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T-90

2009-05-17T06:50:00.000-07:00

T-90

2009-05-17T06:49:00.002-07:00

T-90

2009-05-17T06:49:00.001-07:00

T-90

2009-05-17T06:47:00.000-07:00

An-224

2008-12-29T15:04:00.000-08:00

An-224

2008-12-29T15:03:00.000-08:00

An-224

2008-12-29T15:02:00.000-08:00

An-224

2008-12-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

An-224

2008-12-29T14:58:00.000-08:00

Mig-35

2008-12-28T11:19:00.001-08:00

Mig-35

2008-12-28T11:18:00.000-08:00

Mig-35

2008-12-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

Mig-35

2008-12-28T11:15:00.000-08:00

Mig-35

2008-12-28T11:14:00.000-08:00

Mig-35

2008-12-28T11:09:00.000-08:00

Mig-35

2008-12-28T11:07:00.000-08:00

Mig-35

2008-12-28T11:01:00.000-08:00

Swans flock home

2008-09-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti military commentator Ilya Kramnik) - Russia's Tu-160 bombers are back from Venezuela. The overseas visit by the most powerful strike aircraft of Russia has created a new surge of interest in these planes, which make up the core of Russian strategic aviation.

The supersonic missile-carrying bomber was developed in the early 1970s, when it became clear that subsonic 3M and Tu-95 bombers, which did not yet carry long-range cruise missiles, were unable to penetrate NATO's air defenses in a conflict. The maiden flight of the new plane took place at the end of 1981.

From the outset, the Tu-160 was designed as a missile-carrying bomber, that, combined with its high altitude performance, was to make it less vulnerable when breaking through NATO's air defenses. Its serial production began in 1984, and in 1987 the first units joined the air force. By 1991, the Soviet Union had 19 Tu-160 strategic bombers in service, which belonged to the 184th Heavy Bomber Regiment at Priluki, Ukraine.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia's new leadership decided to discontinue the production of Tu-160s and Tu-95MSs, and also to stop regular flights by strategic aviation outside Russia's airspace. With completion of nearly-ready aircraft, Russia's air force was found to have only six "White Swans", as pilots dubbed the Tu-160. A few others were used as flying laboratories for all sorts of tests.

Ukraine, meanwhile, decided to disband its force of strategic bombers. It resolved to return eight Tu-160s and three Tu-95s to Russia in exchange for gas debt.

In the early 2000s, it was decided to upgrade existing Tu-160s and finish the few planes in assembly jigs at the Kazan aircraft plant. In 2003, one of the Tu-160s was lost in an air disaster - as yet the only recorded loss in the service history of this plane.

In 2007, Vladimir Putin decided to resume regular missions by strategic aviation to remote parts of the world. It was also decided to restart production of Tu-160s and increase the air force complement to 30. All new aircraft, as well as the upgrades, were to be equipped with improved NK-32 engines, which have long service intervals and thus increase the service life of a Tu-160.

The bomber's armaments include Kh-55 nuclear-tipped long-range cruise missiles. For tactical purposes, it can also carry missiles in non-nuclear configuration, smart bombs, bomb clusters, and other weapons.

The Tu-160 is the world's largest combat plane - its maximum takeoff weight is 275 tons. At the same time, it has a high speed - 2,250 km/hr, or 700 km more than the American B-1B supersonic bomber, and much lower visibility. Its range without refueling is 6,000 km, which, in case it uses long-range cruise missiles, enables it to engage targets 7,000 to 8,000 km away from base.

The Tu-160's characteristics and its upgrade potential make it the world's best strategic bomber, better than the B-2 Stealth bomber, which is second to the Tu-160 in speed, payload, range and combat flexibility.

Russia successfully launches Bulava

2008-09-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

MOSCOW. (Nikita Petrov for RIA Novosti) - On September 18, the heavy Akula-class Project 941 nuclear submarine cruiser Dmitry Donskoi (NATO's reporting name Typhoon), side number TK-208, launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, RSM-56 Bulava-M (NATO code SS-NX-30).

The launch took place from a submerged position in the White Sea and, as a naval spokesman said, "the warhead arrived at the test site Kura in Kamchatka as scheduled." "Although telemetric data is still being processed, it can be said that the launch and flight proceeded without a hitch," and the missile successfully hit its intended target, he added.

