Posted on 07/21/2009 5:13:09 AM PDT by pobeda1945
The Pentagon purchased two Russian-made Su-27 fighter jets from Ukraine. The United States will reportedly use the Russian jets to train effective counter-operation efforts.
The Russian jets are a serious competition for the US F-15 fighters. The jets of Russia’s renowned Sukhoi design bureau proved to be more successful than their US competitors during a number of tests. The Pentagon has been trying to obtain the Russian warplanes, and Ukraine helped the nation do it legally.
The news about the deal between the USA and the Air Force of Ukraine appeared on the US-based website Strategypage.com. The website said that Russia’s Su-27 fighters were technically similar to F-15 jets, although the Russian planes were 30 percent cheaper.
Several Su-27 jets landed at Langley US air base in the summer of 1992, upon the agreement with the US side. Russian pilots examined F-15 jets at the base and proposed a simulated combat. The US pilots did not like the idea much: they thought that it would be too risky to hold the fight above the base in front of photographers and TV cameras. They eventually accepted the offer, but agreed to hold the mock fight above the Atlantic Ocean, 200 kilometers far from the coast.
The scheme of the mock fight was very simple. A Sukhoi was supposed to fly behind a US jet, and the planes were supposed to switch places with one another.
A US plane attempted to fly away from the Russian jet, but the Russian pilot caught up with the F-15 very easily. The planes switched places, and the Su-27 flew away from the F-15 making a turn and gaining altitude. The Russian jet found itself behind the American fighter a couple of minutes later. The F-125 pilot lost the Russian aircraft out of sight and could not escape from it afterwards: the Russian pilot was keeping the F-15 covered.
The F-15 lost another battle with Russia’s Su-27 in the autumn of 2000, during the US-Japanese drills in the Pacific Ocean. Two Su-27 jets, covering the Su-24MP, conducted a sudden attack of the flagship of the US 7th fleet, Kitty Hawk. The US aircraft carrier would have been destroyed in real combat conditions.
The US Defense Department is seriously concerned about the growing sales of Su-27 and Su-30 all over the world. Russia has been shipping these jets to India, China, Malaysia, Venezuela, Indonesia and Algeria for years.
Now the US purchased two Su-27 fighter jets from Ukraine. The US military command will now be able to study the phenomenon of Russia’s Sukhoi design bureau thoroughly.
Well, it is Pravda, afterall. I think they are about as, maybe more, trustworthy than the US mainstream media.
LOL
Not buying it. This was from “Pravda”....
Its okay - we don’t need the f22.
Pay no attention...
If it was from the NYT you could dismiss it out of hand.
Funny - at least 10 years difference between the designs, and starting with the F-15 in front of the saddled Su-27, and the F-15 doesn’t lose every time?
One can always set up a scenario where the lesser technology wins. In a phone booth you are better off with a knife than a rifle.
I would trust Pravda more than I would trust Newsweek, for example.
Not much either way, but the MSM is horrible.
I think the MSM watched Pravda closely to learn how they do things.
Unless you happen to walk into Superman's phonebooth.
Then you're f***ed.
LOL.
What a hunk of horseshit.
The US buys Russian hardware for a variety of reasons.
1. Yes, to test and evaluate them.
2. To get them out of irresponsible hands. Some of these jets, particularly the SU-27, are nuclear-capable. We’ve been buying them up for nearly two decades.
However, the SU-27 is a pretty good aircraft, and the F-15 is well over 30 years old. We need to keep up because we aren’t always going to be fighting “freedom fighters”.
Such as an F-15 going up against a dozen SU-27s?
>One can always set up a scenario where the lesser technology w...
Since we were the participants are you saying that we set it up so?
I just LOL’d
My brother-in-law flew F-15s out of Langley in 1992. I’ve just sent him a copy of the article, and I’ll post his reply when I receive it.
>Not buying it. This was from “Pravda”....
“Pravda” is no longer Communist Party’s voice.
http://english.pravda.ru/about/
From the tiny smattering of actual facts in the article, it sounds like it. Much as a football team practices going for 4th and 9, or attempts a 55 yard field goal, why wouldn't our pilots train to recover from a disadvantage?
Technology aside, our pilots fly so many more hours than almost any other nation, you could probably swap equipment, run the exercise a year later, and get similar results.
You and those s***heads at Pravda have incorrectly identified an artist's image of an F-14 as an Su-27.
There's no truth in Pravda, and there's no news in Izvestia.
Correct. Pravda is now Putin's voice.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.