Bulava probe results ready for Russian government review

The official results of a probe into the latest failure of Russia's ill-fated Bulava ballistic missile are ready and have been sent to the government for review, a defense industry source said on Tuesday.
The latest unsuccessful launch of the missile, which Russia hopes will be a key element of its nuclear forces, took place from the Dmitry Donskoy nuclear submarine in the White Sea in early December 2009. Only five of 12 Bulava launches have been officially reported as successful.
"The conclusions [of the investigation commission] are ready and they are on their way to the government," the source said.

Russia has postponed test launches of the troubled Bulava ballistic missile until November this year.
The Russian Navy earlier planned at least four new test launches of the missile at the end of June, but defense industry experts suggested they would need to build three missiles under identical conditions to establish the causes of the failures.
The Bulava (SS-NX-30) is a three-stage liquid and solid-propellant submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). It carries up to 10 MIRV warheads and has a range of over 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles).
The missile has been specifically designed for Russia's new Borey class nuclear submarines.
The future development of Bulava has been questioned by some lawmakers and defense industry officials who suggest that the Russian Navy should keep using the more reliable Sineva SLBM.
The Russian military has insisted that there is no alternative to the Bulava and pledged to continue testing the missile until it is ready to be deployed with the Navy.
Source

Russia successfully tests Sukhoi T-50 Stealth fighter jet

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - On December 29, 2010, a prototype Sukhoi T-50 fifth-generation fighter took off on its maiden flight at 11.19 a.m. in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia's Far East.
This is the first warplane completely designed and built in Russia since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Only the United States currently operates Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor Stealth air-superiority fighters.
In 1981, the Mikoyan Design Bureau started developing the I-90 aircraft, better known as the Multifunctional Fighter (MFI). The project was launched soon after the MiG-29 Fulcrum, MiG-31 Foxhound and Su-27 Flanker fourth-generation fighters performed their first flights.
The I-90 which was to have been mass-produced in the 1990s overtook the U.S. Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program which later gave rise to the F-22 Raptor.
Curtailed defense spending in the late 1980s and the subsequent break-up of the Soviet Union stopped the MFI program in its tracks. Flight tests planned for 1991 -1992 did not take place. Consequently, the MFI first took to the skies in 2000.

A prototype Sukhoi S-37/Su-47 Berkut fifth-generation fighter had been developed by then.
In 1998, the Russian Air Force issued a new request for proposal (RFP) for a fifth-generation fighter. As a concept it had remained unchanged since the MFI program got underway.
The new fighter's basic specifications included: greater agility, sustained supersonic-flight capability in non-afterburning mode, low radar visibility, low heat signature, as well as enhanced take-off and landing performance.
The old designs were scrapped, and it was decided to develop an entirely new warplane fully taking into account the F-22's capabilities, merits and drawbacks.
In 2002, the Sukhoi Design Bureau won the pilot-project contest, after proposing a full-size and twin-engined fighter with a take-off weight of up to 35 metric tons under its Prospective/Promising Frontline Aviation System program (PAK FA program).
Although the new aircraft was expected to take off in 2007, the maiden flight deadline was delayed until 2008, 2009 and January 2010.
Given this new program's complexity and the scale of the scientific, engineering, organizational and financial problems that had to be tackled during the new plane's creation, this delay is quite understandable.
All these problems are caused by Russia's crisis-ridden industry.
The new aircraft is designated the T-50, Product 701 or the I-21. The Indian Air Force also displayed an interest in this program soon after it was launched.
At first, New Delhi preferred the lighter and simpler Mikoyan-Gurevich MFI fighter. The Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG proposed the twin-engined and bobtailed I-2000, an upgrade of the basic MiG-29 model, and a single-engined aircraft closely resembling the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, a descendant of the F-35, which came out of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program.
India wanted to receive this sophisticated aircraft as soon as possible therefore had no choice but to join the PAK FA program. The Indian version will feature a two-seat cockpit, a number of electronic systems and other auxiliary equipment.

These aircraft are expected to replace the Su-30MKI Flanker-H fighters currently serving with the Indian Air Force, in the 2020s and the 2030s. Moreover, it is likely they will be mass-produced in India.
The latest test flight reaffirms Russia's status as a leading aviation power. Only Russia and the United States currently have their own fifth-generation fighters, as well as aircraft industries capable of manufacturing all types of military and civilian aircraft ranging from light-weight aerobatic planes to strategic bombers.
All other countries, including France, Sweden, the EU as a whole, China and Japan, lack these capabilities and are forced to implement various cooperation plans in order to develop new-generation aircraft.
Despite their combined efforts the joint EU aircraft industry has failed to create a fifth-generation fighter in place of the Eurofighter Typhoon twin-engined multi-role aircraft. Most of the Eurofighter project participants intend to buy the U.S. F-35 fighter in future.

