Aviation 2024, November
Ancestors and Successors If the situation with fighters in China is ambiguous, then in the case of bombers - most likely not. That is, formally, they are. According to open source data, the Chinese Air Force and Navy have about 150 Xian H-6 aircraft of different versions. This machine is often referred to as
Just the other day, Jane’s published a photo showing the fourth generation J-10B fighter equipped with a version of the WS-10 engine with a controlled thrust vector (UHT). The car was photographed in Zhuhai, before the AirShow China 2018 exhibition. The creation of such an engine
The first prototypes: a long road to the future Recently, the chief designer and director of the Sukhoi Design Bureau, Mikhail Strelets, announced that a version of the Su-57 aircraft under the number T-50-11 in the so-called "pixel" color would be launched into serial production. Let's remember how the T-50 was transformed for its now quite
Scandals, intrigues, investigations In contrast to Russian realities, the US nuclear triad is based not on silo-based and mobile-based land-based complexes, but on submarine ballistic missiles (SLBMs). However, the United States Air Force continues to operate intercontinental
Europe Challenges the States The European defense industry deserves respect. If only because in the era of militant-pacifist (excuse me for such a pun) politicians, he manages to be heard by everyone. British BAE Systems is a good illustration of this. However, she is not alone
Where is the Russian Apache? Russia can still be proud of its attack helicopters, especially the new Mi-28N and Ka-52 aircraft. Each of them has already been built in a fairly solid series of more than a hundred units. Like any new technology, these helicopters faced numerous "growing pains" and required
Back in the U.S.S.R. One aircraft name - Tu-22 - can confuse a person who is not very interested in aviation. Giving similar indexes to different combat vehicles has generally become a "good tradition" of the domestic aircraft industry. Recall that the very first Tu-22 first took to the skies in 1958. Name
The Red Threat Despite territorial disputes with Russia over the Kuril Islands, Japan's main regional adversary is well known. This is the Celestial Empire. Here everything is mixed into one heap: historical grievances, China's aim at absolute leadership in Asia, the interests of the United States. And, of course, ordinary
"Strategist" for all timeAs of 2017, the Aerospace Forces have already received five Tu-160Ms. This, one might say, is an economical modernization designed to expand the combat potential of the aircraft. It is difficult to assess the benefits of intermediate upgrades: it is enough to recall the dismantled (probably) optical-television
Apaches, Tigers and all-all-all Comparing attack helicopters is a thankless task. One of the reasons lies in the colossal experience in helicopter construction. The United States and the USSR / RF have accumulated so much theoretical and practical knowledge over the long decades of confrontation that they can imagine an openly unsuccessful
Clash of the Titans This mesmerizing aesthetics machine first took to the skies on August 27, 1990 (now distant). Partly right are those who like to use the metaphor about the rapid passage of time. It seemed that just yesterday Black Widow II flaunted in magazines as a promising aviation
Caught up and overtaken In Russian-language literature and in some Western sources, the MiG-31 is often considered as a kind of miracle weapon. Indeed, this interceptor is a rare example of weapons, to which the persistent phrase "has no analogues" can indeed be applied with full
The prototype of the fifth-generation X-32 fighter has been controversial since its inception. His defeat in the JSF competition was a big blow to Boeing. A strange plane for a strange program We recently talked about why the famous "Black Widow" lost the ATF competition
The Su-57 is a secret vehicle in many ways. No one will bring the exact characteristics and composition of weapons on a silver platter. On the official website of JSC Sukhoi Company there is scant information about the potentially high capabilities of the aircraft, such as good maneuverability
A Lancer for All Seasons It is hard to find anything more paradoxical than the strategic aviation of the US Air Force. Judge for yourself, the subsonic eight-engine B-52, which made its first flight back in 1952, wants to operate almost until the middle of the XXI century, while the one created to replace it is much
Continuing a tradition The Royal Australian Air Force is a formidable and large regional player with dozens of aircraft of various classes. The basis of combat aviation is various versions of the F / A-18, including the modern Super Hornet fighter-bombers. The main
Beginning for health The Indian Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition was not in vain called (and continues to be called) the "contract of the century", despite the fact that initially there was at stake a modest number of 126 multi-role fighters of the 4+ generation. Everything is known to be learned in
Didn't reach the finish line The phrase Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) says little to many air amateurs. Meanwhile, this is one of the most important aviation competitions of our time. Formally, a new attack helicopter for the US Army should replace the modest "Kiowa" - a light multipurpose
A start has been made The most important news for the Russian aircraft industry at the beginning of spring is that the Arsenyev Aviation Company "Progress" named after N.I. Sazykina began construction of Ka-62 helicopters, having put into production six machines of an experimental batch
More is better? A little less than a year ago, Popular Mechanics wrote that China surpassed the United States in the number of warships: according to experts, at that time the Celestial Empire had thirteen more warships than the US Navy. For many then this became a signal about
