Russian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

It is under refit and modernization. The 12 P-700 are getting replaced with UKSK VLS, so it will hold around 80 Kalibr/Tzirkon, the OSA's are getting replaced with Redut and the Kashtans are getting replaced with Pantsirs. It has taken forever, as usual, though

There is provision for 25% higher thrust engine for SSJ. this will put it at par with Airbus A220. SSJ, A220 and A320 has nearly identical interior cabin width.

The work of the 2S5 self-propelled gun "Hyacinth-S" combat crew in Ukraine was shown by the Russian Defense Ministry. The Russian self-propelled gun 2S5 was adopted in 1975 and received the nickname "Genocide" for its high efficiency and reliability. Unlike other self-propelled guns, Hyacinth was not supplied to the USSR in any country in the world. To facilitate the work of the loader, the ACS is equipped with a chain sender of the projectile and charge. The ammunition of the installation is 30 shells, the rate of fire is 5-6 rounds per minute, the firing range of active-reactive projectiles is 33 km, the 2X5M modification has a firing range of 37 km and has digital guidance systems. The crew of the ACS is 5 people, the range of the installation is 500 km.

One thing i am waiting is the A-100.

It is said to have imported components. The thing is that the aircraft have been in development for quite sometime. Is the imported components the sole reason why it cant get into service ?

A-100 however is a nice jump from A-50U in capability and overall reliability as it's now AESA instead of conventional Klystron transmitter. There are some curious thing worth asking however like :

1.Why it only scans electronically in elevation ?
2.Why opt for conventional arrangement like E-3's with rotodome instead of "static dome" like A-50I ?

In my view tho the tradeoff for 1 is cost as making TRM scans in 3 dimension might be more expensive than just having it scan in elevation. Thus allows simpler module architecture. This is valid tradeoff as most "AESA" ground based radar one may see does that e.g Master T, Seek Iglo. However this reduces flexibility as the radar cant really do sector scan where the radome is stopped and the antenna beam is fully steered electronically. Sector scan allows modes like Ballistic missile acquisition, and optimization against low RCS target through increase in dwell time. Such mode are available in AN/APY-9 and probably the Wedgetail AEW.

Num 2 is more into realm of convenience as if the antenna are fully electronically steered, then having 3-4 of them in the dome will allow 360 degrees coverage with full electronic scan. The data rate or tracking rate can then be increased in all sectors of coverage, this might not be possible in conventional rotodome as one have to increase antenna RPM and there is structural and machinery considerations for that. It is however also come in tradeoff that the smaller antenna will have larger beamwidth, and less gain, and worse angular resolution. This in turn may contribute to less detection range. Thus why EL-W2090 is in L-band is probably driven by that.

Anyway looking forward for more A-100 news. There is also another interesting aircraft which is the Tu-214R i can see Russia would need more and use them the same way as US JSTARS.

They probably do not have enough production of radar modules and this way, with the rotating radome, they can keep the costs down.
If the module cost goes down eventually and it becomes necessary then they can upgrade the system. Having a low latency so you can detect hypersonic missiles will be of little use in most combat scenarios where you would use the A-100 today.

A-100 program is a longwinded and poor funded program. Russia had a lot of issues with other similar programs like the Admiral Gorshkov radar and combat systems. You have to see they had to basically do everything over from scratch so of course it took a long time. As more such radar systems are designed the more quickly they will be able to get them in service. Part of the problems they had was that they have multiple radar design bureaus and each design bureau has had to suffer its own learning curve.

there is no such thing as cost down with A-100. Its name is Premier and its description is multifunctional aviation complex and guidance control.
one is A-100LL and another A-100. so two platforms are in developmtn.

VIAM has developed new heat-resistant alloys for the PD-8 engine​

24.05.2022

At the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Aviation Materials (VIAM), five new casting heat-resistant alloys for the PD-8 aircraft engine were developed in an extremely short time.

