Russian Mi-24 gunship takes off from Latakia airbase in slow-motion

Slow-motion #footage Mi-24 gunships taking off from #Russia's air base in #Latakia, #Syria pic.twitter.com/nkiQrIHOxj

— Silver Surfer (@RobPulseNews) October 28, 2015

Russian Tank tango

Russian Weapons - Military robots

Video - TV channel Russia-24

"Russian Weapons". Exhibition Oboronexpo-2014.

Russia-24

Russian Mickey Mouse inspired Mil M-28N Night Hunter helicopter

Mil M-28N Night Hunter

Strait times

Russian Arena Active Armour Protection System

Russia's 2014 Arms Exports Surpass $2Bln

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:INS_Vikramaditya_(R33)_with_a_Sea_Harrier.jpg

The volume of Russia’s arms exports this year has topped the $2 billion mark, with outstanding weapons orders standing at $47 billion, a senior government official said.

“As of today, Russia has supplied military products worth $2 billion to its foreign customers,” said Alexander Fomin, the head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation.Last year, Russia exported $15.7 billion worth of weaponry, up $2.5 billion from 2011, with plans to increase annual arms sales to $50 billion by 2020 in a race for the top spot.

Russian shipments accounted for 27 percent of global arms exports last year, just behind the United States at 29 percent, according to a report published last week by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.Among the major importers of Russian weapons and military equipment are India, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Venezuela, Algeria and Malaysia.

Fomin, who was speaking ahead of a defense exhibition in Chile, said that Russia is prepared to negotiate contracts on a wide range of military and civilian products with its South American partners, including Beriev Be-200 amphibious aircraft, Irkut MS-21 mid-range jet airliners and regional Sukhoi Superjet-100s.According to Fomin, Russia would also propose licensed production of technologies with Chile, a traditional customer of US-made weapons.

“We are offering our Chilean partners a localization of production in their country, which is certainly a very beneficial aspect of our proposed contracts.”

Fomin said that Russia would float a joint venture with Brazil to co-produce Sukhoi T-50 fifth-generation fighter jets. Experts consider the plane comparable to the American F-22 Raptor.

http://en.ria.ru/military_news/20140324/188707076/Russias-2014-Arms-Exports-Surpass-2Bln.html

Russian Naval blockade of Sevastopol Bay

NATO reconnaissance planes to monitor Ukraine crisis. This is what they are likely to see.



From charly015.blogspot.com

Photos in spanish

Russian defence minister Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu says Russia to Overhaul Fleet of Amphibious Assault Ships

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s comments come amid a growing international standoff over Crimea, an autonomous region within Ukraine that refused to recognize new nationalist powers in Kiev that ousted President Viktor Yanukovych in February.

Shoigu said the navy was expected to receive a new Ivan Gren-class landing ship and two French-built Mistral-class helicopter carriers, the Vladivostok and the Sevastopol, through 2015.

Russia’s fleet of amphibious assault ships requires extensive modernization because their service life has been largely overextended. “The Russian navy currently has 19 ships of this type. They have been in service, on average, for more than 25 years,” Shoigu said at a video conference meeting with military commanders.

“However, these additions are not enough, and we have to pay attention to the overhaul of existing [amphibious assault] ships,” the minister said, adding that at least two ships should undergo maintenance and repairs annually.Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, which is largely based on the Crimean peninsula, reportedly includes seven aging assault landing ships of the Alligator and Ropucha classes.

Russia Holds Surprise War Games Near Ukrainian Border

Russian Tank Biathlon is Gathering Momentum - Very nice concept

Russian Tank Olympics...

Russia’s defense minister Sergai Shoigu decorating the Russian team, winners of the international tank biathlon competition.

The United States and a number of European countries have asked to participate in Russia’s international tank biathlon, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday. “They filed a request with the Defense Ministry to participate. We will be happy [to have them],” News agency Novosti quoted president Putin addressing questions from students at a Moscow university. The Defense Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that more than 40 countries had expressed interest in participating. Putin said the event helps promote the nation’s defense industry, noting that Russia is second only to the US in terms of the volume of arms exports. With the global decline of demand for tanks and other heavy, tracked armored vehicles Russia emerges as the largest manufacturer and exporter of such vehicles, including T-90 and upgraded T-72s.

