Another screen captcha for your speculating needs. I love the color in this one.

Cool image! I like that!

On the desktop 🙂
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:cool::cool::cool:

OH MY ******* GOD!!! FINALLY! Beautiful and so mean, so “russian” ! Congrats to SUKHOI and to the test pilot , great job!!! :eek::eek::eek:

WEEEEE!:p

Sukhoi test pilot Sergey Bogdan got the honor today for the PAK FA’s maiden test flight, the same guy who first test-piloted the Su-35BM nearly two years back.

Congratulations!

Two first impressions:

-the wing root/LERX reminds me of F 16 XL;
-this thing is HUGE! It seems that in terms of size the PAK-FA/F 22=Flanker/F 15. Even with lots titanium and composites, its empty weight may be ~ 22-23 tons.

In terms of size, it’s roughly on par with the F-22 Raptor by dimensions, and roughly on par with the WWII-era B-25 Mitchell by size.

Historic day today. Very nice plane. Congrats to all OKB SUKHOI.

Sukhoi OKB is like the Lockheed Martin of Russia.

One more video

http://video.yandex.ru/users/russian…sianarms&cid=2

another side view.

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😎 Cool images! I really like that!

Some Screenshots from the video

😀

It has a framed cockpit canopy (a la MiG-15)??

1Saludo

The Raptor’s frameless canopy provides better pilot visibility. A small blind spot from the canopy frame would be a trivial problem.

You’ve seen the pak-fa shape now.

Time to guess the RCS range (between x and y) now.

Of course Sukhoi OKB and the Russian VVS would want to keep the true RCS figure classified, I’d say it’s ~0.5 m^2, forward aspect stealth like the F-35.

Article from Reuters

New Russian stealth fighter makes first flight

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia test-flew a long-awaited new fighter aircraft on Friday, determined to challenge the United States for technical superiority in the skies and impress weapons buyers.

The “fifth-generation” stealth fighter — Russia’s first all-new warplane since the collapse of the Soviet Union plunged the defense industry into poverty and disarray — flew for 47 minutes, planemaker Sukhoi said.

“It’s a remarkable event,” Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told his cabinet, but he suggested the plane still needed work.

“There is very much to be done, in part as regards the engine,” Putin said. “But the fact that the plane is already in the air is a big step forward.”

Russia’s main television networks led news programs with reports of the flight and showed footage of the needle-nosed, camouflage-painted plane taking off from a snow-lined airstrip at a Sukhoi factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, in Russia’s Far East.

“The plane performed very well. All our expectations for this first flight were met,” Sukhoi spokeswoman Olga Kayukova said on Rossiya 24 television. “The premiere was a success.”

Foreign journalists were not invited.

Fifth-generation aircraft are invisible to radar, have advanced flight and weapons control systems and can cruise at supersonic speeds. The new plane is Moscow’s answer to the U.S.-built F-22 Raptor stealth fighter — the world’s only fifth-generation fighter yet in service — which first flew in 1997.

Putin said the plane would first be delivered to the Defense Ministry in 2013 and serial production would start in 2015. Analysts have said it would probably be five to seven years before Russia’s military gets to fly the new fighter.

Successful development of the fighter, which Rossiya 24 said has been tentatively dubbed the T-50, is crucial to showing Russia can challenge U.S. technology.

The 1991 Soviet collapse ushered in a cash-strapped time of troubles for Russia’s military. Its aircraft makers have been building warplanes based on updated Soviet-era designs.

EMBARRASSING SETBACKS

Defense spending increased in the oil-fueled period of economic growth during the 2000-2008 presidency of Putin, who has encouraged pride in Russia’s military might.

The military has continued to suffer embarrassing and sometimes deadly setbacks since the nuclear submarine Kursk sank in 2000, killing all 118 seamen aboard.

Several failed tests of the submarine-launched Bulava (Mace) intercontinental ballistic missile, touted by Putin as able to pierce any air defense, have troubled the Kremlin.

The Interfax news agency quoted an unidentified source as saying the new Russian plane had lowered and raised its landing gear twice during the flight and added that “the American F-35 fifth-generation jet couldn’t do that (on its test flight).”

Lieutenant Colonel Marcel de Haas, Russian security researcher at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael, was not convinced of the plane’s bright future.

“My impression is that this new fighter plane is also more propaganda than a real expectancy,” he told Reuters by e-mail.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told the cabinet more work had to be done on the engine and the armaments system. Neither he nor Putin went into details.

The new plane is important for future Russian arms sales.

In a statement on the company website sukhoi.org, Sukhoi director Mikhail Pogosyan said the company planned to develop its fifth-generation fighter program further with India, its biggest client for existing planes.

