I should’ve been clearer on this; what I meant of designer’s creativity was about mere design (look) of the ship, and not its practicality. That particular tender was open to civilians who obviously lacked experience of naval design bureaus, hence my remark.

A nice photo of a Bal-E complex. Guess this thread is the right place to post it.

Good find. Has this system ever been exported? I know suffix “-E” designates export hardware, but is there a version for the Russian Navy/Coast Guard?

Perhaps. I think that the main point should be, no country ever designs its aircraft to be any more complex, difficult or expensive to keep in service than they ever needs to be.

You said it right, Patrick. “Should be”. But it doesn’t always turn out to be so. Some become a nightmare to maintain although their designers expect them to be easily maintained.

Also to say that the old Soviet aircraft were so easy to maintain in service sounds like some old stereotype – which I don’t buy.

Nobody said that. TR1 was only stating that the people had mostly believed in stereotype that the Soviet machines had been a nightmare to maintain, while in reality it has not been so. He or nobody else said that they were cheap and easy to maintain neither.