Russia unveils pilotless 'stealth' bomber

Good pictures! For some reason the intake just doesn't look as steathly as it should with those near 90 degree angles.

I just love how the Russians always roll out these 'advanced' concepts which seem to bear a striking resembelance to US aircraft and of course the Russians say their stuff is sooooo much better.....their hardware has yet to prevail in a major war.

Well I wouldn't go as far as saying things like that. It really depends on the situation. For example during the first Gulf War, the T-72 was a major contender in the MBT arena, however the M1A1's abilities (such as having a loader instead of an auto-loader) set it apart. Better training and different designs is what usually set Russian equipment apart. It wasn't a matter of the Russian equipment being inferior because they really weren't (hence the cold war and the arms race to be one step ahead), it was the situation.

The Russians have some of the best hardware on the planet and a lot of it is for export. However the best stuff isn't for export, like the Su-37 and Su-47.

Shattered OUT...

Look at the exchange rate of Israeli aircarft (US made) versus Syrian aircarft over the Bekka Valley.....no comparison.....

Originally posted by JanZizka
Look at the exchange rate of Israeli aircarft (US made) versus Syrian aircarft over the Bekka Valley.....no comparison.....

The IAF consistently outnumbered the Syrian planes in the air and given the lack of situation awareness, generally inferior planes without such basics as RWR's and extensive ECM/ECCM it's no surprise that the Syrians lost. Some may argue that they lost very far indeed and all i can say to that is point out how the IAF have almost consistently trounced US squadrons in air combat training.

If you want to go into specifics you might also be surprised to find that the Israelis' shot down less than half of the planes that were attributed to them and that the Syrians may have in fact scored half a dozen kills that were just never admitted to by the Israeli's. Since the IAF is obviously superior there is not much point in arguing the specific numbers when we consider the fact that the Israeli ground forces were still unable to exploit that massive advantage towards their apparent goals.

In conclusion I think it's not unfair to argue that the IAF forces are just very good at their business and that it may not be of much objective value to judge most regular air forces by their standards.

Stellar

[edit on 6-9-2007 by StellarX]

Originally posted by ShatteredSkies
The Russians have some of the best hardware on the planet and a lot of it is for export. However the best stuff isn't for export, like the Su-37 and Su-47.

Actually, prepare for a bit of funkiness with regards to that statement. The Su-47 name was given when the aircraft was deemed acceptable for entry into the air force. The reason it didn't was because the RuAF had their hearts set on PAK-FA. The neat thing is that Su-47 was casually offered, although nobody took it. Which really sucks, because everyone's going to wonder how this thing would have done in the real world. Ultimately, RuAF just intended it as a tech demonstrator, and not as something they wanted to buy.

Just an FYI.

Originally posted by JanZizka
I just love how the Russians always roll out these 'advanced' concepts which seem to bear a striking resembelance to US aircraft and of course the Russians say their stuff is sooooo much better.....their hardware has yet to prevail in a major war.

Define a "major war".


Outside of Korea, there has not been a major war between adequately equipped... no, thats the wrong term, between adequately backed sides ensuring some level of technological parity.


Read this

During the time that the "Honchos" (the nickname given by the Sabre pilots to excellent MiG pilots) were in Korea, between April 1951 and January 1952, they shot down or damaged beyond repair 142 UN aircraft against 68 losses, an overall 2:1 kill ratio. Their most successful month was October 1951, when the Soviet MiG-15s bagged 7 F-86s, 6 F-84Es, 2 RF-80As and one F-80C, one Meteor and 10 B-29As -24 victories- and suffered only 8 MiGs lost. During that period over 30 Soviet MiG-15 pilots became aces, among them the already mentioned Nikolai Sutyagin (21 kills); and also Yevgeni Pepelyayev (19), Lev Shchukin (17), Sergei Kramarenko (13), Mikhail Ponomaryev (11), Dmitri Samoylov (10), etc.

Of course its not as clear & simple as that extract, read the rest at the link to find out more

Text Blue

Here is some pictures from MAKS 2007

they call it MiG Skat which means "stingyray", it's considered better than any western UCAV, and could still attack on enemy while being attacked by enemy too.







Mod Edit: BB Code.

[edit on 17/9/2007 by Mirthful Me]

How about the curved side of the plane, how it could be stealthy?