Either way that is 20,000lbs/9070kg of weapons and fuel. A lot more than some people claim is possible on a STOBAR config (constantly harping on can only launch “lightly loaded”).

Given that it’s internal fuel capacity is 8,500kg and the usual 70% load is around 6,000 kg, the “lightly loaded” part doesn’t seem so far fetched 🙂

If those Su-33 got some of the capability of the Su-35S then I don’t see why the RuN needs the MiG-29K. Its a bigger plane with greater range and firepower.

The MiG-29K was already developed and ready for production, while developing a new upgraded Su-33 variant for production would take time and money while at the same time its bigger payload cannot be fully utilized anyway on a carrier without a catapult (like the Kuznetsov class is).

Now a Su-33 was lost, because a cable broke… Back in 2005 they lost a Su-33 and nearly lost another because, drumroll; cable broke.

The Aviationist (corrected link) article states that this was a second landing attempt by the pilot. If true, perhaps the pilot broke the cable by landing out of parameters (e.g. too much to the side or something)?

So it would look funny if Turk are bringing their full army force into Syria without any air support 😉

Who said anything about a full army force? But, they do use tanks as support to their rebel groups and they do provide them with some air support.

P/s: it is not about how evil white helmet or Western media is. I dont care either way how you think about them. But i care about evidence. All arguments and accusations need proper evidence

I admire your patience with these guys.

The problem would be to move their forces around on the contryside, from willage to willage. Airsupport will take advantage of these situations. It would wreck havoc to supply and moral for any rebel factions out there.

The air support didn’t stop the rebels from moving and deploying relatively large groups of forces (including some armor and artillery) for both Aleppo counter offensives or the relatively long rebel Hama offensive through the same “open” terrain.

To be fair, the Russian commitment at that point was somewhat waning IIRC due to some political games only to regain momentum once the rebels made significant gains on both fronts. With the Trump administration setting in place though, the regime side seems to be taking full advantage of the current confusion on the external side opposing the regime except for Turkey which decided to get involved directly. Apparently, it seems that just today Erdogan stated again how Turkey had to get involved to bring an end to the oppressive Assad regime. If they do clash with the regime forces north of Aleppo in near future, what will the Russians do?

Supposedly taken today:

It was earlier reported (based only on what was visible on the deck) that Kuz carried only 4 x 29K/KUB, but this screen grab shows 5 x MiG-29K/KUB on the decks of Kuz. It remains to be seen how many more MiG-29K/KUB the Kuz might have actually carried during its current deployment.

Certainly not many more as they lack qualified pilots for the type supposedly.

I will help you out with your confused state due to getting exposed to your exclusive “first hand info” on the events. Your backside info (underscored) is covered by your quote (bolded).

The only one with a confused state of mind here is you with this “first hand info” nonsense you invented. Perhaps you can’t read English properly?

On a related note, the regime forces have apparently practically managed to split the east Aleppo in two and are advancing on the smaller northern part from multiple sides.

If Russia has an air base right there, why are they even bothering with the carrier?

Several levels removed from primary source, but why would the commander be punished if a plane had to divert?

They’ve sent the carrier not out of necessity, but for operational testing of the Su-33 A2G upgrades, MiG-29KR’s, Ka-52K’s, etc.

Based on these rumors, perhaps the command might have been held responsible for the arrestor gear failing which rendered the carrier’s primary function inoperable for a while (indicating perhaps improper monitoring or maintenance procedures) or perhaps for the embarrassment of having to send the fighter to Cyprus or some other non-allied country. In any case, risking the plane already in the air for any reason (which seems to have led to the loss of one of the brand new MiG-29KR’s) should be a much bigger problem now unless the plane had no fuel for an emergency divert to some airport anyway and it was just bad luck.