The program is technically active inside of MIG-MAPO, as they have sold some of them abroad (Yemen has some in service right now, for example). I seem to recall the upgraded aircraft having been trialled in Russia for the Russian Air Force, but around the time you expected to hear about them taking delivery of the first examples (like the well-publicised delivery of the first Su-27SMs) the program seemed to disappear apart as an export project. I’d assume that they favored the Su-27 upgrade as the FLANKER is a more capable platform and they get more bang for their ruble. Sukhoi’s political connections may not have hurt either. Apart from the MiG-31 upgrade that is ongoing right now, MIG-MAPO appears to have been shut out of the Russian military for some reason.

Oops, quite right. I seem to remember that it was the Mig-31D that was supposed to be used for satellite launch and the missile displayed (or drawn) was actually already designed and built and it was quite large and would occupy a central belly position on the aircraft.

True true. If you look at the belly of the MiG-31D you can see that the R-33 housings were deleted. And it is true that the ASAT was a large vehicle (and is probably what you see in the image above, as it is also true that the test firings took place at Sary Shagan and that’s where the image was reportedly taken…fascinating place what with all the history there), which most likely resulted in the characteristic triangular endplates on the wingtips for enhanced stability.

[color=red]Thread closed as it has clearly obliterated the 600 post/20 page benchmark. Feel free to start a new one, and continue overestimating Russian capabilities or exaggerating Western capabilities, as the case may be.[/color]

To be fair, Greece had actually already chosen PATRIOT for long-range air defense. The S-300PMU-1s were purchased by the Greek Cypriots, and because of a lot of political complaining they were transferred to the “other” Greeks and placed at two locations on Crete. The Greek Cypriots got some of the Tors that Greece had ordered, and the “other” Greeks just recently took formal control of the S-300PMU-1s.

So they didn’t choose the S-300PMU-1 necessarily, it was basically handed to them on a silver platter.

Were it me though, I’d take that platter and run with it 😀

How many? I’ll look it up later in the spreadsheet I’ve got.

This isn’t a political “right vs left” issue, it’s a moral “right vs wrong” issue.

You’re right. And it is morally wrong to expect people to pay others because of a government policy that you cannot be certain they supported to begin with. You’ll also end up taxing people who weren’t even born when this was going on. How is that morally fair?

What they did was morally wrong, yes. But I am no fan of apologist politics, nor am I a fan of reparations either. People who say that Westerners think they can solve any problem by throwing money at it are sure spot on in this case…

Some decisions should be dictated by fiscal considerations, and some decisions most certainly should not.

Finance has a place in everything governmental.

Still, at least you’ve got your geography sorted out now……. 😎

You noticed that, did you? I was typing while having a discussion on something unrelated in here and got myself turned around backwards for a good few minutes 😀

As there are still survivors of this policy in Australia, this is still a live issue, as such an appology just isn’t enough. But how much compensation would one consider just and fair for a child torn from its mother and community?

So who takes on the burden of those reparations? Higher taxes on everyone? Do you make the people who voted for those who enacted the policies pay it? The politicians themselves? There is no sensible answer, and that is why the issue of reparations, for this or any other concept, is not an intelligent idea.

Ah well. He got his message across, at least:

“here I am, I’m not John Howard”