Saras : first official flight

An order for six such aircrafts has been placed by the IAF.

Re: MiG financial situation

MiG Chief Is Upbeat

23rd August

MOSCOW (Reuters) — State-owned jet maker MiG has paid off $180 million of debt this year and expects the strength of its exports to wipe out its remaining debts, the head of the firm told Interfax Saturday.

“The financial situation has undergone a substantial change for the better,” MiG’s general director Valery Toryanin was quoted as saying by the news agency, which said MiG’s debts stood at $500 million to $600 million at the start of the year.

MiG has lagged its rival Sukhoi, but said last month it was gaining ground, with current contracts valued at $1.4 billion just shy of Sukhoi’s annual sales of $1.5 billion.

Toryanin said MiG’s booming order-book meant it would outstrip its export target for 2004 and export sales were likely to rise to up to $600 million to $800 million per year.

“That kind of figure will make it possible to pay off all the company’s debts,” he said.

Swedish Erieye Photos.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/350065/M/

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/112685/M/

Eh? The ARROW is effectively a SAM system, albeit designed to shoot down ballistic missiles. Are they worried the Indians might turn the ARROW into an SSM? The Indians already has long range SSM programs. What is this MTCR concern with the ARROW?

Hi Glenn, some information regarding Arrow and MTCR.

U.S.-Israeli Policy for Exporting Arrow Missile Undecided

Appearing before a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee July 29, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Vann Van Diepen and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Marshall Billingslea broadened Rumsfeld’s statement, explaining that Washington had no position on Arrow exports in general.

Van Diepen informed senators that Arrow is classified as a Category I system under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which is a voluntary arrangement of 33 countries, including the United States, aimed at preventing the spread of missiles and related technologies capable of carrying a 500-kilogram payload at least 300 kilometers. MTCR members are expected to maintain a strong presumption of denial on exports of Category I items, which include whole missiles or major subsystems such as rocket engines.

The presumption of denial, however, is not a ban. Members are to weigh five criteria set out in the MTCR guidelines when considering a Category I export. Those criteria include, among other things, evaluating the importer’s intentions for using the export and whether it poses a potential proliferation risk. The United States has made past Category I exports, shipping Tomahawk and Trident missiles to the United Kingdom and transferring items to European and Japanese space launch programs. 😉

Not all theater missile defense systems would necessarily be classified as a Category I item. The U.S. Patriot system is not, and Washington has exported different versions of that missile system to several countries.

Now for the details regarding Category-I items.

MTCR Technology Annex

CATEGORY I

ITEM 1 COMPLETE DELIVERY SYSTEMS

1.A. EQUIPMENT, ASSEMBLIES AND COMPONENTS

1.A.1. Complete rocket systems (including ballistic missile systems, space launch vehicles, and sounding rockets) capable of delivering at least a 500 kg “payload” to a “range” of at least 300 km.

2.A. EQUIPMENT, ASSEMBLIES AND COMPONENTS

2.A.1. Complete subsystems usable in the systems specified in 1.A., as follows:

a. Individual rocket stages usable in the systems specified in 1.A.;

b. Re-entry vehicles, and equipment designed or modified therefor, usable in the systems specified in 1.A., as follows, except as provided in the Note below 2.A.1. for those designed for non-weapon payloads:
1. Heat shields, and components thereof, fabricated of ceramic or ablative materials;
2. Heat sinks and components thereof fabricated of light-weight, high heat capacity materials;
3. Electronic equipment specially designed for re-entry vehicles;

c. Solid propellant rocket motors or liquid propellant rocket engines, usable in the systems specified in 1.A., having a total impulse capacity of 1.1 x 106 Ns (2.5 x 105 lb.s) or greater;

HTH.

A star is born

Sukhoi Is the Star of a New Action Flick

ZHUKOVSKY AIRFIELD, Moscow Region — Standing on the tarmac of an idle airfield outside Moscow, a disillusioned ex-CIA agent orders a Russian Air Force pilot to attack an unidentified target with his stealth Sukhoi fighter.

The $10 million budget for the movie, with the working title “Su-XX,” is being bankrolled by Sukhoi and several Russian commercial banks. “Su-XX” will premiere in Russian theaters on May 9, 2005, to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany.

Fans of the Sukhoi will notice fiction in the film’s depiction of the jet. The stealth capabilities assigned to the plane will only be a reality when Sukhoi rolls out its fifth-generation fighter in 2010. Two planes were used on the film set, an Su-27UB and an Su-35.

“Su-XX” director Vasily Chiginsky promised more eye-dazzling action than audiences are used to seeing in Russian films.

“There will be a lot of computer graphics, but there will be a lot of shooting in the air as well when the plane performs stunts,” Chiginsky said.

Still, Kapanets, who previously produced the 2002 film “Red Serpent,” starring Roy Scheider, is confident that “Su-XX” will be a hit.

“We will rip the Russian box office, and we will show it in every country where people have TV sets,” he said.

RAF birds on their way to Alaska.
http://homepage.mac.com/aviationphoto/pages/page7.html

Pictures of Osa radar.

Hyperwarp, guess who JaiS is ? 😀