Russia invited the US to participate back in August at a meeting of defense officials. The first tank biathlon was held in the Moscow suburb of Alabino in August last year, with members from four armies participating. This year’s competition is planned to run from July 26 to August 10. According to the Russians, the Tank Biathlon is analogous to the Olympic event. Tank crews must navigate a 20-kilometer (12.5-mile) course that includes obstacles such as a slalom run, water crossings, bridges and steep climbs. The tanks must also accurately shoot with guns, machine guns and rifles a set of targets at distances of up to 2.2 kilometers (1.4 miles) that simulate other tanks or low-flying helicopters and cross military-representative obstacles such as mine fields and barricades.

Through the 2013 biathlon tank crews went through a three-round route of 6-10 kilometers. During the first round crews fire at targets positioned at a distances of 1,800, 1,700 and 1,500 meters. The second round firing is at targets imitating an anti-tank mortar (RPG) squad and an infantry unit – these targets are at a distance of 600–700 meters, and must be engaged with a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun. The third round targeting is at an anti-tank gun and ATGM unit by use of heavy machine guns at a distance of 1,200 meters. Like in usual biathlon firing misses lead to an extra round, 500 meters long. On the final round tanks have to go through various terrain obstacle course.

This is Russia's new nuclear attack submarine - Severodvinsk—the pride of the Russian Navy

Russia to Test 70 New Rockets and Missiles in 2014

The Russian military plans to test around 70 types of rocket and missile weaponry at a major testing site this year, a Defense Ministry spokesman has said.

The testing program at the Kapustin Yar range in southern Russia will include about 300 launches of rockets, missiles, and aerial drones as part of more than 180 R&D projects, said Colonel Igor Yegorov.
The range is located in the Astrakhan region between the cities of Volgograd and Astrakhan. It is known for tests of Iskander-M tactical ballistic missiles, S-300 and S-400 air defense systems and Smerch multiple-launch rocket systems.

In addition, Kapustin Yar is often used to host large-scale military exercises.The 4th State Central Range at Kapustin Yar was established in 1946 and is considered the birthplace of the Russian rocket industry. The first rocket launch on October 18, 1947, was of one of 11 German A-4s captured during World War II.

New Russian Attack Sub - Project 885M Yasen-class attack submarine, the Severodvinsk to Join Navy tomorrow - on Dec. 30

Russia’s first Project 885M Yasen-class attack submarine, the Severodvinsk, will be handed over to the navy on December 30.The submarine, designated as Graney-class by NATO, has been under construction at the Sevmash shipyard in northern Russia since 1993.

The Severodvinsk is one of eight Yasen-class attack boats ordered by the Russian navy. The second and third subs of the series, the Kazan and the Novosibirsk, are being built under the updated Project 885M Yasen-M design.The Severodvinsk has a submerged displacement of 13,800 tons, length of 119 meters, speed of 31 knots, and can dive to 600 meters. It has a crew of 90 including 32 officers.

The submarine has been designed to launch cruise missiles with conventional or nuclear warheads to a range of up to 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometers), as well as effectively engage other submarines, surface warships and land-based targets.Its main armament consists of 24 Oniks (SS-N-26) and Kalibr (SS-N-27) cruise missiles, self-guided torpedoes and mines.

Russia to Develop 5th-Generation Attack Helicopter by 2017

Not actual photograph

It could take Russia about three years to complete the development of a fifth-generation attack helicopter and start testing its prototype, a defense industry official said Wednesday. The Mi-28NM, a modernized version of the Mi-28N Night Hunter attack helicopter that is being upgraded to standards of a fifth-generation aircraft, has been in development since 2008. “I think we will need no more than three years to develop a new modernized version of the Mi-28N helicopter,” said Andrei Shibitov, chief executive officer of the Russian Helicopters company.

