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2007-08-22 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

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Posted by 2007-08-22 01:17|| || Front Page|| [1 views ] Top

#1 KOMMERSANT > AFFORDABLE SPACE PROJECTS FROM RUSSIA; whilst WORLDNEWS > RUSSIA TO MAINTAIN/ EXPAND AEROSPACE LEADERSHIP. Ditto similar dedicated efforts by CHINA as per lunar exploration-surveying.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2007-08-22 05:23|| 2007-08-22 05:23|| Front Page Top

#2 The article ignores the fact that most of the world dumped the Soviet/Russian aircraft as soon as the Soviet Union went away, at least in the commercial aircraft field. And the airlines that kept the Russian planes have the worst safety records in the world. Most Russian airlines have gone with either Boeing or Airbus aircraft, when they could afford them.
Other than China, who are the Russians going to sell the bombers to? As far as the jet fighters go, the MiG-29 is a good aircraft but not the one I would want to be flying against the latest F-15 or F-22. Sukhoi build really good CAS aircraft and that is a pretty open field - Sukhoi should make some good sales IF they can keep the service and support up to par, which has been a BIG problem for a lot of Russian equipment.
Besides which, Putin and Russia should be more concerned with the Russian Far East and the demographic implosion in the country - Siberia has to look awful tempting to the Chinese about now. And with a decreasing population and fewer divisions to protect the Russian Far East, the temptation to redraw boundaries may become overwhelming to the Chinese in the next 20 years.

Posted by Shieldwolf 2007-08-22 05:53|| 2007-08-22 05:53|| Front Page Top

#3 Russia wants balance. It wants a strategic balance with the US
What for? It's not like we need to or want to invade Russia. Nah, this is just sign of a Russkie inferiority complex: bring back the good old days when someone was scared of us!

Posted by Spot">Spot 2007-08-22 08:34|| 2007-08-22 08:34|| Front Page Top

#4 The Russians have demonstrated that even if you have all the tanks, guns, and wings your generals want, it won't make an effective fighting machine. However, I guess, if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Just remember, this time you won't have the Germans invading Poland from the West when you go in from the East.

Posted by Procopius2k 2007-08-22 08:44|| 2007-08-22 08:44|| Front Page Top

#5 Any chance some of the older B-52s in the boneyard could be rebuilt?

Sadly, no. Several of them - about 10 - may be able to come back but the rest are basically spare parts bins for the rest of the fleet.

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2007-08-22 09:02|| 2007-08-22 09:02|| Front Page Top

#6 Don't look at the man behind the curtain.

Meaning, yes in public and the press Russia is harping against the US. It is something that their public understands well. But they want to be strong against the Chinese and muzzie aggression. They know we aren't going to invade. They just want to make sure that if they do nip off pieces of territory from the muzzies, that the US will think twice about interfering.

Posted by DarthVader">DarthVader 2007-08-22 09:35|| 2007-08-22 09:35|| Front Page Top

#7 Want some amazing pics of these planes? Look what I found here.

Posted by OregonGuy">OregonGuy 2007-08-22 16:47|| http://oregonguythinks.blogspot.com/]">[http://oregonguythinks.blogspot.com/] 2007-08-22 16:47|| Front Page Top

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