UK Defence Forum

A rendering based on leaks :

Pictures of the actual uncovered version :

Viideo of prototype preparation :

TheLoneRanger wrote:The Russians are about to unveil a new Single Engine Stealth fighter to take on the F-35, the Chinese J-35 and the Korean/Indonesian KFX/IFX fighter.

https://hushkit.net/2021/07/14/first-co ... n-fighter/

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-moscow- ... ft-1609162

You can add Turkey's TFX to that list as well. Whether Japan's F-3 is in the same category is debatable though.

Interesting. This lightweight Sukhoi could be the plane the Russian Air Force needs in order to modernise its Fast Jet fleet, especially if it is affordable in the numbers the service requires, replacing the remaining Mig-29s and earlier SU-27s.

There is also a good export market if the price is right

The airframe, and engines will be quite, as it is with most Russian Engines. Russians have yet to crack the avionics and EW side of things, and i dont expect that to get any better with CheckMate. Lets see, I suspect this thing will be the usual cannon fodder for western platforms in the years to come!

All of the press around this being export-driven makes me chuckle. The Su-57 export market was analysed to be some 600 and look how that's done so far, Checkmate is lower around 500 and Argentina is allegedly one of their export targets!

Russia has some pretty damn good EW systems available. It was discovered at the end of the Cold War that the jammers on the SU-17/22 aircraft would have blinded the majority of NATO's SAM belt in the event of a war. They may not have been subtle but they used brute force effectively. The problems they have are more like the RCS of their main platform the SU-27/30 which is huge meaning it can be seen way before it has a chance of seeing a western forth or fifth generation plane.

Combining their latest EW capabilities with a smaller more agile platform with a level of RCS reduction methods and is really what the Russian Air Force need to keep its numbers up, just like the USAF realising it need other platforms to compliment the F-35 rather than purchasing just the latter.

Given the price point this aircraft will go for, any country still operating older Russian aircraft such as teh Mig-21, Mig-29 and so on would probably be keen to at least look closely at this new aircraft. India for one could be interested, to compliment their new Tejas Mk2 in replacing many of its legacy platforms including its large fleet of Mig-21s still in service.

Lord Jim wrote: India for one could be interested, to compliment their new Tejas Mk2 in replacing many of its legacy platforms including its large fleet of Mig-21s still in service.

India would be interested if they get significant industrial participation, significant IP transfer and the aircraft is technically capable and meets their performance requirements. These are all issues that torpedoed the FGFA effort so I wouldn't put a lot of hopes in the budget-driven Russian offering being much better.

India has a particular issue with how Russia provides support for their engines so that's one thing that would need to change.

As the Sukhoi looks to be a simpler aircraft than the FGFA was going to be, maybe it could be a stepping stone up from the Tejas and SU-30s, that are currently being manufactured.

Would they be interested in a licence to build a version with a number of western systems and even engines? Given their familiarity with Russian aircraft assembly it would be a useful programme to follow on from Tejas and SU-30 as it would keep the workforce busy, and there should be a fair amount of IP transfer given how teh Russian economy is in serious trouble and Sukhoi could always use the cast.

I think this senario is far more likely than India manufacturing a western 5th or even 4th generation aircraft, or being bale to develop their own equivalent platform. Look how long Tejas has taken to being to mature and it is still not there yet.

Something a bit different and quite fun;

Imagine NATO doing something similar as a PR exercise. How about countries using their traditional national racing colours, UK with a Challenger 2 in racing green and Germany with a Leopard 2A7V in silver for example

Meanwhile, in western Europe....

Copied over from the Indian thread ...

ArmChairCivvy wrote:

Defiance wrote: the main reason Russia went for MiG-29K over Su-33 was (so i hear) to do with carrier capacity

If you meant to say 'Russia' the main reason was that the Su was too big for their carrier... meaning that it could in practice carry only A2A and thus was no 'strike force'... as evidenced by their cruise to Syria and back

Soviet doctrine treated their surface ship/submarine forces as their striking power rather than their aircraft carriers, the role of their carriers were to maintain a level of air dominance to maintain the survival of their task groups. This is why they try cram AShMs on everything they have, including Kuznetsov back in the day.

Lack of striking power for their air arm, against other major naval powers at least, wasn't an objective. They were happy to overwhelm with heavyweight missiles at range while keeping western aircraft away with their own carriers.

They were unhappy with the amount of Su-33 they could carry on board and the only realistic alternative to boost that, for better or worse, was MiG-29K.

That is all true & correct, just was not sure if Russia/ India had been unknowingly exchanged in the statement.

And this

Defiance wrote:while keeping western aircraft away with their own carriers.

is not too far off from the intent with our thru-deck cruisers, and SeaHarriers on them.

Found this whilst browsing various sites. This is the first I have heard of using slat armour to protect tanks against top attack munitions. The ones shown seem to be local ad hoc creations but if their is substance to this you can be sure an upgrade kit will be on the way with a standardised set up.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/4 ... irculation

https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news ... rst-flight

The aircraft in question is the first new-build example of the Tu-160—code-named “Blackjack” by NATO and nicknamed the “White Swan”—to take to the air since 1995. A decision to re-start Tu-160 production was taken in 2015 to cover an expected strategic bomber capability gap caused by the delayed development of the PAK-DA low-observable bomber. An initial contract for 10 new-build aircraft was signed in January 2018, with a stated requirement for an eventual total of 50 new aircraft. The first two new-production aircraft are due to be handed over to the VKS Russian air force later in 2022.

Though he may have some views that many may disagree with, here Arch goes into detail about the current combat organisation of the Russian Army, its Battalion Tactical Groups and how he believes they are fairing. was unaware of the size and organisation of theses units and the comparison to a US Army Stryker Brigade Combat Team is interesting. Definitely worth a watch for the organisational info at least.

Russia's model aircraft carrier fleet is now the largest in the world.

Old Smokey is at it again.

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/russian ... ire-again/

Once acclaimed as one of the best tanks in the world the Armata seems to have ceased production
https://www.moscowtimes.eu/2022/11/11/2 ... ine-a26303
https://www.newsweek.com/russian-solide ... ty-1776441
This article goes further to state there is not a production line for it
https://wavellroom.com/2023/02/10/armat ... y-is-over/

Earlier on in the Russo-Ukraine war there were a few videos of Su-30 series aircraft either crashing in (or having crashed seemingly following) a flat spin. Interestingly this video indicates this isn't limited to a Su-27/30 planform.