Shibitov did not specify the characteristics of the future combat helicopter, but he was quoted earlier by the Russian media as saying that the criteria for a fifth-generation attack helicopter must include low radar signature, an extended flying range, an advanced weapons control system, the capability to combat fighter jets and have a speed of up to 600 kilometers (370 miles) per hour.

Pace Of Russian Rearmament Quickens

A massive modernization push is imminent for Russian aerospace defense: The air force alone could receive 4.5 trillion rubles ($136 billion) over 10 years, about one-quarter of the overall drive to upgrade Russia's Soviet-era weaponry.

The money will help replace about 70% of the air force fleet by 2020 and position it to acquire the Sukhoi T-50—a fighter advanced enough to rival the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter—as well as a stealthy, long-range bomber, and to overhaul its surface-to-air missile stockpile. However, analysts caution that the plan's financial scope may be unrealistic.

For now, the investments are on track. During a series of briefings by military officials and defense manufacturers in late November, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the procurement program adopted in 2010. The meetings amounted to the first public audit of the program to ensure that the investments are on track—a domestic show of support for the Russian defense industry, despite the country's economic stagnation.

The list includes accelerating replacement of old aircraft in the air force fleet. Putin has announced that the military will have received 86 new and, modernized fixed-wing aircraft and more than 100 new helicopters this year, and will take delivery of up to 120 fixed-wing aircraft and 90 helicopters in 2014. In 2011 and 2012, just 263 new aircraft were delivered to the military units.

By 2020, the air force aims to have a total of 1,600 new aircraft, renewing about 70% of its fleet.

So far, the air force's orderbook consists of Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bombers and Su-30M2/SM and Su-35 multirole fighters. In 2014, the air force plans to rearm one air regiment with the Su-34s, according to Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. A training air base in Borisoglebsk is to be reequipped with Yakovlev Yak-130 jet trainers; 18 of the type were delivered in 2013, out of 55 ordered.

According to the head of the United Aircraft Corp. (UAC), Mikhail Pogosyan, the Sukhoi T-50 will start official evaluation tests with the air force in 2014. The first phase of these trials is expected to be completed in 2015, he says. The five prototypes involved in the preliminary test program have logged more than 450 flights. The Russian defense ministry issued technical requirements for the future long-range bomber to the corporation in September. “We are now at the stage of drawing up the contracts to start the full-scale development of this aircraft beginning next year,” Pogosyan says.

Russian Air Force to Field a Stealth Bomber By 2020

In April 2013 the Russian Air Force has approved the conceptual design and specification of its future strategic bomber known as ‘PAK-DA’ (future long-range aircraft), paving the way for development of components for the aircraft. Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev was quoted by Novosti news agency saying that the PAK-DA project has been in the works for several years but was given the formal go-ahead by the Russian leadership in 2012. It is due to replace Russia’s aging fleet of 63 Tupolev Tu-95MS Bear and 13 Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers in the next decade. The principal nuclear armed weapon used with these platform is the Kh-102 that has entered service in the 2000s. The Tu-95MS can carry eight missiles and Tu-160 carries 12 on two rotary launchers.

The Tupolev design bureau has won the PAK-DA development tender offering a subsonic “flying wing” design, providing advanced stealth capabilities. It was selected over more speculative ‘hypersonic bomber’ recommended by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. The new bomber will carry both conventional and nuclear weapons, including a new long-range cruise missile that has already been adapted for the new bomber. The characteristics of such weapon are still classified, but, according to debate that has surfaced in the Russian media this year, such missile could feature hypersonic performance. In the 1980s the Russians conducted several hypersonic missile researches, although none of the programs reached technological maturity. Experts say the combination of subsonic stealth and hypersonic flight overcoming access denial and counter-air weapons would enable the future bomber superior capabilities over existing platforms. The new bomber is expected to go in production by 2020 and will be built at a new aircraft assembly line at Russia’s Kazan plant (KAPO). The same plant previously built the Tu-95MS and Tu-160. According to defense ministry officials, the PAK-DA could enter service by the year 2025.