“Serial production of new alloys is organized at the facilities of the high-tech research and production complex of the National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute” - VIAM, equipped with the most modern equipment. Their general qualification was carried out for the most critical and highly loaded parts of the gas turbine of the engine,” VIAM said.

The developed materials meet modern requirements for mechanical and operational properties. In terms of the combination of technological, mechanical parameters and cost, these materials stand out against the background of other specialized domestic alloys.

The VZhM12 alloy for single-crystal turbine rotor blades has an advantage in terms of mechanical properties and long-term strength at an operating temperature of 1100°C over currently widely used rhenium-containing heat-resistant nickel alloys.
Alloy VZhM200 for rotor blades with a thin-column unidirectional structure and alloy VZhL125 for nozzle blades with an equiaxed structure are alloyed with hafnium, which ensures increased ductility while maintaining high strength.

In alloys VZhL718 and VZhL220, the main mechanism of hardening differs from other casting heat-resistant nickel alloys and is implemented due to the intermetallic phase based on niobiumtrinickel (Ni 3 Nb). Due to this, these alloys have high weldability, which is a critical property for body parts. Casting materials of this class have been developed and certified for the first time in Russia.

According to the press service of VIAM, the research and production complex for smelting heat-resistant alloys of the institute can produce up to 400 tons of finished products annually, which will meet the demand for new high-quality materials for the production of PD-8 engines and will allow import substitution of French Sam-146 engines in the near future on SSJ100 aircraft and Ukrainian D-436 engines on Be-200 amphibious aircraft.

pmc said:

there is no such thing as cost down with A-100. Its name is Premier and its description is multifunctional aviation complex and guidance control.
one is A-100LL and another A-100. so two platforms are in developmtn.

Click to expand...

well.. LL stands for "Летающая лаборатория"/ "Letayushchaya laboratoriya" or "Flying Laboratory" That is not a separate platform but A-100LL is the test platform where you test components and stuff for the "real A-100".

IF there is indeed multiple platform in development you will see other designation e.g "R" for "Razvedka" or Reconnaissance like Tu-214R If there is jammer variant you will see "PP" or "P" like Su-24MP where P is "Pomekhi" which signifies electronic warfare capablity or Il-76PP which cancelled ages ago.

i meant to say one is test and one is real platform. both will be practically identical now. they already painted it. it is not like fighter test where weopon trails needed. everything is electronics.
RF-78651 is first one A-100 and RF-78652 is the second one page 24 of the document.
both are with Beriev.

The king of Russian mortars, like many Russian artillery, is romantically named 2C4 "Tulip". The pretty name of the flower hides a monstrous power that inspires fear and respect, by the way, the shot of its 130 kilogram mine leaves a funnel in the ground with a diameter of 10 and a depth of almost 6 meters. Now there are no analogues of the Russian "Tulip": it significantly surpasses conventional artillery and is a record holder. 2C4 "Tulip" is intended primarily for the destruction of bunkers and fortified positions, of which a huge number has been created by the Ukrainian army in the Donbas. The mortar began to enter the army in 1972 and now Russia has 390 pieces in storage, 40 of them are actively used. Due to the large weight of the mines, the mortar barrel is lowered to charge and the combat crew of the machine, consisting of 11 people, manually with the help of a lifting mechanism, put the mine from the trolley on the tray and send it into the barrel. The rate of fire of the mortar is 1 shot per minute, the range is 9.5 km with conventional mines and 19 active-reactive. For protection, the mortar is equipped with a 7.62 mm PKT machine gun. The "Tulip" shot is fired by the gunner using a special remote control. The transported ammunition of the "Tulip" is 20 high-explosive artillery mines, or 10 active-reactive. The successful baptism of fire "Tulip" took place in Afghanistan and Chechnya. The 2C4 self-propelled gun weighing 27 tons is equipped with a diesel engine with a capacity of more than 500 hp and can use kerosene as fuel, the speed of movement on the highway is up to 60 km / h.