The jury is still out on whether this is true or not. Tests of the Bulava, a missile designed to be installed on the new Borei-class Project 955 nuclear-powered undersea cruiser Yury Dolgoruky and her sister ships Alexander Nevsky and Vladimir Monomakh currently under construction at Sevmash in Severodvinsk, the Arkhangelsk Region, are conducted amid tight secrecy. Information, whether good or bad, comes in drips and drabs, sometimes long after launches are made and from unnamed and classified sources.

Russia's navy pins great hopes on the Bulava, which has been plagued by problems for 15 years now. The missile is also the focus of intrigue, with some designers wishing it good luck and others good riddance.

The job of developing the new intercontinental missile system for a nuclear submarine of the Borei class, laid out at Sevmash in 1996, was given to the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering, known for its ground-launched solid-propellant missile systems RT-2PM Topol (NATO name SS-25 Sickle) and silo- and land-based RT-2PMU Topol-M (SS-27). These systems are expected to form the core of Russia's strategic deterrence now and in the future. The Bulava, in turn, is to be the centerpiece of Russia's naval strategic deterrence. The fact remains, however, that the missile systems now adopted by the navy and the nuclear submarines carrying them will retire in the next 10 to 15 years, and will have to be replaced with more effective and increased high-precision weapons. All Russia's hopes now lie with Borei-class submarines, Project 955 and its missile Bulava.

The main problem was that the Institute had never made missiles for the navy. They were designed and produced at the Makeyev Design Bureau in Miass, which was initially tasked with developing a new strategic missile system called Bark for Yury Dolgoruky and all Project 955 vessels. The missile, however, proved ineffective. A series of three tests ended in failure.

Military experts are at odds over the causes. Some blame defects in manufacturing technology, others the design's imperfections. Still others intimate that behind it all was the man who commanded the armed forces at the time. Being a missileman himself, he warmed to the Moscow Institute rather than to the naval design bureau. So when mishaps followed (they are inevitable in tests of such sophisticated weapons as strategic missiles), he decided in favor of his pet Institute, since it promised to make the Bulava as unified with the new Topol-M as possible, thus saving the sizeable amount of money required for the development of a sea-launched missile.

Such claims are hard to prove. Each has a hard-nosed lobby, who, like fans of Spartak or CSKA football, will tell you that their team is the best despite its low championship score.

The facts, however, remain. In 1998, Russia's Security Council and the country's president decided that the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering and its general designer Yury Solomonov should develop the missile system for a series of Borei-class submarines, with assistance from Makeyev bureau experts, a fact never mentioned by Institute critics.

But the development specification remained the same. The missile was to be launched from under the water, cover a distance of 8,000 kilometers and carry a total of 10 independently targetable warheads capable of outwitting any missile defense system. It also had to be lightweight for its class, approximately 30 to 40 tons. The answer to the quest was provided by the Bulava-30, or the Bulava-M, as it is now called.

True, it flunked half of its eight tests. On the one hand, that is easy to explain. No missile, either in Russia or outside it, is ever a first-time success. Tests are tests, they are conducted to check novel ideas and then learn from mistakes. Computer-aided design, widely used now in all technical development, is unable to predict the behavior of a product in a natural environment, especially one such as sea water. Sea water is 800 times more dense than air and has always been a challenge to a missile launched from a running submarine. The rare television footage of Bulava tests shows that the missile, to overcome the pressure of passing waves, emerges from under the water at an angle and only later assumes a ballistic path leading to a target.

On the other hand, with skilled workers at a premium, second-tier vendors sometimes supply flawed parts and components to the parent manufacturer - the Votkinsk Engineering Plant - which assembles Bulavas. Even the tightest incoming inspection lets through some defective components. And that is also a reality of our time.

Still, from test to test the Bulava is gaining in intelligence and increasingly flies where it is told to fly. Its latest launch, on September 18, proves it. It may well be that the experts will spot some defects. We will learn about them later, despite a cocoon of secrecy that surrounds the new weapon's development. While there are "resentful" people and while telemetric data is read off the monitoring devices not only by our technicians, but also by their overseas partners and rivals, so to say, some secrets will leak out.

Yet let us hope that the Bulava-M and the first Borei-class submarine Yury Dolgoruky, after a 12-year spell at Sevmash, will ultimately be commissioned, as promised, early in 2009. And will be followed by other legendary figures in Russian history - Alexander Nevsky and Vladimir Monomakh. The total estimated number of these submarines is six to eight. The first, Dolgoruky, has 12 missile silos; the others, 16 each.

If these plans see the light of day, the Russian naval nuclear forces will become a reliable deterrent against any potential aggressor in the second decade of the 21st century.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.

