Flightdeck Friday – Russian Edition (MAKS 2007)
…or if you prefer – ÐŸÐ¾Ð»ÐµÑ‚Ð½Ð°Ñ Ð¿Ð°Ð»ÑƒÐ±Ð° в пÑтницу – роÑÑийÑкий ВыпуÑк 
Today’s edition will actually be a couple of installments, all stemming from news out o f MAKS 2007, the Russian Air Show and Trade Fair underway outside of Moscow this week. First item up – MiG’s UCAV, just revealed yesterday:
Video of the UCAV and flight demos from MAKS 2007 below the fold…
Here is the accompanying press release from Tass:
ZHUKOVSKY (Moscow region), August 23 (Itar-Tass) – The MiG corporation presented at the aerospace show MAKS’ 2007 a programme of developing a Skat assault aircraft.
A full-size model of it was shown to reporters on Thursday in the grounds of the MiG flight test base.
The corporation’s senior executives said Skat is intended for strikes on reconnoitered targets of the air defense system, aircraft and ships.
The Skat aircraft is a “flying wing” triangle equipped with antiship and antiradar missiles X-31A and X-31P, and with missiles with television guidance.
A flying laboratory-demonstrator is to be built for elaborating the assault aircraft technology in manned and unmanned modes.
The chief of the Mikoyan Engineering Center, Vladimir Barkovsky, said the further development of the assault aircraft could prove an international project if other countries showed interest in it.
The UCAV-ski does have a kind of, familiar look to it, eh? Of course, they aren’t the only ones apparently liberally borrowing:
China’s "Dark Sword" UAV
Logiduc UCAV (France) unveiled at 2003 Paris Airshow (more here)
Up next Plane P0Ñn:
1. How did Russia acquire Stealth-capability technology?
2. Will the CIA be allowed to do its’ job and find the traitors so that they may be held accountable? Should the company ever be discovered, ALL their government contracts should be cancelled…after the guilty are convicted of treason.
3. What is to prevent Russia’s new best friend, Iran, from acquiring this technology and using it against our Troops and bases in the region?
4. Why isn’t the base closure programme shelved now that there is irrefutable evidence that more bases, and Troops, are needed for not just the future, but right now?
5. Why isn’t the production of everything for all branches of the Military being put into high gear ASAP, and more companies given the go-ahead for full production on a 24/7 basis in order to meet the needs these threats pose to our national security?
Lastly, let’s allow the government and the CIA to do their jobs so that in a short time it won’t be mandatory to become fluent in Russian……if any of us survive the plans they appear to have for our countries.
Veritas et Fidelis Semper
1. Irony of ironies – the mathematician behind the equations that led to the first operational stealth “fighter” (the F-117) was a Russian. Much as we in the West, and the US in particular, like to beard the Russians about lagging the West, when it comes to applied physics, mathematics and rocketry, they don’t take a backseat to anyone – stealth included. Where they have traditionally suffered is from the Soviet-era bureaucracy that tended to stifle these kind of developments and initiatives. Alas, I don’t think that will be quite as problematic for them in the future, however.
2. Again, one would/should be amazed at the informaiton that is already out there, open source, that can readily be accessed. It’s putting all the pieces of that puzzle together where the challenge lies. I can say from a nuclear standpoint, there is sufficient information to build an employable nuclear weapon *if* one can lay one’s hands on the right kind of fissionable material. As for the CIA hunting down traitors – that would be the FBI’s provence.
3. Not much save it’s ability to front the cash. Word is they are buying a couple hundred Su-33’s and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them make a play for some of the new frigates (and accompanying weapons) to replace the worn-out ships currently in their inventory. Acquiring is one thing though, effectively employing will be another. A friend of mine is fond of saying ” …(a) pig wearing a Rolex, is still a pig wearing a Rolex”
4&5. BRAC – too far down that road to stop. Wrapped into that is most of the Congress and Administration are not interested in the threat on the horizon posed by a resurgent Russia tied in with an expansionist China. They are too busy with Iraq/Afg, Iran, NK and the GWOT to notice. Others in Congress are already sensing a (false) ‘peace dividend’ that would be in the offing with the return of the troops from Iraq (no one learned their lessons from the Cold War/Gulf War I ‘peace dividend’). And the general public doesn’t understand/care.
… and it isn’t Russian I’d be concerned about becoming fluent in, more like Mandarin…
-SJS
Second the becoming fluent in Mandarin. Taking Chinese 101 right now.
Re #2, there was a news story out a few months ago that the number of incidents of foreign nationals attempting to “work” employees of defense contractors and others with access to sensitive information has shot up in the past year. Country of origin for a lot of the foreign nationals? Take a wild guess.
Russia invented stealth, America built it
Like a lot of advancements of the cold war USSR was at the forefront of research in math, physics, chemistry, biology etc but never had the money or the industry to apply it properly, especially near the end (c. ’85)
When the Soviet union collapsed, USA got a very good look at all that research, which is partly what was responsible by the boom in technology during the 90s. All those iPods, genemod foods, stealth airplanes, and space stations are largely a product of Soviet work
A lot of people dont want to admit it but I like to call them as I see them
I hope we are friends with the Russians in the 21st century, even if we got off to a bad start
“What is to prevent Russia’s new best friend, Iran”
Iran is not Russias friend, lets be clear about that. The Russian Federation is simply selling all of their old military technology (and there are heaps) and hoping to get a stable economy and a much better military in exchange
They need the money honey 🙄
And lets face it, US is practically giving advanced weapons away to Iraq