Russian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

This bomb doesn't really have a lot of uses in situations other than pitched conventional warfare on a large scale. It could be targeted at concentrations of enemy troops, airfields, and pretty much anything above ground. However it is more efficent to have a lot of 2000 pound bombs.

This bomb is part of larger trend that we have seen lately of the Russian military loudly proclaiming new equipment or proposed purchases, as part of their apparent direction from Putin to aid his campaign of reasserting Russian authority.

Looks like Masorin was given the green slip.



Putin fires Russia navy commander: media
Fri Sep 14, 2007 4:31am EDT


MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin has fired the commander of Russia's navy, taking to at least four the number of top brass dismissed since he appointed a new defense minister, media in Russia reported on Friday.

The Moscow Times, an English-language daily, said Admiral Vladimir Masorin may have angered the Kremlin by accepting a U.S. award in August without advance permission.

The original Sarov press release and translation, thanks to ctirip at AFM.

Город Саров готов взять шефство над подводной лодкой «Саров»
Ист: Администрация г. Саров
Дата: September 6 2007

Командир подводной лодки «Саров», входящей в состав Северного Флота, капитан первого ранга Сергей Крошкин и капитан-лейтенант, командир БЧ-7 Юрий Губанов прибыли в Саров 6 сентября.

Основная цель трехдневного визита – обсуждение с руководством города и градообразующего предприятия возможности установления дружеских шефских связей между Саровом и личным составом одноименной подводной лодки.

– Пока «Саров» еще находится на стапелях Северодвинского завода, но главнокомандующий ВМФ поставил задачу завершить работы до конца года, – пояснил ситуацию Сергей Крошкин, вручая главе администрации Валерию Димитрову макет подводного корабля.

Дата торжественного спуска на воду еще не определена, но команда – 52 офицера и мичмана – уже сформирована, и ее основу составляют офицеры, служившие четыре года под командованием Сергея Владимировича Крошкина на лодке «Липецк».

– Думаю, что правильно будет к моменту торжеств, связанных с выходом новой лодки со стапелей, подготовить трехсторонний договор о шефстве Сарова и РФЯЦ-ВНИИЭФ над лодкой «Саров», – подытожил Валерий Димитров. – Нам выпала большая честь, ведь это первый случай, когда именем города, в котором проживает менее 100 тысяч человек, названа подводная лодка новейшего образца.

Для справки.

Торпедная подводная лодка проекта 20120 «Саров» имеет следующие характеристики:

- размеры 72,6 х 9,9 м,
- осадка 7 м,
- водоизмещение 2300/3950 т,
- глубина погружения 300 м,
- скорость 10/17 узлов.
- автономность 45 суток.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

And now the translation:

CITY OF SAROV READY TO ASSUME SPONSORSHIP OF SUBMARINE 'SAROV'
Source: Sarov city administration
Date: 06 Sep 2007

Captain 1st Rank Sergei Kroshkin, the commanding officer of the submarine 'Sarov', which is subordinate to the Northern Fleet, and Captain-Lieutenant Yurii Gubanov, commander of BCh-7, arrived in Sarov on September 6.

The main goal of the three-day visit was to discuss with the leadership of the city and the city's mainstay firm the possibilities of establishing friendly sponsorship ties between Sarov and the crew of the submarine bearing the same name.

"The 'Sarov' still remains on the slips of a Severodvinsk shipyard, but the Navy Commander-in-Chief has set forth the task of completing work by the end of the year," explained Sergei Kroshkin, handing a model of the submarine to city administration head Valerii Dimitrov.

The date of the ceremonial launch has not been determined, but the crew - 52 officers and warrant officers - has already been formed, and its foundation are officers who served four years under Sergei Vladimirovich aboard the submarine 'Lipetsk'.

"I believe it will be realistic to finalize a trilateral agreement for Sarov and the Russian Federation Nuclear Center/All-Russia Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics to sponsor the submarine 'Sarov' before ceremonies marking the roll-out of the new submarine occur," Dimitrov summed up. "A great honor has befallen us, indeed the first instance when the name of a city, in which no less than 100,000 people live, has been given to a new type of submarine."

Data:

The Project 20120 'Sarov' torpedo submarine has the following characteristics:

- dimensions: 72.6 x 9.9 meters,
- draft: 7 meters,
- displacement: 2,300/3,950 tons,
- diving depth: 300 meters,
- speed: 10/17 knots,
- endurance: 45 days.

well, talks on India and Russia cooperating on the 5th generation fighter. Depending on who you are, this may or may not be good news, I guess.

