Dr.SnufflebugThere are two known* kinds of missile rails/ejectors for the T-50 programme at present:
Two of these in each bay, so as for now the 2×2 missile figure is correct.
However, the fact that the heavier one carries everything that the lighter one does and more does kinda make the lighter one seem redundant. Is there a point to this? Well, one does note that the more “AAM-focused” variant is wider despite being lighter and designed for lighter (and smaller diameter) weapons. Could this mean that it incorporates some kind of widened base structure that overlaps and provides the necessary stuff for a future third rail in between or something? The patents read like Greek to me, so I’ll say right away that this is highly speculative and it might very well be highly ignorant as well.
*The enigmatic sidebay and whatever lurks under its cover is still an enigma, I think.
Dr.SnufflebugThis seems a reasonable solution to the steam vs. EM catapult conundrum looming for developing carrier nations.
Indeed. But as a matter of fact it is now said that it will pack cats from the start and the total number of EM catapults projected for this ship is now said to be 4, laid out in a Nimitz-y fashion.
Of course the curvature of the main ramp would prevent them from running the whole length there (it is possible to have them curved I guess, but that’d probably mean ridiculous stresses/friction on the rails). In line with logic however, they apparently terminate before the ramp starts rising. This according to some people who were at the naval fair and read the little pamphlets and looked at the model closely.
Pretty interesting concept if true IMO, I wonder what implications this has for the MTOW for say a MiG-29K/KUB or T-50K.
Dr.Snufflebugand as far as 4 Kh-58s .. I haven’t seen them in the bay. Has anyone else ? And by the way hasn’t the Kh-28 been replaced by the 31 ? I thought it was.
He’s talking about the Kh-58UShKE. It’s a new missile with folding wings, explicitly stated by the maker to be compatible for launch by the UVKU-50 missile ejection system fitted in the T-50’s main bays.
Dr.SnufflebugThey have “resurrected” the Ulyanovsk/Orel projects a few times this way, with various small-ish changes from the original sketches each time. This one with double islands just seems to be yet another take on the Russian supercarrier.
No catapults from the start, provisions made under the deck for future EM catapults in pos. 4 and 5. Or so I’ve heard…
Dr.SnufflebugVideo of the Vladivostok stern being floated out:
http://en.rian.ru/video/20130627/181905873/Russian-Shipyard-Completes-Stern-for-First-Mistral-Warship.html
So now that it’s been completed, they are planning to begin towing the stern to Saint Nazaire, France on July 8th with the date of arrival expected around July 25th. There, the bow and island are nearing completion now as well.
By October 15th the joining of the stern and bow is supposed to be complete and once that’s done, it’ll head back to Russia for finishing up (weapons et cetera). According to deputy DM Borisov, this will happen before year’s end.
Entry into VMF service expected by 2014.
The construction of the second ship, the Sevastopol, is supposed to begin within a month from now.
Kamov said last year that the first serial machines of the Ka-52K “Katran” (?) would commence production in 2013 and that they would be ready to supply the full complement of naval attack helicopters as Vladivostok enters service.
Dr.SnufflebugWell spotted! :applause:
I’ve been saying this for years, since MAKS 2011, where the T-50 model marked 56 lacked the metal cowlings.
T-50-7 will be for static test
some major structural changes?
Or finally some toying around with RAM, at least.
Whatever happened to Ashug, by the way? I still remember all that talk about the besperepletnykh fonar… And how it was continously shot down by people, saying it was dead and what not due to the trade-offs vs. a silica-based product not being worth it in the long run.
Dr.SnufflebugYak-141 with the R-77 and Sapfir would’ve destroyed any Harrier at that time, even with a crippled Soviet economy compared to a more robust British one.
Yeah, it was an impressive machine, really. At the time, it set a total of 12 or so records in only a few weeks of flight testing over the summer of 1991. I think it still holds 8 of these FAI-recognised records for VTOL jets, including the following:
I would expect the F-35B to beat these soon, I think it has already beat some of the old ones. But that aside, I would really love to get my hands on some of the other flight testing data.