Sukhoi is Russia’s largest exporter of military planes and accounts for about a quarter of the country’s annual arms sales, which reached $7.4 billion last year.

Besides India and China, existing clients for Russia’s weapons include U.S. foes such as Iran, Syria and Venezuela, and their purchase of an advanced new fighter could cause concern in the United States and its allies.

The U.S. Congress has banned export sales of the F-22.

(Additional reporting by Darya Korsunskaya, Dmitry Solovyov and Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Andrew Dobbie)

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60S0UW20100129

Israel Turns to Germany for Naval Stealth Ships

Article from Defense Update

Israel Turns to Germany for Naval Stealth Ships

Israel is interested in acquiring two corvette size ships to extend its naval operational capabilities. After analyzing the U.S. Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), Israel decided these vessels would be too costly. While each LCS would have cost $480, Israel was prepared to spend up to $300 per ship, which roughly corresponds with what the Malaysian Navy spent on a similar design (MEKO A-100 Kedah class). Yet, an obstacle that could hinder the potential sale is the recent acquisition of Blohm + Voss Shipyards – the shipbuilder of the MEKO Class vessels – by the Abu Dhabi MAR Group of the United Arab Emirates.

Israel already deploys three medium size Saar V Eilat class corvettes, slated for an upgrade by 2011. The modernization will include the introduction of a new phased-array radar system and the replacement of current point defense missile systems with the Barak 8 extended air defense system. Fielding such new networked air defense capability will provide the Israeli surface fleet independence of air-cover for the first time, enabling the Israeli vessels to deploy further away from their shores.

Originally the Israel Navy turned to the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) in Germany for proposals. Construction or the assembly of the vessels by Israel Shipyards in Haifa has also been considered. The possible subcontracting of work to U.S. manufacturers, by benefiting from Foreign Military Sales funding has also been evaluated.

Israel is said to be interested in a ‘stretched’ version of the MEKO A-100 corvette, a ship with a displacement of 2,200 tons. However, for such a vessel to become superior to the current Eilat class, the Israelis should opt for the latest, advanced stealth version of the MEKO CSL, which has already been designed for such specifications. The CSL will better adapt for the Israeli requirements for versatility, deck space and sensor placements. (read more about the Meko A class and MEKO CSL)

A major obstacle for the potential deal is the recent acquisition of Blohm + Voss Shipyards – the shipbuilder of the MEKO vessels – by the Abu Dhabi MAR Group of the United Arab Emirates. In October 2009 MAR and TKMS announced the agreement to establish a joint venture ‘Blohm + Voss Naval’, for the design and manufacturing of naval surface ships – frigates, corvettes and offshore patrol vessels. Israel could find such move difficult to digest, accepting ‘Blohm + Voss Naval’ as a strategic supplier. Considering this obstacle, and well aware of the potential opportunities, TKMS and Israel should have worked out a solution to satisfy both the Germans and Israelis. A previous attempt to merge procurement of German vessels with Israel Navy acquisitions or the transfer of existing German Navy vessels to Israel have not materialize.

Being a loyal supplier of naval equipment for many years, Germany is considered a safe choice for Israel. Germany already provided two Dolphin class submarines to Israel at no cost and waived part of the cost for the remaining three. The reason for the generous German gesture is the understanding that claims for increased compensation for remaining survivors of the holocaust will be deferred.

Germany already delivered three submarines while two are still under construction. These new subs utilize Air Independent propulsion (AIP) systems enabling the Dolphins to remain submerged for several weeks. Israel’s submarines are believed to be equipped with underwater-launched cruise missiles, capable of striking land targets at long range. With such capability, Israel possesses a potential ‘second strike’ capability that could establish a viable deterrence against unconventional missile attacks from adversaries such as Iran. Extended endurance provided by the AIP could improve the survivability of such strategic missile submarines, enabling them to maintain combat patrols in the region of the Arabian Sea, maintaining strategic Iranian targets at risk.

Source: http://www.defense-update.com/features/2010/january/israelnavy190110.html#more

F-22J Japanese Raptors

U.S. soldiers land in Port-au-Prince

Article from UPI

U.S. soldiers land in Port-au-Prince

Published: Jan. 19, 2010 at 9:12 PM

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan. 19 (UPI) — U.S. soldiers arrived by helicopter at Haiti’s presidential palace Tuesday with some immediately deploying to the general hospital in Port-au-Prince.

Officials said the 82nd Airborne Division is providing a combination of humanitarian aid and security, CNN reported. The hospital, like much of the capital, has no running water or electricity a week after the earthquake, and doctors were using vodka to sterilize equipment.