India and Russia today signed a landmark Intergovernmental Agreement for the
joint
development and joint production of the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft(FGFA)
marking the beginning of cooperation in the development of state of the art new
technology major weapon systems. The agreement was signed by the Secretary
Defence
Production Mr KP Singh and Deputy Director of the Federal Service for Foreign
Military
Cooperation Mr. Vyacheslav Dzirkaln in the presence of the Defence Minister Mr.
AK
Antony and his Russian counterpart Mr. Anatoly Serdyukov here today. The
watershed
agreement was signed at the conclusion of the Seventh Meeting of the India-
Russia
Intergovernmental Commission for Military and Technical Cooperation. Mr Antony
and
Mr Serdyukov also signed a Protocol which envisages a `new strategic
relationship'
based on greater interaction at various operational levels.
Speaking to reporters shortly after the signing ceremony, Mr Antony said the two
countries have agreed to strengthen and expand relations in all areas especially
in the
areas of joint exercises and greater cooperation in the field of Research and
Development.
`Now the frequency and level of exercises will be higher', Mr. Antony said. He
said talks
with Russia have started to extend the Military Cooperation Agreement beyond
2010.
The pact had been signed during the Russian President Mr. Vladimir Putin's visit
to India
in 2000.
The Defence Minister described the Agreement on FGFA as a `major landmark' and
said
that the Indo-Russian Relationship is on a trajectory to reach new heights. He
hoped that
the two countries will soon sign an Intergovernmental Agreement on
co-development and
co-production of Multi-Role Transport Aircraft. Mr. Antony expressed
satisfaction at the
outcome of discussions on other important projects e.g., supply and licensed
production
of T-90 tanks, SU-30 MKI aircraft and other strategic issues. He admitted that
there has been a delay in the delivery of the repair and refurbishment of
aircraft carrier Admiral
Gorshkov alongwith supply of deck-based fighter aircraft MiG-29-K and said it
was
decided that some more studies by technical groups would be done to go through
the
details. He appreciated the efforts made by the Russian side to resolve issues
relating to
life cycle support of equipment of Russian origin.
On the question of Integrity Pact, he said, `the objective is neither to create
problems for
anybody nor to favour anybody. What India wants is transparency in all defence
purchases. In the past, there have been a lot of controversies. We want to avoid
it. We
want speedy modernisation but with transparency. Integrity Pact is one of the
safeguards
for transparency'.

Click to expand...

More "muscle flexing" from Bear bomber patrols...

Japan accuses Russia of incursion

Japan has accused Russia of violating its airspace over the Pacific Izu islands and demanded an explanation.

A Russian Tupolev 95 bomber flew for about three minutes over the isle of Sofugan, 650km (400 miles) south of Tokyo, Japanese officials said.

Japan responded by scrambling 22 jets and lodging an official protest with the Russian embassy.

But a spokesman for the Russian air force denied any incursion into Japanese airspace had occurred.

Alexander Drobyshevsky told Russia's Itar-Tass news agency that strategic bomber flights had been "carried out in strict accordance with international rules on flying over neutral waters, without violating the border between the two countries".

Rally

Russia last violated Japan's airspace in January 2006 near Rebun Island near the northern island of Hokkaido, Japanese officials said.

On Thursday, Japan held an annual rally to demand the return of four disputed islands - known as the Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan - which Russia seized in the closing days of World War II.

The dispute has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty to formally end the war.

It was not clear whether Saturday's flyby was related to the rally.

Despite their territorial disputes, Japan and Russia have recently indicated their desire to improve relations, the BBC's Chris Hogg reports from Tokyo.

Russia wants Japanese financial support for development of its far eastern regions while Japan wants greater access to Russia's oil reserves.

Whether the alleged incident was a mistake or something more sinister, such as an attempt to test Japan's defensive tactics, it has rattled the Japanese government, our correspondent says.

Tokyo has demanded a full explanation from Moscow.

Click to expand...

Russia Sets Post-Soviet Arms Sale Record

Russia achieved new arms sales record, raking in more than $7 billion in 2007, Russian officials said.

Click to expand...

Despite Russias decreasing reputation for arms export (Groshkov to India, faulty planes to Venezuela / Algeria), russian defence equippment seems to be coveted in parts of the world.
Now it's to be seen if this trend continues, or if latest problems will reverse this course.

There is a videoclip of the maiden flight of the new SU-35BM fighter which give a view of the cockpit and it is interesting to see the HUD and MFDs.
It isn´t too much for those who were waiting for a maiden flight of the 5th generation aircraft, but at least, the Russian aerospace industry seems to strive for advance, even at this slow pace.

I really don´t understand why Russia and China can´t join efforts to make a new 5th generation plane more fast, since one have great experience in making fighters and the other have the new electronics and mass production capacity.

alopes said:

I really don´t understand why Russia and China can´t join efforts to make a new 5th generation plane more fast, since one have great experience in making fighters and the other have the new electronics and mass production capacity.

Click to expand...

Not with the poor track record the Russian defense industry seems to consistently demonstrate of late. Also joint projects have a poor track record in general around the world. They always end up costing more than budgeted, having friction and problems between the partners, having delays and so on.

It seems 90% of Russia's transports are too old and obsolete, and will need replacing by 2015.

"The existing fleet of [military] transport aircraft has become, to a large extent, obsolete," Sergei Ivanov said at a meeting of the Russian government's military-industrial commission.

"Without urgent measures to extend the service life and resources [of the aircraft], we will see more than 90% of the military transport aircraft decommissioned by 2015," he said.

Click to expand...

If Russia wants to replace or upgrade all their transports...it will take an incredible amount of will and money power to do it.

