Russian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

pmc said:

Sukhoi Superjet is excellent aircraft but Putin mistake was not putting effort on Modernizing Tu-214 series for Civilian production. This Kazan, Samara, UFA etc is much larger industrial area to do aviation work.

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The Sukhoi Superjet won over the Tupolev Tu-334 because back then the Russian government did not want to spend much money developing a regional aircraft. Back then Sukhoi had a lot of money from military aircraft exports and did not need significant government funding.
The Superjet is much better than the Tu-334. It has a lower empty weight and is thus more fuel efficient.
The main issue with the Superjet is lack of 100% Russian engines until PD-8 becomes available. But the Tu-334 was not any better since it used a D-436 Ukrainian engine.

As for the Tu-214 and civilian production. Originally the Tu-204 was produced at Aviastar. But the airlines, especially Aeroflot, refused to buy it, preferring Western leased aircraft. Which had lower upfront acquisition cost despite costing like double the price brand new. The Tu-204SM was then produced with PS-90A2 modified engine made together with Pratt & Whitney, and with more automation meaning only 2 crew was required instead of 3. The program took forever, and the airlines still did not bite. So the Ministry of Industry and Trade basically did all they could to kill the Tu-204SM project. The only reason it was even made to the end and certified was Putin forcing it. The Aviastar production facilities at Ulyanovsk which made the Tu-204 were retrofitted to produce the Il-76 which used to be made at Tashkent in Uzbekistan. The Tu-214 was only produced at Kazan at the Tupolev factory in single units for government use.

My statement was only limited to TU-214 and Kazan. They have resources for it at least since 2014 when they ordered Tu-160M. they should have done both at same time and It is built with different mind set to built supply chains that are mostly in house and minimize help from other enterprises. this what you need when you are in conflict with West and that is the reason that Kazan is associated with so many things. These people are really dedicated to Aviation. Always want to put there product as central attraction. and they have big role in Russian rotorcraft industry.

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Konstantin Timofeev on the release of the Tu-214: “The promises were too rosy”​

The main problems are our own. Irregular procurement, improperly conducted technical re-equipment, almost complete lack of inter-industry cooperation - we do everything ourselves. We are constantly short of hands, machines, people. If half of the orders for the MS-21 are placed with other UAC enterprises, then for <…> the Tu-214 we do 90 percent of everything ourselves, and in order to do everything efficiently and on time, we need enormous capacities and a lot of people. <…> Another reason is paper working documentation. Everything needs to be digitized, all the drawings need to be converted into electronic form.”
By the way, Timofeev also says the same thing in an interview (let’s take into account that he is also the first deputy general director of UAC): “The MS-21 and Superjet are good aircraft, but passengers can only be transported on the Tu-214, so we need to develop it as a basic model.”

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Installation of new slipways for Tu-214 assembly at aircraft plant in Kazan has begun​

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In mid-December 2023, the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Tatarstan Oleg Korobchenko

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that the Kazan Aviation Plant should and can assemble not 20 Tu-214 passenger aircraft per year, but 100, while currently one to one and a half aircraft are produced during the same period

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sndef888 said:

Just something interesting from the Ukraine thread. Just 10 years ago the pride of French industry was doing joint ventures with Russia's defence industry.

Really makes you wonder, how the heck did the West manage to lose Russia as an ally?

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United States was never particularly interested in being "allies" with Russia. Europe actually was interested in integrating with Russia economically and even through military cooperation.

Unfortunately, relations took a mild bump in 2008 during the August war, and a drastic turn in 2014. As Nuland's phone call revealed, United States quickly took advantage of the chaos in Ukraine to ensure that the new government would be very much Pro-US. Russian lobbying efforts in Ukraine failed, Europe fell in line despite being humiliated ("Fuck the EU" - Victoria Nuland), and Ukraine's political class quickly got the message.

Unfortunately for United States, they were caught pretty much completely off guard by Russia's quick seizure of Crimea and subsequent covert efforts in Donbass. United States' immediate reaction was to capitalize on the events and try to sever Europe as much as possible from Russia. Individual European countries were clearly not 100% on board. It took months of bullying to get France to cancel various Russian contracts, and embarrassingly, Merkel kept pushing for freezing the conflict in what would end up being the flawed Minsk agreements.

At the end of the day United States emerged as a geopolitical winner and the EU had to choose the Americans over common sense due to enormous economic, cultural, and historical ties.

gelgoog said:

The Aviastar production facilities at Ulyanovsk which made the Tu-204 were retrofitted to produce the Il-76 which used to be made at Tashkent in Uzbekistan.

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I think that building is a shoe factory now or something.

some more data.
over 380 Su-30MK (TVC version) exported and over 70 Yak-130. I think Russia should have over 150 Su-30SM versions excluding any deliveries after Ukraine conflict.

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Planes from Siberia: 90 years of the Irkutsk Aviation Plant​

These machines are in demand not only in Russia, but also abroad - over 380 Irkutsk fighters of the Su-30 type and more than 70 Yak-130 are operated there.

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new aircraft and new type engines are being developed at UEC Kuzentov for strategic aviation. only large aircraft are capable of launching 1000Kg warhead missiles in number.

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"Strategic aviation will have to be substantially updated, new aircraft and new types of engines are being created, which were developed here in Samara. They will be put on combat duty, on those aircraft that will be delivered to our Armed Forces," Alikhanov told journalists on Friday during a visit to PJSC "UEC-Kuznetsov".

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The newer version of Pantsir S1M claimed stationed on Crimea bridge. Its is in desert color.