Russia Lays Down New Stealth Corvette

ST. PETERSBURG, July 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia’s Severnaya Verf laid down a new Gremyashchy class corvette Thursday at its St. Petersburg shipyard, the company said.
The corvette Provorny is the second warship of the Project 20385 class, which is a derivative of the Steregushchy class (Project 20380) corvette, featuring better electronics, air defenses and extended operational range, the shipbuilder says.

The first vessel in the class, the Gremyashchy, was laid down in February 2012 and it is expected to join the Russian Navy in 2015.
Severnaya Verf will build at least 10 Gremyashchy class corvettes for the Russian Navy under a contract with the Defense Ministry.

The Gremyaschy class corvette has a displacement of 2,200 metric tons, maximum speed of 27 knots, operating range of 4,000 nautical miles and a crew of 100.
The ship's armament includes Uran-E 3M24 (SS-N-25 Switchblade) anti-ship cruise missiles, a 100-mm gun, a variety of air defense and anti-submarine systems and a Ka-27 Helix ani-submarine helicopter.

Advanced stealth technology is used to reduce the ship's radar signature, as well as its acoustic, infrared, magnetic and visual signatures, Severnaya Verf claims.

Russian Army starts biggest military exercise since Soviet time with a total of 160,000 soldiers

A total of 160,000 servicemen, 1,000 tanks, 130 planes and 70 ships are taking part in Russia’s biggest military drill since Soviet times. The war games will continue in the country’s Far East until July 20. The maneuvers are the latest in series of surprise military checks which performed by Russia, in an effort to reveal and oust flaws in the country’s defense program.  

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu received an order to test the battle readiness of the Eastern command, which unites military forces in the Far East and Trans-Baikal. The request was received from President Vladimir Putin at 01:00 local time (21:00 GMT) on Saturday, July 13.

Following the order, 160,000 servicemen were put on high alert and began advancing toward the training sites.

According to the Defense Ministry, around 1,000 tanks and armored vehicles, 130 planes and helicopters, and 70 ships are taking part in the war games.

Military commanders in the Far East and Trans-Baikal learned of the drill’s details only after it had begun, receiving a secret parcel from Defense Minister Shoygu. 

“The main purpose of the activities is to check the readiness of the military units to perform assigned tasks and evaluate of the level of personnel’s training and technical preparation as well as the level of equipment of units with arms and military equipment,” the defense ministry said in statement.

The statement noted that the drill would require some units to travel more than 3,000 kilometers from their usual deployment sites. Seven hundred flat wagons and 50 railway cars were assigned to perform the transfer.

The ground forces have been given two days to reach their destination. They have been tasked with pitching field camps, masking their positions, and organizing defense strategies upon arrival.

Russian fifth-generation Sukhoi-T-50 fighter aircraft completes first long range flight

Russia's prototype fifth-generation Sukhoi T-50 fighter jet has carried out its first long-range flight during the transfer from a manufacturing plant in Russia’s Far East to an assigned airfield near Moscow, deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Thursday, January 17, 2013.

“It is a serious breakthrough! The plane flew 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles), making two landings, in Abakan and Chelyabinsk, on the way to the Russian capital,” Rogozin, who oversees the Russian defense industry, wrote in his Twitter blog.

The plane joined three other T-50 prototype models at the Zhukovsky airfield prior to state flight tests, which are scheduled to start in March 2013. The fifth prototype aircraft is being built at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur factory in Siberia.

The T-50, also known as project PAK-FA, first flew in January 2010 and was presented to the public at the Moscow Air Show in 2011.

The Russian Defense Ministry is planning to finish the state flight tests of eight prototypes by 2015, so that they could go into standard production in 2016.

The T-50, which will be the core of Russia's future fighter fleet, is a fifth-generation multirole fighter aircraft featuring elements of ‘stealth’ technology, super-maneuverability, super-cruise capability (supersonic flight without use of afterburner), and an advanced avionics suite including an X-band active phased-array radar