Russia's T-50. Wikimedia Commons
Business Insider: Russia's air force may be falling apart
On Thursday, Russia grounded it's entire fleet of Su-27s, believed to be more than 300 planes, after a jet from the Russian acrobatic team crashed and killed the pilot.
The latest incident follows a string of deadly accidents which continues to underscore Russia's military maintenance and modernization woes.
In March, Russia withdrew the majority of their best pilots from Syria even though they had "left some important military tasks unfinished," like encirclement of Aleppo, as Jeff White, a defense fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told Business Insider previously .
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WNU Editor: There have been a number of Russian air accidents in the past year, and many of these jets are old. But is the Russian air force falling apart? My answer would be a yes and no. Yes .... that there are a number of planes that should not be flying. No .... there are still many other planes that are very effective, and if need be will be deployed. But like the U.S. with their F-35 program (and its problems) .... developing a modern jet fighter that works as promised .... and within budget .... is being proven to be very hard to do .... for Russia, as well as for everyone else.
3 comments:
It's funny how "they" continually try to "craft" the narrative.
The Russian Fighter contingent was "swapped out" for more SU-24's and Attack Choppers because the Cessation of Hostilities, rendered their use moot, especially around Aleppo, until the jihadi's hoisted themselves on their own petards.
Now the RUAF is back conducting airstrikes.
Every airforce, when there is an accident, suspected to possibly be mechanical or maintenence in nature, grounds those aircraft.
And if they took a look around, every airforce except Sweden's ( Gripen) and France's, ( Rafele) are " struggling".
SU27 is a fighter, not a multi role, not a bomber.
As for grounding, it's said comparing a US run way to a Russia run way is like comparing a soldier to a civilian. One is clean shaven, pressed shirts and every single hair is in place. The other well you get the picture, but the SU27 is an older plane, one that needs replacing, so this move could also be political. I think Russia could field alot more advanced avionics if the need arose.
SU-27's are a younger aircraft ( by a fe years) than the F-15, F-16, F-18's, and while it's scheduled to be replaced by the PAK-FA, it's still a viable aircraft.
As with the F-15, F-16 and F-18, the combination of new sensors, weapons packages and realities has moved it outside of it's designed role.
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