Pakistan Heightens Security at Airports After Bomb Threat

2008-09-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

By VOA News
25 September 2008

Pakistani authorities say they have heightened security at all airports after a phone caller threatened to bomb the Islamabad airport.

Authorities at the international airport in Islamabad say security officials found no bombs at the boarding gates and lounges during a sweep of the building Thursday.

They say despite the ongoing search, all flights are on schedule.

Security officials began searching the airport after an unknown person called in a suicide bomb threat Thursday.

Rumors of bomb threats have circulated the capital since a suicide bomber detonated 600 kilograms of explosives at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad last week, killing 53 people.

A little-known group calling itself Fedayeen Islam claimed responsibility for the Marriott attack, demanding Pakistan stop cooperating with the United States. It was not possible to verify the authenticity of the claim.

Denmark today confirmed that a member of its security services was among those killed in Saturday's Marriott attack.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department is prohibiting all U.S. government personnel in Pakistan from staying at, or visiting, major hotels in Islamabad, and in the cities of Karachi and Peshawar. They also are being warned to stay away from restaurants.

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad also temporarily suspended visa services Thursday.

Some analysts say the bombing was likely in response to Pakistan's ongoing military operation in the northwestern tribal regions, where militants sympathetic to al-Qaida operate.

In the latest fighting, the Pakistani military says security forces, backed by helicopter gunships, killed at least 12 militants today in the Bajaur tribal region.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

Iran Six ministerial officials to meet in coming days

2008-09-26T07:41:00.000-07:00

RIA Novosti

25/09/2008 09:39 UNITED NATIONS, September 25 (RIA Novosti) - The six negotiators on the Iranian nuclear issue will meet in the coming days at the level of foreign ministries' political directors due to the postponement of ministerial talks, France's Foreign Ministry said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier said a meeting on Iran involving the foreign ministers of Russia, China, the United States, France, Britain and Germany was canceled as the parties had failed to fix a date due to their busy schedule at the current UN General Assembly session.

"We would like this meeting to take place in New York at the level of political directors," a French Foreign Ministry spokesman quoted minister Bernard Kouchner as saying.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, said on Monday it had not been able to make much progress on the issue of a possible military aspect to Iran's nuclear program.

At a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York on Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated that the Islamic Republic's nuclear program was entirely peaceful and dismissed U.S. accusations that Tehran was striving to develop nuclear weapons.

The Russian foreign minister said on Wednesday that Russia sees no crisis surrounding Iran's nuclear program and does not consider it necessary to take any urgent steps.

Iran is currently under three sets of relatively mild UN Security Council sanctions for defying international demands to halt uranium enrichment.

IRAQ: Parliament demands financial help for IDPs, refugees

2008-09-26T07:40:00.000-07:00

BAGHDAD, 25 September 2008 (IRIN) - A parliamentary committee on displacement and migration demanded the Iraqi government allot US$4 billion in next year's budget to meet the needs of more than four million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees.

"We asked the government last year to allocate 3 to 5 percent of the oil revenues in the 2008 budget to cover the needs of IDPs and refugees as they represent a big segment of the Iraqi people and are going through harsh conditions," Abdul-Khaliq Zankana, a lawmaker and head of parliament's displacement and migration committee, told IRIN on 24 September.

"But unfortunately this call was ignored," Zankana said.

"A few months ago, we appealed for $2 billion to be allotted in the $21 billion complementary budget to the 2008 budget for the same purpose, but the government only allotted about $200 million," Zankana said. Iraq's 2008 budget was $70 billion.

"Those people [IDPs and refugees] are Iraqis like any others and both the parliament and the government have commitments according to the constitution and international accords to protect and help them," he added.

Zankana said such allocation was urgently needed as the situation faced by IDPs and refugees "is not likely to be solved in the coming one or two years".

In a statement issued on 17 September, the spokesman for Iraq's Finance Ministry, Adnan Abdul-Rahman, said the country's 2009 budget would reach a record $78.88 billion.

Abdul-Rahman added that the budget, which was based on an average oil price of $80 a barrel next year, would be divided between $60.26 billion in operational expenses and the balance allotted to investment and improvements in infrastructure.

The budget has been submitted to Cabinet.

Zankana said no more than 20,000 families, about 120,000 individuals, had returned to their homes so far and about half of them were in Baghdad.

Conditions far from normal

But conditions were still far from normal for many of the returnees.

"Some of these families did not return to their provinces or areas as they were forced back due to tightened visa and residency measures in neighbouring countries and they have ended up in places other than their insecure areas [of origin]," he said.

