…or, if you can’t read Cyrillic: it’s MAKS time, during which a lot of people nostalgic for Soviet Air Power or excited to see MiGs take off without sparking a minor international crisis congregate at Zhukovskiy Field near Moscow.
In which we casual observers get what used to be called a Spinning Bow Tie Extravaganza.
Sukhoi announced that the PAK FA (jeez, they’re just asking for someone to invent some scathingly ironic nickname, aren’t they?), Russia’s 5th generation fighter that is expected to actually get done (as opposed to the LMFS, which I don’t expect to see flying over my rooftop - or that of Uncle Ivan), will actually get done, and have its maiden flight at some point this year. So sayeth, at least, Sukhoi’s boss.
Which may or may not be less about the plane and more about covering his own butt, if we consider that Russian President Vladimir Putin went mediaeval on Sukhoi, and essentially called them a big heap of commercial failure, Stephen Trimble reports:
Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation, corporate parent of both fighter-makers, is now $3.76 billion in the red after squandering opportunities to sell off non-core assets, float shares and restructure, Putin said during opening ceremonies for MAKS air show outside Moscow.
“I would like to warn you against the illusion that the state will endlessly cover losses, bail out companies or correct mistakes by management,” Putin says.
But not yet. Only moments before before making the above statement, Putin announced plans to inject $100 million in cash to stabilize Sukhoi and to consider pumping another $470 million in state aid to MiG. Last year, the Russian government bailed out MiG’s finances with a similar cash injection, and assumed a $570 million order for 34 MiG-29SMTs rejected by Algeria.
Oh Lord, give me chastity efficient finances, just not yet?
Defense News has a scoop on who Russia will supply with jets next. India has taken delivery of three Beriev A-50s (Mainstay), which is an extreme proof of a total lack of aesthetic sense, and the boss of Antonov, inherited by Ukraine after the Soviet Union collapsed (Antonov, not its boss!), says Russia is welcome to join in the fun of building actual, working Antonov An-70s - which is another mortifyingly ugly aircraft, but comes at half the price of the Airbus A400M, so can’t blame them for eschewing the aesthetics. That being said, anything that is in the testing process for fifteen years is a bit wacky by definition - it’s like spending nine months on a pregnancy and six years giving birth.
