Bulgaria and Georgia still operate the Su-25. Recent reports suggest that the former Macedonian Su-25s (which were supplied by Ukraine) have also gone to Georgia, although I’ve yet to see any ‘concrete’ evidence to confirm this.

As Minotaurus said, almost all of the Slovak Su-25s went to Armenia, but it’s still not entirely clear where some of the former Czech AF ones have finished-up: 6 or 7 were reported as sold to the USA but, as far as I’m aware, none have been seen in the States or appear on the FAA register……

Best regards

Steve Rush

Anyway no need to argue with someone who go so far as to to put words in your mouth to be able to reply to them.

I’m out.

No truer words spoken in this whole thread.

sferrin, you’re arguing against points that were never raised in the first place.

Where has anyone here, or in the GAO report that this thread is about, criticised the (to quote you) the “weapon system”?

Perhaps it’s you that needs literacy and comprehension classes.

Steve Rush

Published today in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, written by Bob Cox:

Now the Air Force, in an article published Monday by Defense News, has acknowledged that nearly all of the 100 or so F-22 fighters already built or in production may have serious defects that could require $1 billion in repairs.

Air Force officials told the defense publication that in ongoing fatigue tests of the F-22 they have discovered that critical titanium parts where the wing and tail attach to the fuselage do not meet the design specifications for endurance.

Lockheed is the prime contractor on the F-22 and F-35.

The Pentagon’s former chief weapons tester, Philip Coyle, says the F-22 problems underscore the need to exhaustively test the F-35 before buying production models.

Too many times, Coyle said, designs and systems “that looked just fine in the laboratory … don’t work at all” in operation.

Steve Rush

Sadly, the German Mi-14s are retired now.

Something that I didn’t realise, until I saw them for myself at Rothenburg last August, was that four of them have been “civilianised” and given registrations for Sao Tome & Principe! From the logos on the side of one I think they were intended to be used as water bombers, but I got the impression these Mi-14s were fairly dormant and in a “stored” condition.

I’m pretty sure the only Mi-14s still operating in Europe now are the Polish and Bulgarian ones. There should also be at least one active in Georgia.

Best regards

Steve Rush

Dear Steve.. In fact, I am pretty sure. The unusual Hind colors are only a matter of lighting conditions, you as a photographer surely know how different matt colors can look depending on just weather. I am posting pics of Polish helicopters with similar camo, even if probably not exactly the same machines.. Feel free to compare them and write down your comments.

Cheers, Flex.

I totally agree with everything you’ve said about colours and tones. It was only recently that I also noticed the huge disparity in colour definition between operating systems (Windows, Mac etc.) and monitors. The differences in some images is startling, especially if the tonal quality is high in the first place (hi-res scan or a digi pic from a good camera).

I think you’re right now I took a look at the Hip pic too. I’d even go as far as to say that Hip was shot at Tomaszow Mazowiecki (the W-3 base) because the terrain and backdrop are identical to the photo.

Looks like those marks may have been short-term only for the purposes of a LIVEX.

Wow, great to hear that! Were you down in the basement level?
*Jazz Club* is definitely the most famous bar in Kosice but I have to say it only falls second to the reopened *Boba Bar*. Now you got another reason to visit Kosice again!!! Please, ensure you have noticed me before, I am taking the first six rounds! (if you survive… ;))

Yeah, we finally got chucked out of the basement at about 3:30am I think, and staggered back to our hotel near the station.

The only problem with advance notice is that I had no idea we were going to be staying in Kosice that night! We’d all been to the airshow at Kecskemet that day and were on our way to Presov but had no real idea of how far we wanted to travel that evening. The new toll motorway in Hungary meant we got to Kosice in about half the time we had planned!

I’m sure I’ll go back, especially after the work on the SlovAF museum is completed, so be prepared to get those drinks in! Maybe we can persuade Arthur along to join us: I know he has a penchant for Kosice Babes too :p

Steve Rush

I can tell you Steve, the encounter took place off the Jervis Bay bombing range just south of where I live back in the late 70’s. No it’s not an OA-4M but a standard A-4M of the US navy.

It wasn’t staged, the USN had to attack the range and the RAN had to defend and this one got bounced hard after being very sneaky and coming in very low and then trying to pop up high out of the main group. I read the account details some time ago.

Ja, the A-4M (and OA-4M) were USMC birds, not Navy.

What’s also strange about the pic is that Marine Corp jets were painted in hi-viz schemes (with huge Star & Bar on port wing, plus large Modex numbers on both) well into the 1980s, some even later.

Steve Rush

….but the talks with the US weren’t about “withdrawal”.

Basically, Bakiyev wants to charge the US more rent for using Ganci AB. They haven’t agreed terms yet but withdrawal would probably only be the very worst case scenario.

I wouldn’t be surprised if a compromise is reached by the date mentioned.

Steve Rush