Russia's Air Force: Superiority based on obvious secrets

International annual competition of aerobatic skills Aviadarts-2017 will be held in China for the first time. Russia's 40 crews of advanced combat aircraft, including Tu-22M3 bomber, will participate in the competition.

Photo: Source: Airforce.ru

"Aviadarts" is considered to be an Olympic meeting of the military from all over the world. Looking at the results of previous stages of the competition, one can not but notice the fighting spirit of the Russian nation and a desire to surpass others. Colonel-General Viktor Bondarev, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, said: "At least the first team place should be ours. We have always taken first places before, and we have no right to miss this opportunity this year."

Does Russia indeed manage to win first places every year only thanks to the spite and courage of its military men? There are specific reasons and purposes behind it. Chinese publication Huanqiu Shibao conducted a research on the subject.

First of all, Russia still has a strong ambition of a superpower. In the past, the USA and the USSR had comparable military potentials. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia was nearly destroyed. The country's defense spending was cut considerably, defense companies found themselves in a deep crisis. The Soviet power of the USSR declined in an instant. Today, even though there is a gap between Russia and US armies, Russia does not want to lose the honorable second place on the pedestal of world's largest defense powers.

12 Photo The strength of Russian Air Force

In the sphere of the production of tanks and aircraft, Russia manages to develop and defend its leading positions. During Victory parades on May 9, Russia presented new achievements in the defense industry, including the main battle tank T-14 Armata - the world's first tank of the third postwar generation. Russia's progress in the development of the T-50 fifth-generation aircraft has not been most impressive, but still the country has demonstrated absolute superiority in designing bomber aircraft. For Aviadarts-2017 competition in China, Russia is going to bring Tu-22M3 bomber equipped with a high-powered anti-ship missile X-32, the launching range of which reaches 1,000 kilometers, and the accuracy of the impact - up to several meters.

Secondly, Russia's possible victory in the upcoming competition will prove to its old strategic rival - the USA- that triune strategic forces still take a leading place in the world. This is indeed true. In addition to incredibly powerful and hard-to-intercept Topol-M and Yars ballistic missiles, the Russian navy has deployed many Borei-class nuclear submarines. These submarines surpass US Ohio type subs on almost all indicators, including the speed and the depth of immersion, mobility and endurance. Yet, the flight range of submarine-launched Bulava missiles is a bit smaller than that of the USA's Trident-2.

Today, Russia cherishes its bomber aircraft, the Chinese publication says. According to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, Russia has 62 Tu-95 strategic bombers, 16 long-range supersonic bombers Tu-160, and 63 medium-range Tu-22M bombers. These strategic nuclear forces can be called a trump card in the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a strong pillar of the country that boldly challenges America.

Thirdly, many analysts believe that Russia hopes to export the Tu-22M aircraft in the future by showcasing them at the Aerodarts-2017 competition. These aircraft possess exceptional advanced characteristics: the maximum take-off weight of 124 tons, 24 tons of bomb load, and over 7,000 kilometers of flight range.

At the same time, the design of the aircraft has not changed for years. It is still equipped with an outdated electroniс system, nor has it undergone any modern re-equipment processes.

Pravda.Ru

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