The Algeria MiG Row And Russian Quality Assurance
disclaimer:

by Nikita Petrov
Moscow (UPI) Feb 26, 2007
Algeria will return 15 MiG-29SMT -- Fulcrum -- fighters, purchased from the MiG Corp in 2006-2007, to Russia. The deal on the return was signed shortly before Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika visited the Russian Federation.

The ensuing scandal was picked up by the Russian press.

This is an unpleasant incident not only because Algeria has thereby expressed its dissatisfaction over the quality of Russian exports. This brings into doubt the entire military-technical cooperation between the two countries with a price tag of $7 billion. This is the sum of the contracts signed by Russian representatives during President Vladimir Putin's visit to Algeria.

This is the first demonstrative return during Russia's entire military-technical cooperation with foreign countries. What is the reason behind it?

Although military-technical cooperation is a sensitive subject, and not everything is known for sure, experts see many reasons behind this decision. One of them is the struggle between different political groups and clans in Algeria.

Arms supplies always involve middlemen who receive impressive shares for their services. Those who get nothing are naturally displeased about this. Intrigues are always part of these deals, but when those who sign the contracts possess real power, scandals never acquire global dimensions.

Competition is another reason. Paris was going to sell its own Rafale fighters to Algeria, but the Algerians opted for the MiGs instead of the French planes.

The terms of the contract for the MiG fighters were very good. First, the price of the Russian fighters was much lower and the characteristics were very much the same. Second, by buying the fighters Algeria was paying off its debt to the former Soviet Union and its successor Russia. Moreover, as part of the payment, Russia offered to take back 36 old MiGs that had been bought by Algeria from Ukraine and Belarus, and flown by the Algerian air force. Who would refuse such incentives?

It is hard to believe that the MiG-29SMTs -- one-seat and two-seat combat and training versions -- were of poor quality. Off the record, Russian arms exporters maintain that before being sent to the south Mediterranean coast, the fighters were approved by Algerian experts. They also checked them upon arrival in the country, and even started flying them.

How can they now complain of defects, used spare parts or rusted units? Why didn't they see them before? But the time for rhetorical questions has gone. Russia has signed the deal on the return of the 15 MiG-29SMT Fulcrum fighters and therefore Moscow is obliged to take them back.

Algerian experts are right when they talk about a drop in quality of Russian arms exports. This is openly admitted by top-ranking officials in charge of the Russian military-industrial sector, such as Sergei Ivanov, first deputy prime minister and head of the military and industrial commission, and his first deputy, Vladislav Putilin.

At a recent Academy of Military Sciences conference, Putilin said that "although the enterprises of the military-industrial sector have increased their turnout by more than 14 percent -- military production went up by 19.1 percent, and civilian by 7.6 percent -- some of them are simply unable to fulfill state-awarded contracts. Moreover, they cannot even use the allocated funds."

The Russian federal budget has long been generous. Thus, 800 billion rubles -- $28 billion -- were earmarked for defense purposes for 2008, 900 billion rubles -- $33 billion -- for 2009, and 1.1 trillion rubles -- $40 billion -- for 2010.

The reasons for this situation are well-known. Highly qualified personnel have come close to retirement age. Machines and technologies are becoming obsolescent -- capital equipment in the defense industry is more than 30 years old. Major technologies have been lost, usual contacts severed, and the required raw materials and equipment are in short supply. The price of energy has skyrocketed. It is leaving the inflation rate far behind and greatly exceeds the deflators fixed by the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

It is already clear that the 2006-2015 Russian state defense order endorsed just two years ago will not be fulfilled either in the range or number of products. This is the third order that the defense industry will not be able cope with.

Graduates of technical colleges are reluctant to work in the Russian defense industry. Salaries are rather low, and career opportunities cannot compete with those in the oil and gas industry. In order to become a leading expert, a graduate has to work in the defense sector for at least 10 years. This is a slow process.

And there is another reason. Before, young people were not drafted if they worked at a military plant called a mailbox. Now this benefit does not exist. After graduating from a technical vocational school or college, young people take any job rather than going to a place where getting a foreign passport may become a hassle.

One more problem is that technical vocational schools no longer exist. Nobody is training future workers. Good turners, assembly fitters and welders are worth their weight in gold. Without them, it is impossible to build high-quality aircraft, ships or missiles.

Putilin said that the "reasons for this situation in the defense industry are known. Talk about these problems in different formats and by all branches of power has become a ritual, but it is not always possible to coordinate the efforts by federal executive bodies, organizations, and enterprises aimed at removing these obstacles."

Apparently, the 15 MiG fighters to be returned by Algeria are a major example of these problems that are discussed at length but not resolved. This scandal may not only affect bilateral relations between Russia and Algeria. It has also dealt a heavy blow to Russia's image as arms exporter. This is fraught with big problems for the future. Mistakes on the world's arms market spell enormous losses.

(Nikita Petrov is an expert on the Russian defense industry. This article is reprinted by permission of RIA Novosti. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.)

(United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of United Press International. In the interests of creating an open forum, original submissions are invited.)