Posted on 01/25/2005 9:50:34 AM PST by vannrox
US Navy to order unique aircraft in Saratov
13:12 2004-04-23
The US Navy Department intends to subsidize the development of an advanced Russian aircraft, which will eventually be extinguishing forest fires on US territory. This UFO-shaped flying machine is currently being designed by the Saratov aviation concern.
The Saratov aircraft enterprise, which is located in Russia's Volga region, started assembling UFO-shaped flying machines in the 1990s; however, this R&D project was then moth-balled because of financial snags.
Many aircraft companies all over the world did their best to design similar flying machines. However, Saratov's aircraft designers managed to come with some unusual engineering solutions, also building a flying-saucer mock-up.
Designers managed to overcome vibration being caused by turbulence flows, after opting for the flying-saucer concept; this problem was also solved with the help of some other know-how. This flying machine is called the EKIP (Russian acronym, Ecology and Progress).
Moreover, the hovercraft's special coating enhances lift by 40 percent (with the help of turbulence flows). Consequently, the EKIP's payload accounts for only 40-45 percent of its mass; meanwhile the relevant aircraft ratio is 20-25 percent.
The EKIP boasts some other unique specifications; for example, it can transport 100-ton loads over several thousand km at 500-700 kph and at 8-13-km altitudes. This unique hovercraft can skim along at 160 kph just above the surface.
Many foreign companies had repeatedly suggested establishing a joint venture together with the Saratov factory in the late 1990s; however, the US naval-aviation research center alone offered acceptable terms, the Saratovskiye Vesti newspaper writes.
Specific contract terms were not disclosed. According to the aircraft factory's general director Alexander Yermishin, Russia will retain EKIP copyright. The market will be divided, after batch production gets underway, with the United States paying dividends to Russia for every EKIP aircraft, Yermishin added.
First of all, the US side needs the EKIP remotely piloted aircraft for fighting fires and coping with natural calamities, Yermishin said in conclusion.
This I gotta see.
Russian concerns aside, why is the USN concerned with fighting forest fires?
It's Pravda. 1 part news, 10 parts fiction.
Its from "The Russia Journal." I have no idea if they are any more credible than Pravda so, who knows.
Is this what was flying over Area 51? :)
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
I smell a conspiracy theory in it's incipient stage... You see (ahem) since the Admiralty Court has jurisdiction over all navigable waterways, and the definition of 'navigable' has been stretched to include just about any running water, the Navy has laid claim to pretty much all of America's watersheds, which are usually located in forests (cut me some slack here). Since the forests are therefore in the Navy's jurisdiction, it stands to reason that they're involved in fighting forest fires, and would purchase Russian aircraft for that purpose.
This also means that any running water in your house makes it Navy property - which is why I haven't taken a shower in over 15 years, and have yet to succumb to the government's secret 'mind control through fluoridation' scheme.
Oh, you mean like the LAT, NYT and WP......;^)
Reading the article indicates that is not their concern.
"Moreover, the hovercraft's special coating enhances lift by 40 percent (with the help of turbulence flows). Consequently, the EKIP's payload accounts for only 40-45 percent of its mass; meanwhile the relevant aircraft ratio is 20-25 percent"
US Army corps has already snagged the power you describe over navigible inland waterways and beyond.
They look like variations on the old "flying wing" theme.
That was the Army Corps of Engineers you were referring to, btw
General Jack D. Ripper: Mandrake, do you realize that in addition to fluoridating water, why there are studies underway to fluoridate salt, flour, fruit juices, soup, sugar, milk... ice cream. Ice cream, Mandrake, children's ice cream.
Group Captain Lionel Mandrake: Lord, Jack.
Ripper: You know when fluoridation first began?
Mandrake: Aye, no, no. I don't Jack.
Ripper: Nineteen hundred and forty-six. Nineteen forty-six Mandrake. How does that coincide with your post-war Commie conspiracy, huh? Its incredibly obvious isn't it. A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hard-core Commie works.
Mandrake: Uh, Jack, Jack, listen, tell me, tell me, Jack. When did you first...become...well, develop this theory?
Ripper: Well, I, uh...I...I...first became aware of it, Mandrake, during the physical act of love.
Mandrake: Hmm.
Ripper: Yes, a uh, a profound sense of fatigue...a feeling of emptiness followed. Luckily I...I was able to interpret these feelings correctly. Loss of essence.
Mandrake: Hmm.
Ripper: I can assure you that it has not recurred, Mandrake. Women uh...women sense my power and they seek the life essence. I do not avoid women, Mandrake.
Mandrake: No.
Ripper: But I...I do deny them my essence.
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