“Our primary purpose is in getting to the population, whether it be the distribution of water, food, or, in this case, where they’ve got medical treatment going on and they’re overwhelmed,” Lt. Gen. P.K. Keen, head of U.S. Southern Command, said at the hospital.

During a conference call with reporters Tuesday, USAID official Tim Callaghan said the top priorities “continue to be urban search and rescue, health, food, water, and of course overall coordination.”

Callaghan said USAID is processing financial grants for non-government organizations, including Save the Children, World Food Program, International Organization of Migration and CARE, to provide “non-food support” including water, sanitation and shelter aid.

Deputy Joint Task Force Commander Maj. Gen. Dan Allyn said during the conference call the USS Comfort hospital ship will arrive in Haiti Wednesday.

“And we will immediately integrate that increased medical support and make it available to the needs of the people of Haiti,” he said.

Allyn said Haitian seaports should have “an initial operating capacity by the end of this week”

“We are concurrently surveying the Port of Varreux … to enable the delivery of fuel to the government of Haiti,” he said.

He said plans called for opening an airstrip where C-130 transport planes could land and takeoff near the city of Jacmel “within the next 24 to 48 hours to begin to both distribute supplies into the southern area more quickly and to relieve some of the immediate pressure on Port-au-Prince airfield.”

In New York, the U.N. Security Council agreed to increase the size of the peacekeeping mission in Haiti, the Los Angeles Times reported. The Paris Club, a group of international creditors, called for the cancellation of Haitian debts.

The number of casualties from the 7-magnitude quake is still uncertain, with some officials saying as many as 200,000 people may have been killed, 250,000 hurt and 1.5 million homeless. Bodies have been buried unceremoniously in mass graves.

“They have buried so many people here,” Voissine Careas, a farmer living near one of the grave sites, told The New York Times. “And now, they are digging holes for more.”

Haitian National Police Chief Mario Andresol told CNN Monday the earthquake crippled the department, with thousands of officers injured, killed or unaccounted for. About 4,000 inmates are on the loose, the police chief said, because the overcrowded National Penitentiary collapsed and the prisoners escaped.

Source: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/01/19/US-soldiers-land-in-Port-au-Prince/UPI-91141263910568/

Russia to produce T-95 tanks, Mig-35 fighter jets

Article from Zee News

Russia to produce T-95 tanks, Mig-35 fighter jets

Moscow: Russia will begin the serial production of its new state-of-the-art weapons which include a new Main Battle Tank T-95 and a multi-role fighter jet Mig-35, as the country braces to compete for a share in the global arms market, with India being a potential buyer.

“The specifications of new main battle tank T-95, to be serially produced from 2010, are being tightly kept under the warps of secrecy,” defence expert Igor Korotchenko told state-run Vesti FM radio.

“However, judging from the reports it would provide better survivability for the tank crew in the battle field, which will sit in an armoured capsule inside the T-95 MBT,” Korotchenko said.

Russia’s RAC MiG – part of the United Aircraft Corporation is also beginning the serial production of four-plus generation MiG-35 MMRCA, which is also bidding for the Indian Air Force’s global tender for the acquisition of 126 fighters, according to Vesti FM radio.

In January-February Russia is also beginning flight tests of the prototype of new fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) T-50 developed by Sukhoi Corporation under the secret PAK-FA project, in which India is also a partner.

In December at the KNAAPO aircraft plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the far eastern part of Russia the taxiing trials of the prototype were successfully carried out. “A satellite cluster of American CIA and Google, which is also a cover for CIA is constantly monitoring the airfield of KNAAPO, to get the glimpse of T-50, developed to counter US F-22 Raptor,” a defence analyst Ruslan Pukhov told Vesti FM radio.

He also said in 2010 Russia’s global satellite navigational system (GLONASS) would be fully operational.

Under an agreement signed in 2005, Russia has agreed to provide India with the access to military segment of GLONASS.

IAF’s Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter fleet is equipped with dual band GPS/GLONASS receivers to avoid a Balkan like situation, when Pentagon had switched off GPS before striking at Serbia.

Despite repeated failures in 2010 Russia will continue the development of multiple warhead submarine launched (SLBM-MIRV) ‘Bulava’ nuclear missiles, which would be able to pierce present and future American missile shields, the Vesti FM radio said.

PTI

Source: http://www.zeenews.com/news594537.html

How about conscription?

KNIRTI SPS-171 / L005S Sorbtsiya-S H/I band ECM pods

KNIRTI SAP-14 Support Jammer ECM pod

This is a Russian equivalent of the ALQ-99 ECM pod carried aboard EA-6B Prowlers and soon, EA-18G Growlers.

KNIRTI SAP-518 ECM pod