"And some of them found their houses and properties damaged as they were occupied either by militants or other displaced families while others faced the same threats from the same militants in their areas when they came back," he added.

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 4.2 million Iraqis have fled their homes since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Of these, about 2.2 million are living as refugees in neighbouring countries - mostly in Syria and Jordan - while the remainder are IDPs.

IAEA expected to take more logical step: Larijani

2008-09-26T02:39:00.000-07:00

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Sept 25, IRNA
Iran-Larijani-Nuclear
Iran has responded to six outstanding questions of the International Atomic Energy Agency and is not obliged to answer the US-fabricated charge of alleged studies, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said on Thursday.

In reference to the Modality Agreement according to which the IAEA has undertaken to put an end to the accusations against Iran after it received response for the six outstanding issues, Larijani criticized IAEA Managing Director Mohamed ElBaradei for echoing the US baseless accusations in contravention with the Modality Agreement.

Asked about his evaluation of the latest report released by IAEA chief, he told IRNA that Iran has answered all the six questions posed by the international body and it is not responsible for extra questions.

"ElBaradei was expected to take a more logical and basic step, given the Iranian cooperation with the agency and based on the Modality Agreement," he said.

Asked whether Iran accepted to respond to alleged studies on August 27, 2007, Larijani said that only six subjects about the country's nuclear activities were on the agency's agenda, which were answered by Iran on a schedule, and there was not extra topic.

"The same approach which solved the six outstanding issues can also help resolve alleged studies," he said.

The former Iranian nuclear negotiator said that alleged studies is a new charge brought up by the US and the agency is pursuing it.

Larijani also reiterated that currently Iran and the agency have a good level of cooperation which can help solve the issues.

China Launches Manned Space Mission

2008-09-26T02:38:00.000-07:00

By Stephanie Ho
Beijing

China has successfully launched its third manned mission to outer space. The highlight of this trip will be a spacewalk, in which a Chinese man takes the first steps in space for his country. Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing.

With a perfunctory countdown, the Shenzhou 7 blasted off.

In an encounter broadcast live on state television, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Shenzhou 7's three astronauts at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in western China's Gansu Province.

Hu said he represents the lofty aspirations of the central leadership of the country and the Chinese Communist Party, as well as the people of China, in wishing the astronauts success in their mission.

With its first manned space flight in 2003, China joined the United States and Russia in putting humans into outer space.

Liu Guoning, a researcher with China's manned space engineering office, says this third mission is the riskiest yet for China.

Liu says, in China 's previous two manned space missions, the hardest part was the launch and the re-entry. He says, this time the highest risk will come with the spacewalk, which is scheduled for Saturday.

At a regular foreign ministry briefing, spokesman Liu Jianchao was asked about whether China has military intentions for outer space.

Liu says the Shenzhou 7 mission is part of China's efforts to explore and make peaceful use of outer space for all humanity.

China raised international concern last year, after it destroyed one of its own satellites in space. Critics say the anti-satellite test, which was conducted without prior public notice, signified a major new Chinese military capability.

Russia puts 3 Glonass satellites into orbit

2008-09-26T02:37:00.001-07:00

RIA Novosti

25/09/2008 13:48 MOSCOW, September 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has put into orbit three Glonass navigation satellites after a successful launch from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, Russia's space agency said on Thursday.

"The Proton-M carrier rocket lifted off at 12:49 Moscow time [08:49 GMT], and the separation of the satellites from the rocket occurred on schedule at 12:59 Moscow time [08:59 GMT]," the agency's spokesman said.

Glonass - the Global Navigation Satellite System - is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System, or GPS, and is designed for both military and civilian use. Both systems allow users to determine their positions in terms of longitude, latitude and altitude to within a few meters.

According to the Central Research Institute for Machine Building, the Glonass system currently consists of 16 satellites, with 13 satellites operating in line with their designated function, two satellites undergoing maintenance, and one due to be withdrawn from the orbital grouping.

It was earlier reported that the Glonass system required 18 satellites for continuous navigation services covering the entire territory of the Russian Federation and 24 satellites to provide services worldwide.

A total of 9.9 billion rubles ($418.25 million) was allocated for Glonass from the federal budget in 2007, and 4.7 billion rubles ($200 million) in 2006.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed a directive on September 12 allocating an additional $2.6 billion to develop the Glonass satellite system.

Russian Space Agency head Anatoly Perminov said on September 5 that the number of satellites in the Glonass network would be increased from the current 16 to 30 by 2011.