Soviet Backfire’s are back, rested, revamped, and ready.
Long ago in the 1980s I was at a major joint CPX at Fort Bragg. My roommate was an AF officer who was “playing” Soviet Naval Aviation. The battle space was the Indian Ocean and Middle East. According to this USAF officer, he kept sinking our aircraft carriers by launching giant supersonic anti-ship missiles from “his” Backfires, beyond the defensive range of our carriers.
So naturally, the moderators in charge of the CPX had to constantly change the ROE and redefine the stated capabilities of the Backfires, their anti-ship missiles, and the defensive capabilities of the carriers.
But according to this USAF officer, the CPX began with the known capabilities of all sides, and “his” Backfires kept sinking “our” CVNs.
I understand that the Russian anti-ship missiles are a lot better today.
Big mutha, ain’t it....
They’ve been back for awhile, but always a pleasure to read about. Thanks for the post.
It’s a wonder the Russians didn’t reinstall the refueling probes by now...
Is this one of Russia's tribute planes, or their own design?
Last night, I was looking at a Russian-English web site and it worried me. Russia is upgrading all its’ weapons systems and training with them. Russians are proud of their military now and aren’t making jokes about them, like I saw a few years ago on the site.
http://englishrussia.com/2011/05/25/7-abandoned-wonders-of-the-ussr/
Compare the latest photos and posts with older ones.
If memory serves there is an overhead instrument cluster in the Backfire cockpit known to its crews as the Carlucci Panel because when he toured the airplane Reagan Secretary of Defence Frank Carlucci kept banging his head on it.
A few more defense budget bombardments by obama and Hagel and our defenses will be nicely softened for either Putin’s new toys or allah’s angry congregation.
The Aardvark beast