Free Republic

SUKHOI´S “FLANKER” IS SELLING WELL By Piotr Butowski/KS Mikhail Pogosyan, General Director of Sukhoi Holding, is optimistic about the prospects of further sales before the end of the decade of the Su-27 family, by far the best combat aircraft produced in Russia. Originally launched as a long-range fighter with outstanding agility, since then, like its western counterpart, the F-15 Eagle, the Flanker has blossomed into an extra-class multi-role fighter aircraft. F-15C pilots of the US Air Force's 19th Fighter Squadron, stationed in Elmendorf, had the opportunity to take a closer look at the capabilities of the Su-30K during a visit...

WASHINGTON: The IAF is off to Alaska for Cooperative Cope Thunder, its second joint air exercise with the United States Air Force. The IAF group, ten aircraft in all, will enter Canada on July 2 and reach Alaska on July 7 for exercises that are slated to begin on July 15. "The IAF has never been on such a journey and we just want to be careful getting our planes and equipment across safely," a senior IAF official said. "This is a big honour and a big debut for us," the official said. The IAF is in an upbeat mood...

WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - The United States must modernize its fighter jets to maintain air supremacy, a top Air Force general said on Wednesday citing the success of advanced Russian-made jets against American planes in a recent exercise as signaling an erosion of its overwhelming advantage. Gen. Hal Hornburg, head of U.S. Air Combat Command, said a U.S. air-to-air exercise with the Indian Air Force in February, in which India used Russian jets to defeat aging American F-15Cs, revealed "that we may not be as far ahead of the rest of the world as we once thought we were."...

"In the just finished exercise, IAF pilots shot down all the four F15Es on the first day itself. Both in the offensive and in the defensive sorties, IAF pilots did very well against USAF." According to another post on this board, the USAF dominated BVR combat, whereas the Indians had a 4 to 1 kill ratio in dogfighting. "But, the Americans did not field their F22s or F16s. While F16 could not have done better, F22 could. They may test it in the future. Russians fighting USA? It may never happen. The only other way to check how good the...

IAF pilots test skills against USAFJosy Joseph in Gwalior | February 25, 2004 19:17 ISTLast Updated: February 25, 2004 20:58 IST As American F-15 fighters sliced through the blue sky of Gwalior in the company of India's Russian-made Sukhoi-30s, they smashed yet another wall of suspicion between the superpower and the South Asian giant.The air forces of the two countries are holding their first ever joint air combat exercise, which began on February 16, in 40 years in the background of taboos and secrets on both sides. The exercise kicked off a new chapter in the booming defence relations between the two...

RUSSIA'S RADICAL NEW FIGHTER Russia’s fabled Sukhoi Design Bureau builds the S-37, a 21st century fighter to go head-to- head with our F-22. By MALCOLM V. LOWE Photos by Katsuhiko Tokunaga/DACT and courtesy of R-Avix; Illustration by John Batchelor A bold, new combat aircraft designed by the legendary Sukhoi Design Bureau and now undergoing tests in Russia has taken aim at America's next-generation fighter, the F-22. The Russian challenge comes in the form of the single-seat Sukhoi S-37, the world’s first combat aircraft to successfully exploit forward-swept wing (FSW) technology. First word of the S-37 leaked to the West...

NEW DELHI, September 27 (IslamOnline) – India Friday, September 27, 2002, became world's first country to deploy the advanced multi role version of the Russian Sukhoi-30 MKI military aircraft into the country’s Air Force. The introduction of 10 upgraded Sukhois was made at an impressive ceremony in the South-western city of Pune, presided by Defense Minister George Fernandes and in the presence of the IAF Chief S Krishnaswamy. Also present were aviation experts from Russia, France and Israel. India is the first country to get these combat aircraft, considered to be the most potent fighters in the region. The aircraft...

MOSCOW: Russia has started the deliveries of the final modification of multirole Su-30 MKI fighters to India. First two Sukhoi Su-30 MKI were shipped to India on board a Russian cargo plane on Saturday by the Irkutsk-based IAPO aircraft corporation, according to a news report. Russia will dispatch 10 fighters this year, while another 22 are to be delivered next year. Under the deal for 50 aircraft signed in November 1998, Russia has already delivered 18 Su-30k fighters which would be upgraded to MKI in 2004 with the simultaneous production of 140 fighters by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited under license. The...

Russian fighters for the USAF/USN? The ultimate irony … by Robert W. Kress with Rear Adm. Paul Gillcrist, U.S. Navy (Ret.) Editors’ note: In this wonderful piece of aeronautical and political irony, it seems that our newfound but uneasy friends, the Russians, may be our best source of new fighter aircraft. Bob Kress, ex-Grumman VP of advanced programs and chief engineer on the F-14, and Adm. Paul Gillcrist, retired USN fighter pilot, make a convincing argument that rather than spend ridiculous sums for new fighters that will probably show up too late to do us any good, we should buy...

BRASILIA, Brazil, June 4 (Reuters) - Russia's Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet has a "close to 90 percent" chance of being the winner in a Brazilian tender to buy up to 24 new supersonic fighters for $700 million, Sukhoi's Brazilian partner said on Tuesday. The purchase, which may be decided next week, is set to be one of the biggest arms deals in recent Latin American history and is hotly contested by such heavyweights as Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT - News) with its F-16 fighter, BAE Systems Plc (London:BA.L - News) and Brazil's Embraer (Sao Paolo:EMBR4.SA - News; NYSE:ERJ - News)...