Dr.SnufflebugJust found at the Combat Aircraft Monthly FB-page …
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=566525340056871&set=o.140704179286241&type=1&theater
… reportedly the new RuAf demo team !
Spartak Moscow. 😀
Dr.SnufflebugF-86 had 28 or so nations use it.
And of that era, the MiG-15 was flown by 40+ nations in AF service (though in some cases only as trainers, I think, like in the FAF). But the Cold War leader is definitely the MiG-21. Like the -15 it was heavily promoted to commies around the world by the USSR, and then several other countries began producing them.
In earlier post-war and world war two aircraft, various variants of the Spitfire series were flown by 30+ air forces (though in some cases only as unarmed reconnaissance, like the SweAF).
Dr.SnufflebugBoth countries suffered cuts during the ’80s and even more so come the collapse of the Soviet Union, yet still, the Harrier soldiered on, the Yak-41 got canned. Irrelevant?… Hardly.
It is by no means comparable. Russian military expenditure plummeted from ~25% of GDP to ~6% of GDP between 1990 and 1993 according to World Bank data (and the GDP itself decreased, but not as significantly). The general state of disarray, especially in the social sector with real incomes halving in only a few years etc, left an imprint on everything in the post-Soviet society. As far as the military goes, I think we all remember what it looked like for most of the 90’s. Much military attention was diverted to the ongoing warfare in the Caucasus region for example, and they barely had the funds to support that. If I recall correctly average VVS yearly flight hours dropped from the >100h ballpark to 25h or even less as well, and tons of defense sector personnel were left without salaries for ages. Total pizdets. :p
Yakovlevs analytics knew that things were going downhill at an ever increasing pace not long after the development of this machine had gained some momentum. Sure enough, the Soviet/Russian Navy soon said it was forced to cease its investments in the project. Yakovlev was reluctant to scrap the entire thing though and thus the brief partnership with Lockheed ensued. We know in what way that bore fruit.
The Freestyle was really doomed from the start, not because of design flaws or lack of real capability, but because it was conceived at the worst possible time. I guess they couldn’t have known for sure in the late 80’s (though the indications were there), and the program was actually largely a success in its early days. Maybe it could have been resurrected way later in the 90’s or perhaps into the 2000’s in some way, but by that time the aforementioned administrative chaos and budget cuts had left the Russian Navy without the carrier platforms it was designed for anyway.
The crises and cuts in the West around this time are in another league altogether.
Dr.SnufflebugThose questioning Paul Metz might want to take a look at the guys career…
“Paul has been involved in three complete vehicle developments, from concept to flight test, as Chief Test Pilot for the F-20, the YF-23 and the F-22. In addition, he has had significant involvement during the development and flight testing phases of the F-5, B-2, and F-35. He has over 7,000 hours and more than 37 years of experience flying over 70 aircraft types including the F-86, F-105, F-4, F-5, F-15, F-20, YF-23 and F-22. He is a Fellow and past-President of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and has written numerous articles on the flight test of modern fighter aircraft. He is a worthy successor to and modern day equivalent of Chuck Yeager.”
http://www.yf-23.net/PaulMetz.html
More about him on the above site.
I don’t see how his impressive resume and his overall “crediblity” as a test pilot with extensive involvement in aerospace engineering has any relevance in regards to what’s being discussed here, i.e. people trying to decipher/interpret his deliberately vague comments about currently classified performance specifications.
Dr.SnufflebugLet me know when Europe can put a nuclear battery powered rover on the Moon like China does later this year :highly_amused:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=26848.msg1049427
They did, 43 years ago.
Dr.SnufflebugGuys,
While the prospects of Russian carrier ops sure is an interesting topic, it’s better suited in the naval aviation subforum. 🙂 Just saying.
Dr.SnufflebugI wouldn’t say that the “stealth era” is ending. LO/VLO remains useful in many situations, i.e. it’s better to be small than to be big – always.
Dr.SnufflebugSo…no supercruise ?
Say what? If Pogosyans figures are correct it has vastly better supercruise than the F-22.
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