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Saturday 12 January 2013

New hardware for Russian forces


Multi-purpose chassis, a medium-range bomber the size of a fighter jet and over-the-horizon radar are some of the new inventions that the Russian Armed forces are looking forward to receiving.

One of the main features of contemporary arms is the standardisation of weapons and interchangeability of components. This aim was rather difficult to achieve and the Russian defence industry took a long time going in this direction. The result is that this year the public will see the Armata universal combat platform which is a wide range of combat vehicles based on the same chassis. Standardisation will permit transforming an armoured recovery vehicle into a tank and a combat engineering vehicle into an aircraft defence installation. Editor-in-chief of the Motherland’s Arsenal magazine Viktor Murakhovsky says that this multitask capability of the new equipment is a serious trump card in the Russian Army’s hands.
“Standardisation will permit lower operation costs and uniform consumables, spare parts, ammunition and the like. This will drastically cut the cost of training personnel for this type of equipment and permit increasing the combat effect of this equipment and its use in peace-time.”
A new acquisition for the Russian Air Force is the Sukhoi SU-34 fighter bomber. The new machine is capable of carrying such a combat load that only gigantic Boeing B-17 flying fortresses could do during WW2. In addition, the Russian aircraft has the manoeuvrability of a fighter jet and it looks like one as well. However, its mission and performance capabilities are absolutely different, Russian veteran test pilot Magomed Tolboyev says.

“This aircraft has different tasks, which is hitting ground-based and sea-borne targets instead of intercepting airborne ones. This aircraft was specially designed for this. It is radically different from its predecessors, Tupolev Tu22 and Tu-22m. The Sukhoi aircraft is capable of staying in the air for almost four hours without refuelling. Besides the combat range, another important requirement for aircraft is its weapons. The Sukhoi can take 6-8 tons like a medium-range bomber but it has all the features of a fighter jet. The pilot can do aerobatics, with ordnance load aboard as well.”
Russian space troops will also get new equipment. The space defence system will be replenished with four Voronezh radars. After passing tests, one of them will be put on combat duty in the Krasnodar Region near the Black Sea. Another three will be installed in the Altai and Krasnoyarsk Regions in Siberia and in the Orenburg Region in the south of the Urals. They will be installed with the use of the manufacturing readiness technique, which means that the radar will be placed into operation almost immediately after the equipment has been mounted. The new radars will raise Russia’s defences to a new level and will provide effective repelling of missile attacks wherever they come from, editor-in-chief of the National Defence magazine Igor Korotchenko says.
“In their tactical and technological features, the Voronezh radars are considerably superior to those of the previous generation ones as far as their range, accuracy and potential are concerned. The Voronezh radars are to become a powerful component of the new air and space defence system and they will make a contribution to strengthening Russia’s national security. We should be able to closely watch all countries that have missile technologies. Our main task is to completely defend the whole perimeter of the Russian border from potential missile attacks. No matter what countries they come from, we should be able to thoroughly control any missile danger.”
Experts say that the appearance of new samples of Russian weapons is a good reason for optimism, especially after many years of standstill and suspense in the defence industry. Now chances are that we will soon hear about new achievements in the arsenal of the Russian Armed Forces.

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