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First experimental flight of An-70




GOSTOMEL (Ukraine), September 27 (RIA Novosti)
Tags: An-70, Ukraine
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An upgraded Antonov An-70 propfan tactical transport aircraft carried out a test flight on Thursday after a two-year delay, the company's president Dmytro Kyva announced.

He said the 32-minute flight at Ukraine's Aviasvit-XXI international airshow had been a success, and called this "the main event of the airshow."

Test flights were suspended for two years as the An-70 underwent vital modernization work following a number of technical malfunctions in previous flights.

The Ukrainian-designed An-70, built jointly with Russia, has had a long-running and troubled gestation period, with one prototype crashing in a collision in the 1990s, and a second crashing in 2001 in an accident during take-off in Omsk. It also had a history of problems related to its propfan engines.

Kyva said that the company had received orders for two planes from Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, and that they would also supply them to Russia.

Russia withdrew from the project in 2006, and Russian Air Force commander Vladimir Mikhailov was quoted as saying that it had no need for the aircraft and would prefer the modernized Il-76, but later rejoined the program.

The Russian military is on record as planning to purchase at least 60 An-70s by 2020


Russia’s Irkut aircraft-manufacturing plant delivered the first six Yakovlev Yak-130 Mitten combat trainers to the Russian Air Force on Thursday, a spokesman for the Western Military District said.

“On October 4, the first batch of Yak-130 combat trainers fly from the Irkut plant to the Borisoglebsk airfield [Voronezh region] after an extensive flight testing program,” Col. Andrei Bobrun said.

The Irkut aircraft maker and the Russian Defense Ministry signed in December 2011 a contract for the delivery of 55 Yak-130 jets by 2015.

The Yak-130 is a highly maneuverable subsonic jet with an extended range of about 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) and a maximum speed of 600 mp/h (1,060 km/h) in level flight. It can carry a combat payload of up to 6,600 pounds (3,000 kg), consisting of a variety of Russian and Western-developed weapons.

As an advanced jet trainer, Yak-130 is suitable for training or re-training pilots to fly fourth- and fifth-generation fighter aircraft.

It can also carry out a variety of light-attack and reconnaissance missions.


Russia's Defense Ministry on Thursday signed a contract worth about 140 billion rubles ($4 billion) to buy 39 IL-476 transport planes, President Vladimir Putin announced.

"This is the first, essentially new plane, that Russia's aviation industry has produced in the past 21 years" President Putin said "I am confident that this plane will enjoy great demand here, and among our possible partners abroad."

The Russian President made the announcement while watching the modified IL-76 undergo flight tests at the Aviastar-SP aviation complex in Ulyanovsk. The plane completed a flight test that lasted approximately 15 minutes.

Although externally the modernized plane bears a close resemblance to its predecessor, the new plane boasts modernized wing-construction, the body has been reinforced, and the engines updated. The on-board communication and navigation systems have also been updated.

Russia's rearmament program envisages the purchase of 100 of these updated planes, currently two have been built - one for flight tests, and a spare.

[video=youtube;V0Ce93_W8o0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V0Ce93_W8o0[/video]

Russia, Iraq agree to $4.3-billion military hardware deal

Russia and Iraq have signed a set of contracts that will see Russian fighter jets, helicopters and other military hardware exported to the transitioning country as part of a tighter military cooperation plan.
*The contracts are being finalized as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is on a visit to Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev before later discussions with President Vladimir Putin.

Earlier, online Arabic newspaper Elaph quoted al-Maliki as saying his country needs the modern weapons from Russia to combat terrorists in the mountains and desert. Iraq does not need Washington's endorsement of the contracts, he added.

“Our foreign policy is based on our interests. We are prepared to cooperate with all. We are on good terms both with the US and Iran. We do not want to be encircled by constant conflict,” the prime minister said.

Konstantin Makienko, the deputy director of Russia's Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, says a second package of contracts is expected to follow.

He added that the deal shows the Iraqi government’s determination to pursue an independent policy in the face of political pressure from the US.

Makienko also explained that the Iraqi military is more accustomed to Russian equipment than to anything manufactured elsewhere.

Iraq is buying 30 Russian MI-28 attack helicopters, worth $2 billion, along with 42 Pantsir short-to-medium-range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery weapon systems, worth $2.3 billion. The country also reportedly intends to purchase Russian MiG fighter jets as well as armored vehicles.

These are the first significant military deals between the two countries since 2008. Between 2008 and 2011, Russian military exports to Iraq amounted to just $246 million.

The number one market for Russian military hardware is traditionally India, followed by Venezuela and Vietnam, according to forecasts for the period ending in 2015.