Russia export corporation lecture on Anti UAV defenses. the interesting thing is these Buk M3 and Tor system 36 and 48 targets tracking. if these non AESA SAMs have such ability than what it real capability of Pantsir S1M and S350.

pmc said:

new aircraft and new type engines are being developed at UEC Kuzentov for strategic aviation.

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That would be the NK-32-02 engine which is in production and the Izdeliye RF engine for the PAK DA.

But the whole bomber upgrade program is progressing really slowly. The Tu-160M and Tu-22M3M have still not been delivered and put into service.

The Kalashnikov Concern presented a new Russian underbarrel grenade launcher GP-46, it will be announced in September. The underbarrel grenade launcher GP-46 can be used with all Kalashnikov assault rifles. The caliber of the new grenade launcher is 40x46 mm, it is designed for NATO ammunition, as it was developed for a foreign customer. Subsequently, the new grenade launcher can be adapted to use Russian ammunition. The underbarrel grenade launcher GP-46 can be used both attached to the assault rifle and separately, using a special module, which is a detachable buttstock. Unlike Soviet underbarrel grenade launchers, which were fixed, the GP-46 is turned left or right for loading, after which it returns to the firing position. The length of the GP-46 grenade launcher is 38 centimeters, weight is 1.6 kg, the aiming range of fire in 50-meter increments is up to 400 meters. Today, the main underbarrel grenade launchers of the Russian army are the GP-25 "Koster", adopted into service in 1978, the GP-30 "Obuvka" - in 1989. And also the GP-34, a modernized version of the GP-30 and was developed in the early 2000s.

The crews of the Ka-27M and Ka-27PL of the Northern Fleet of Russia conducted exercises to detect and destroy a "submarine" of a mock enemy in the Kola Bay. The helicopters used anti-submarine aerial bombs in the waters of the Kola Bay. During the week, the pilots worked several flight shifts. The total number of flight hours of the crews was more than 20. The Russian Ka-27 helicopter is designed to detect, track and destroy submarines moving at a depth of up to 500 m at a speed of up to 75 km / h in search areas located up to 200 km from the base, with sea waves up to 5 points.

Soldier30 said:

The Kalashnikov Concern presented a new Russian underbarrel grenade launcher GP-46, it will be announced in September. The underbarrel grenade launcher GP-46 can be used with all Kalashnikov assault rifles. The caliber of the new grenade launcher is 40x46 mm, it is designed for NATO ammunition, as it was developed for a foreign customer. Subsequently, the new grenade launcher can be adapted to use Russian ammunition. The underbarrel grenade launcher GP-46 can be used both attached to the assault rifle and separately, using a special module, which is a detachable buttstock. Unlike Soviet underbarrel grenade launchers, which were fixed, the GP-46 is turned left or right for loading, after which it returns to the firing position. The length of the GP-46 grenade launcher is 38 centimeters, weight is 1.6 kg, the aiming range of fire in 50-meter increments is up to 400 meters. Today, the main underbarrel grenade launchers of the Russian army are the GP-25 "Koster", adopted into service in 1978, the GP-30 "Obuvka" - in 1989. And also the GP-34, a modernized version of the GP-30 and was developed in the early 2000s.

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What an odd loking ammo, its like they took regular VOG grenade and shove it into a case to act as the low pressure chamber.

gelgoog said:

That would be the NK-32-02 engine which is in production and the Izdeliye RF engine for the PAK DA.

But the whole bomber upgrade program is progressing really slowly. The Tu-160M and Tu-22M3M have still not been delivered and put into service.

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There are several Tu-160M2 delivered and it is highly likely that based on Ukraine experience there are adjusting technologies and capabilities. They previously mentioned they want to simultaneously produce Tu-160M and PAK DA.
you can already observe the transformation of Su-34 into a recon aircraft with big pod on center line that only Su-34 can carry. the video about Su-34 i didnot post because they mentioned they are not allowed current factory/configuration picture so they use old pictures but just gave info it works like A-50 but i think its more like combine A-50/Tu-214R. now only thing remaining is P-8.
so who knows if they are not testing Anti Sub/ Anti naval drone systems on Tu-160M. big bombers are best for loitering with big sensors.

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Last weekend, Manturov visited the Kazan Aviation Plant, where the Tu-160M will be mass-produced. The minister expressed his conviction that the company is ready to start this task ahead of schedule. Moreover, the plant's workers are determined to simultaneously work on another, more important project for the military - the promising long-range aircraft (PAK DA). In the coming years, preparations for the first flight should also be completed, after which all stages of testing and launching should be completed and mass production should begin. Two aircraft will be produced in parallel: the Tu-160M and the PAK DA

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In addition, the Su-34 is capable of performing aerial reconnaissance missions.

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The Russian army received FAB and KAB guided aerial bombs with an increased flight range. The increase in the bombs' flight range was achieved by installing a modernized universal planning and correction module (UMPK). The new modules of the kits (UMPK) are equipped with a longer wing, in the photo you can see the difference in the wing length of the UMPK module. Instead of the current 50-60 km for FAB-500 bombs, the range of the new aerial bombs can increase to 78-85 km. In addition, tests of one of the most powerful Russian bombs, the FAB-3000M54, are also being completed with a new UMPK module. Bombs with UMPK are currently one of the cheapest and most effective means of destruction in Russian arsenals. Currently, UMPK is installed on KAB, FAB-250 bombs, OFZAB-500 incendiary aviation bombs, FAB-500T, FAB-500 M62 heat-resistant bombs, and FAB-1500 M54 and FAB-3000 bombs. The most powerful Russian high-explosive bomb, the FAB-9000 M54, is not yet used.