"This is what I call a target rich environment."
Posted on 11/30/2006 2:32:15 AM PST by sukhoi-30mki
Russia starts supplies of Su-30 fighters to Venezuela
10:24 | 30/ 11/ 2006
MOSCOW, November 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has shipped the first two Su-30MK2 multi-role fighters to Venezuela under a contract signed in July 2006, an aircraft manufacturing industry official said Thursday.
Russia signed $1-billion contracts on supplies of 24 Su-30MK2 Flanker fighters and 30 helicopters to Venezuela prior to this year's visit to Russia by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, triggering criticism from Washington, which regards the Venezuelan regime as a potential security threat in the region.
"The first Su-30MK2 fighters for the Venezuelan air force have been transported to Moscow by an An-124 Condor transport plane, and later they will be shipped to Venezuela," the official said, adding that two more fighters will be delivered to the Latin American country by the end of 2006.
Russian-made fighters will substitute American F-16 and French Mirage fighters currently deployed by the Venezuelan air force.
The Su-30MK2 is an export version of a formidable Su-27 Flanker air-superiority fighter capable of accomplishing a wide variety of combat missions at significant distances from the home base, in any weather conditions and severe jamming environment, both by day and night.
Here are some great photos of a B-1 bomber after the Air Force pilot forget to lower the landing gear!
You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full power to taxi to the ramp!
Oops!
http://www.zianet.com/tedmorris/dg/bombers4.html
Honestly, someone should come up with some sort of list for the aircrew to read from during approach to make sure they don't forget anything... </sarc>
There are two old sayings that come to mind --I'm not sure which is appropriate.
"Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing."
"There are two kinds of pilots, them that've landed with the gear up, and them that will."
I guess, in their wisdom, the USAF has dropped the in-traffic-pattern pre-checklist whose acronym (drilled into me during my own flight training) was "GUMPS!":
Gas - correct fuel tanks selected
Undercarriage - landing gear down
Mixture - full rich for sea level landings
Propellers - full fine for landing
Switches - fuel pumps, magnetos, landing lights, heater, whatever
Maybe since the B-1 is a jet (doesn't have props, mixture controls, etc) Training Command feels it's useless these days...
Putin is doing a great job of arming all our enemies.
And I believe they get special consideration by the promotion board.
Wooo Hooo! I want to buy some of them there fighters!
Oh, God. Is that ever painful to see...
Venezuelan Su-30MKV pilots, fear the Raptor! Arrrrrrggggggghhhhhh!
http://www.jamaipanese.com/gallery/thumbs/lrg-125-f-22_raptor_2.jpg
Selling hi-tech weapons to third world countries hardly ever works out. They don’t have the training or discipline to employ them effectively. Just money down a rat hole.
I suppose it might intimidate the neighbors a little bit, but I find it hard to believe that they pose a serious threat to the U.S.
Russian influence in South America is symbolic force projection. Remember the "MONROE Doctrine"? It used to mean something and the USA once enforced it; overtly and covertly. Where does America draw the line on our National Defense today? A tragically mute point indeed!!
It just reveals Chavez for the blustering fool that he is. It may have an effect on the neighbors, one of which would be to invite in U.S. bases, like NATO arose from Stalin’s attempts to intimidate Europe after the second world war.
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