Russia’s cooperation with Iraq previously included joint development of oil fields, including West Qurna, one of Iraq’s largest, but that contract was broken off on the eve of the NATO invasion of the country in 2003.

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The Associated Press said:

Russia says no to nuclear arms disarmament

Posted : Wednesday Oct 10, 2012 17:14:40 EDT
MOSCOW — Russia said Wednesday it had no intention to automatically extend a 20-year old deal with the United States helping secure the nation's nuclear stockpiles, a move that comes amid a growing isolationist streak in Kremlin policy.

Under the 1992 program initiated by Sens. Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar, the U.S. has provided billions of dollars in equipment and know-how to help Russia and its ex-Soviet neighbors deal with Soviet nuclear legacy.

The Cooperative Threat Reduction Program provided reinforced rail cars to carry nuclear warheads, high-tech security systems for storage sites and helped pay for the dismantling of mothballed nuclear submarines and other weapons. It played a major role in preventing the deadly weapons from falling into the wrong hands while the Russian government was facing a severe money crunch amid an economic meltdown and political turmoil that followed the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that it wouldn't accept a U.S. offer to extend the deal that expires in 2013 without a major overhaul.

"American partners know that their proposal doesn't correspond to our ideas about what forms and what foundation we need to develop further cooperation," it said in a statement. "For that, we need, in particular, a different and more modern legal framework."

While the ministry wouldn't elaborate further on the motives behind Moscow's decision, or spell out its demands, representatives of Russia's top military brass have long complained that the Nunn-Lugar program gives the U.S. too much access and information about the nation's military technologies and weapons sites.

Lugar said in a statement that during his trip to Russia in August, Russian officials told him that they would like to make changes in the original agreement instead of simply extending it. "At no time did officials indicate that, at this stage of negotiation, they were intent on ending it, only amending it," he said.

He added that Russia's space agency officials also welcomed prospects for future work during his visit to a facility dismantling mothballed missiles.

Moscow's move follows its decision last month to end the U.S. Agency for International Development's two decades of work in Russia. Moscow explained that decision by saying that the agency was using its money to influence elections — a claim the U.S. denied.

President Vladimir Putin, who was re-elected to a third term in March despite massive demonstrations in Moscow against his rule, has permeated his campaign with anti-American rhetoric, accusing Washington of fomenting protest.

Following Putin's inauguration in May, the Kremlin-controlled parliament quickly rubber-stamped a series of repressive laws that sharply hiked fines for taking part in unauthorized protests, recriminalized slander and required non-government organizations that receive foreign funding to register as foreign agents. Yet another bill under discussion expands the definition of treason to include handing over information to international organizations.

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I am rather worried that all those video games where Russia is the Returned baddie are fated too become prophetic. By my nature I am Hawkish but there is one thing I think the World would be better with out. Nukes.

Russia is on the rise

last year they took deliver of 185 aircraft (includes aircraft and helos) and this year they will take another 200+

also helo industry in Russia is booming due to Mistral deal, they are actually expected to take 200 aircraft per year until 2020 and beyond

but flying hours are still way down compared to many Western countrys

Photos : Ka-52 ()

Nice pics of the Werewolf. in My opinion one of the most interesting Choppers in the world. Most of the Wests Scout choppers are either purpose built like the OH6 and Japanese OH1 or modified civil craft like the Jet Ranger into the OH58. The Russians instead started with a military attacker and then converted it too a scout.

The most advanced SSN Russia has ever built : Yasen class

Hyperwarp said:

The most advanced SSN Russia has ever built : Yasen class

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These will be very formidable nuclear submarines.

But they have had their troubles, both financially and technically.

The first was started in 1993 and did not get launched unti 2011. That's a VERY long time. 18 years. The second was started in 2009 for completion in 2014, and the third started in 2011 for completion in 2016. A fourth is now under contract.

The Russians would like to build ten of them, but may only build six.

The first in class is estimated to have cost almost 2 billion US. The second is going to cost over 3 billion US. This is much more expensive than the US Virginia class currently under construction for the US, nine of which are complete and over 40 of which are planned.

But the Yassen is much larger, with a submerged displacement at something over 13,000 tons. Very big subs! They will replace both the Akula class SSN and the Oscar class SSGN submarines. They will have 32 VLS cells and ten torpedo tubes, eight 650mm and two 533mm.

They are the quietest submarines Russia has ever produced and probably compare at least with the Advanced Capability LA class, if not even quieter, approaching the Virginia class. They supposedly can make upwards of 35 knots underwater.

As I said, they will be very formidable.

PAKFA latest pictures


With external pylons

I always thought the Yasen Class was a prehistoric relic of the Jurrasic period designed back in the 1970s way out of date, is it really that advanced and why does it cost so much, a white elephant I think