Lost in translation? There is an American edition called Military Watch Magazine. It positions itself as a provider of "reliable and in-depth analysis of military affairs around the world." In the Russian-language publication, you can find references to the fact that the publication is based in Scottsdale, Arizona. AND
The demands of the new era The high combat potential of the US Air Force is based not only on a large number of new and old multipurpose fighters, bombers and attack aircraft. Perhaps the main thing that distinguishes the American Air Force from the air force of any other country is the large number of
Xinhua reported in April this year that China's new AG600 Jiaolong aircraft has passed another important milestone on the path to its full-fledged birth. For the first time, the machine made a series of flights over the sea surface. This is not the first flight over water. In October 2018
Economy and modernization On February 2, an event took place that aviation enthusiasts have long awaited. A deeply modernized Tu-160 took off into the air: tests were carried out at the airfield of the Kazan Aviation Plant named after S.P. Gorbunov. The plane was piloted by a crew led by Anri Naskidyants
Few aircraft weapons cause such heated discussions as the "Dagger". For some, this is "unparalleled in the world" hypersonic weapon, but for someone - another "drank and saw." One thing is clear: before us is an airborne aeroballistic missile capable of
Hypersonic Weapons: The United States and Russia It is only possible to understand the extent of the threat posed by hypersonic weapons through examples. You can talk as long as you like about Russia's superiority in creating hypersonic weapons, but so far all the information about the Kh-47M2 "Dagger", "Zircon" and "Avangard"
"Hindi Rusi …" On February 6, the authoritative military publication Jane's gave an interesting assessment of the Russian fourth-generation multirole fighter Su-30MKI, expressed by retired Indian Air Force Marshal Daljita Singh. In short, the aircraft can no longer be considered advanced
The Republic at a Crossroads The situation around the Air Force and Air Defense Forces of the Republic of Belarus as a whole is extremely similar to the one that we see in the example of other post-Soviet countries, in particular, Ukraine. Among patriots and nationalists (at least Ukrainian) the thesis is popular that “the most
The end of the world, but not the end of the war There are strategic complexes that you really don't want to test in practice. Of course, this does not apply to air command posts as much as intercontinental ballistic missiles or submarine ballistic missiles. But still … Recall that
Against the Juchis and "Communists" The situation in which South Korea finds itself is far from the most pleasant. A strange northern neighbor, which, apparently, has quite combat-ready nuclear weapons, as well as a geographically close quasi-communist China, which is moving towards dominance of the world faster than they went
If Tomorrow Is War Relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the West (primarily the United States) have never been good. Recall that the 1979 revolution overthrew the secular Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, abolished the monarchy and established the power of Ayatollah Khomeini. An attempt by the United States to somehow influence the situation, gently
"Alligator", which did not become a "crocodile" The Ka-52 helicopter, despite its original coaxial layout and the placement of crew members side by side, which is extremely unusual for attack rotary-wing aircraft, is not the most frequent subject for discussion among aviation enthusiasts. One of the reasons lies on the surface:
Attempt Number Five: The B-52 strategic bomber, which made its first flight in 1952, after planned remotorization, will probably be able to serve until the 2050s. That is, only almost a hundred years. The most surprising thing is that the Americans wanted to replace this now legendary car back in the … 1950s
Radar of the XXI century In November 2019, Defense Aerospace reported that a new airborne radar station with an active phased antenna array (AFAR) was created for the Chinese fighter J-11B (nothing more than a copy of the Su-27SK). This is more than interesting, given the large fleet of these machines
On October 14, the AUSA 2019 symposium began in Washington, where the public could see the most advanced examples of military equipment: from robots and missiles to howitzers and combat helicopters. By the way, about the latter. It was within the framework of the Association of the United States Army that we were given to understand exactly what they would be
Competition, however! The military potential of Russia and the strengthening of China haunt not only the United States, but also Europe. If a few years ago one could only joke about European fifth / sixth generation fighters, now at least France and Germany are determined to acquire a large
The Russian media often talk about the rearmament of the Air Force, with particular emphasis on the supply of new aircraft. There is some truth in this: the Su-35S, Su-30SM and Su-34 supplied to the troops are indeed new-built vehicles, although purely constructively they are all modernized Su-27. Wherein
"Invincible" In early October, the American helicopter company Bell Helicopter showed the concept of a high-speed reconnaissance and attack helicopter Bell 360 Invictus, which is being developed specifically for the US Army's FARA (Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft) program. Recall she
"I see a white line in the sky …" Revolutions in air combat tactics do not happen overnight: it is a very long and complicated process. A striking example is the use by the Americans during the Vietnam War of the new AIM-7 Sparrow medium-range air-to-air missiles with semi-active radar
The dear guests of MAKS-2019 tried to make it as effective as possible: as much as possible in conditions of actual isolation, when it is not worth waiting for crowds of foreign guests and overseas exhibits. The audience, for example, was shown the experimental C-37 on a static site for the first time. Once