Good question and good reply by danrh.

“The ones who talk, don’t know…the ones who know, don’t talk”

Yeah, they’re great pics.

Unfortunately, the planes look like sh!t.
They could’ve at least painted them before they were delivered.:rolleyes:

Do Western nations typically deliver BRAND NEW (well maybe new) airplanes without a paint job like that?

You’d think with all the recent controversy surrounding Vikramaditya the Russians would at least throw in a decent custom paint job for the migs.

Thank you for your immense contribution to this forum

The MiG-27s are new built ones.

I doubt Russia re-started production of the Mig-27 :confused: :confused: :confused:

I believe it is a refitted existing aircraft that was in storage.

I must go to my dentist more often and read some magazines in the waiting room :p

” I didn’t see the Russian forces in chechneya for example looking very effective at all, possitivly 3rd rate infact.

Those “3rd rate” Russian forces managed to pacify Chechnya while the “best of the best” US and NATO troops are still failing to do so in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Relax….it was not even a bomber. It was a Tu-142 ASW plane. Well, journalists are journalists…

Russia downplays Tu-142 flight over U.S. aircraft carrier
13:14 | 06/ 03/ 2008

MOSCOW, March 6 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Navy is surprised by the commotion raised in Western media over the flight of a Russian military plane in the vicinity of a U.S. aircraft carrier, the Navy spokesman said on Thursday.

Western media earlier cited U.S. officials as saying that a Russian bomber came within three to five nautical miles and flew 2,000 feet (610 meters) above the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier off the Korean coast. A similar incident occurred less than a month ago.

“Some Western media reports that called the flight of the Tu-142 plane in the vicinity of the American aircraft carrier ‘an incident’ are surprising,” Captain First Class Igor Dygalo said.

Tu-142 Bear-F is the maritime reconnaissance/strike version of the Tu-95 Bear strategic bomber, designed mainly for anti-submarine warfare (ASW).

Dygalo said the plane, assigned to Russia’s Pacific Fleet, was on a routine patrol flight over the Sea of Japan, conducted in strict compliance with international regulations on the use of airspace over neutral waters.

“It is common practice,” the Navy spokesman said, adding that two U.S. F/A-18 fighters and several Japanese F-2 and F-16 accompanied the Russian ASW plane during the flight.

In February, a media storm was sparked when a Russian Tu-95 Bear bomber flew close above the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier to the south of Japan, and another circled some 50 nautical miles (93 kilometers) from the ship.

Four F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters were reportedly launched from the carrier to escort the Russian jets away from the area.

Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans last August, following an order signed by President Vladimir Putin. The move was widely seen as a sign of Russia’s increasingly aggressive military stance.

Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080306/100809284.html

Latest news:

India, Russia to finalize aircraft carrier retrofit costs by April
12:02 | 28/ 02/ 2008

NEW DELHI, February 28 (RIA Novosti) – Russia and India have agreed to increase refit costs for the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, the Indian defense secretary said on Thursday.

The costs of modernizing the aircraft carrier will be announced in late March.

Vijay Singh, who has just returned from inspecting the Admiral Gorshkov, berthed at the Sevmash shipyard in north Russia for the last 12 years, said there would be “a substantial increase” in the “reworked estimate” for the modernization work on the carrier.

“It should be completed by mid-2010. After that, it will undergo 18 months of extensive sea trials by the Russian navy to ensure all systems are working properly,” he said. “The trials will include sailing it out to great distances and operating fighters from the deck.”

The carrier, renamed the Vikramaditya, is to replace India’s INS Viraat carrier, which, although currently operational, is now 50 years old.

The defense secretary did not mention any figures, but according to The Times of India, New Delhi is willing to pay another $600-800 million for the 44,570-tonne aircraft carrier.

India contracted the $1.5 billion Admiral Gorshkov for its navy in 2004. Moscow has since demanded an additional $1.2 billion, which New Delhi replied was “exorbitant.”

The defense secretary said Vice-Admiral Dilip Deshpande, the controller of warship production and acquisition, would visit Russia to work out “the essentiality and reasonableness of costs” by the end of March.

After it is has been refitted, the Gorshkov is expected to be seaworthy for 30 years.

The contract to deliver the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier to India, which state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport signed with the Indian Navy, covers the modernization of the ship and equipping it with modern weaponry, including MiG-29K Fulcrum aircraft and Ka-27 Helix-A and Ka-31 Helix-B anti-submarine helicopters.

Sevmash lost at least one major contract last Friday when Norway’s leading ship-owner Odfjell tore up a deal with it for the construction of 12 tankers over serious delays in construction and continued price increases.

Odfjell intends to claim full compensation for its costs and losses over “massive” contract breaches by the yard.

The $500 mln contract was signed in 2004 and was billed as a historic deal in Norwegian-Russian economic relations. The contract price subsequently increased to $544 mln.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20080228/100228536.html

If a lie is repeated on the internet a number of times it will be referred to as the truth….