The future for new Swedish and French aircraft remains bleak. Both the Saab JAS 39 Gripen and the Dassault Rafale rank among the generation four-plus-plus warplanes. Neither Stockholm, nor Paris can afford to implement multi-billion-dollar fifth-generation fighter programs.
China's prospects also seem doubtful. Most analysts agree that Beijing can develop a fifth-generation warplane only if it utilizes foreign, notably Russian, experience.

NIIR Phazotron Zhuk Radar

The Zhuk MSF/MSFE (above) is a passive ESA design intended to compete against the NIIP N011M BARS. It uses a Phazotron unique radial distribution arrangement in the backplane waveguide feed, and proprietary radiating element placement. The Zhuk MSFE has a .98 meter diameter aperture with 1662 radiating elements, and was developed for the Su-30MK3 Flanker G avionic suite intended for the PLA-AF (MAKS 2005).

The most advanced of the Phazotron Flanker radars is the Zhuk-MSFE PESA variant, currently being flight tested on the Su-27KUB/Su-33UB side-by-side cockpit navalised Flanker variant, likely to be acquired by the PLA-N as part of their intended carrier airwing for the Varyag CVA.

This radar is usually credited with a 2 KW average power rating and 8 kW peak power rating, putting it in the performance class of the NIIP N011 MSA radar on the Su-27K/Su-35 Flanker E. The PESA design has 1662 radiating elements.

source

Russian Aircraft Corporation «MiG» produces MiG-29K/KUB ship borne fighters

Russian Aircraft Corporation (RAC) «MiG» successfully implements the MiG-29K/KUB production program while fulfilling the contract for these aircraft delivery to the Indian Navy.

On 18th March 2008, during the visit of India’s Chief of Naval Staff Sureesh Mehta the first serially produced MiG-29KUB (tail number 113) performed its maiden flight at the RAC «MiG» test airfield in Lukhovitsy near Moscow. The aircraft was flown by Pavel Vlasov, RAC «MiG» Chief test pilot, Hero of Russia, and Alexander Pelikh, honored test-pilot, Hero of Russia.

The ship borne fighter traditionally practiced a few taxing and take-off runs before taking to the skies for a 42-minute sortie. In the course of the sortie all aircraft design performances as per the technical requirement were validated.

RAC «MiG» contract package for the delivery of the multifunctional carrier-based fighters to the Indian Navy was signed on January, 20, 2004. It envisages the delivery of 12 MiG-29К and 4 MiG-29КUB along with the training of the customer’s flight and technical crew’s, the delivery of simulators and spare parts and the setup of aircraft service support. The contract also provides for another 30 aircraft option to be delivered by 2015.

RAC «MiG» is manufacturing all the 16 series MiG-29K/KUB aircraft to be delivered to the Customer.

While in Russia, Naval Chief Sureesh Mehta visited the RAC «MiG» production facilities in Lukhovitsy. He examined the aircraft manufacturing line and commented, “We are now facing the MiG-29K delivery stage.” According to the admiral, the Indian pilots are due in Russia shortly to train both on MiG-29K simulators and actual aircraft.

Single-seat MiG-29K and twin-stick MiG-29KUB are multifunctional ship borne fighters designed for the Navy units’ air defense missions, gaining air superiority, destroying ground and sea targets with the high-precision guided and unguided armament round-the-clock in any weather.

The MiG-29К/КUB fighters differ from earlier produced MiG-29 aircraft by:
- improved operational performance;
- increased reliability of aggregates, systems and assemblies;
- service life extended by over 2 times;
- improved fuel system capacity and increased combat load.

While creating MiG-29K/KUB airframe, power plant and avionics the most advanced technologies were employed. The share of composites within the airframe equals almost 15%. The aircraft are equipped with the updated RD-33MK engines featuring the increased thrust and extended service life.

The fighters’ avionics suite open architecture allows integration of the new Russian and foreign-made equipment and armament onboard the aircraft.

The MiG-29К/КUB are fitted with the modern multifunctional multimode pulse-Doppler onboard radar "Zhuk-МE" and state-of-the-art optronic systems.

The representatives of the Indian MoD and Navy actively participated in finalizing the MiG-29K/KUB technical configuration. In some areas they have set up the requirements exceeding world standards.

The MiG-29К/КUB aircraft are at the core of the new unificated fighters’ family, which also includes MiG-29M/M2 and MiG-35/MiG-35D.

The fighters are designed by the Engineering center of the Mikoyan Design Bureau headed by Vladimir Barkovskiy, Dy Director General – General Designer of RAC «MiG».

Chief designer of the MiG-29K/KUB is Nickolay Buntin.
Source