SU-24
SU-32/34
Russian fighter jets make first ever nonstop flight across Russia to Far East
Posted on 07/04/2010 9:20:19 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Russian fighter jets make first ever nonstop flight across Russia to Far East
Russian fighter jets have performed the first ever nonstop flights from European Russia to the Russian Far East with in-flight refueling as part of the Vostok-2010 military drills, Chief of the General Staff Nikolai Makarov said on Sunday.
"For the first time ever, we have tested a possibility for fighter jets to fly from aerodromes in the European part of Russia to eastern airfields in the Far Eastern district without landing, with in-flight refueling and the delivery of strikes according to assignments received during the flight," Makarov said.
The exercises, which have entered their naval phase in the Sea of Okhotsk in the Russian Far East, are being overseen by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on board the heavy nuclear-powered cruiser Pyotr Veliky.
When asked by the president about how many refuelings had been required for the fighter jets, Russia's top military commander answered that it had taken Su-24M Fencer fighter-bombers three refuelings and for new Su-34 Fullback strike aircraft two refuelings.
The drills, Vostok-2010, began on June 29 in Russia's Far East training areas and involved some 10,000 troops and around 1,000 items of military hardware. The first phase of the drills ended on Saturday. The second, naval phase launched on Sunday, will see the involvement of several times more service personnel and military equipment. The exercises continue until July 8.
Apart from the Pyotr Veliky cruiser of the Russian Northern Fleet, the drills also involve the Guards guided missile cruiser Moskva of the Black Sea Fleet.
As part of the drills, the Armed Forces will practice the deployment of additional troops in Siberia and the Far East to reinforce the existing military contingent in the region in case of a military conflict.
Russia holds Vostok strategic command-and-staff drills every two years.
VLADIVOSTOK, July 4 (RIA Novosti)
SU-24
SU-32/34
Russian fighter jets make first ever nonstop flight across Russia to Far East
Something we’ve been doing since the 1950’s.
I wonder why Rus. Puts ridiculous long rearward facing radomes on their planes.
Love the “Platypus” SU-34.
Side-by-side comfort with a kitchen and a head.
What else could you ask for?
Yeah, I started to ask, how many years does that put them behind us with this capability.
yup, kinda like neither fish nor fowl...
It represents communism and socialism which is backwards from any other sensible policy.
They want to see if anyone is following them.
That tail “stinger” is where the electronic counter-measures (ECM) gear is housed.
They must be using vacume tube technology because I don’t see a stinger on the F-22 or 35.
Bush is responsible for this.
They never tried this before? Curious...
Though, realistically, since it is all over land— their land— to travel from coast to coast they can just land and refuel along the way and move on.
The Russian (Soviet) Air Force was always built on the concept of large numbers of airplanes and a forward deployment strategy based on taking over NATO aitfields and equipment. 2000 airplanes near the FEBA was higher value to them than long range projection and maneuverability (made possible by air refueling) of smaller forces from more secured facilities.
My understanding is that we fly are fighters across the Atlantic and Pacific all the time, my understanding is you fly them as slow as you can. You have them start way ahead of the refueling tankers, the tankers catch up with them, refuel them and then speed off ahead of the fighters as the creep across the ocean. As large as Russia is or the former USSR is it most of felt like an eternity. I wonder if they can set them to fly on Cruise control sit back and take a nap while they are slowly moving along.
deployment of additional troops in Siberia and the Far East to reinforce the existing military contingent in the region in case of a military conflict.
Just a matter of where you want to put it...we once favored wing-mounted pods (which you can still see on older jets like the A-10 and F-16), but the new jets (including the F-22 and F-35) have them internally mounted, a technique first used with the F-15.
The Russians favor the “stinger” approach because a jet is most vulnerable to attack from the rear, and with the ECM gear back there, they get better coverage of the tail quadrant. On a stealth aircraft, signature management is everything and the stinger increases your RCS. We’ve also found that the stinger doesn’t provide any real added coverage, in terms of EC protection.
Largely a matter of what an aircraft is built to do, and the degree of stealth required. Both the SU-24 and the SU-34/35 are anything but LO aircraft.
Try the 1920's
http://airrefuelingarchive.wordpress.com/category/question-mark/
No, the Question Mark was a one-time experiment.
Operational air refueling was a product of the 50’s, when the B-47 and B-52 bombers entering the inventory required AAR to reach destinations in the Soviet Union.
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