Russian Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Jeff Head said:

The fact is, they are doing it. And it si the State Run Oil concern is doing it, which obviously means the government of Russia is involved and has agreed to it.

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Watch the context : according to the Blue Samurai , Russia desperately needs Japan and they are doomed without them : "Russia is pressured to lower their price in order to win over Japan since Russia needs fund and engineering support from Japan in developing the natural gas fields in Siberia. "

In fact , it is Japan that desperately needs natural gas - they reduced production of their nuclear plants because of Fukushima tragedy .

Jeff Head said:

Your intial comment indicated ty did not want or need Japan at all.

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Of course they do not need or want Japan in Siberia (or any other country) . They are not giving concession to foreign companies like poor Third World countries . Article says it all - Japanese will get 49% and Russians will retain control package even for that one oilfield .

SamuraiBlue said:

I don't know how the negotiation between Russia and Japan in returning the occupied Southern Kuril Islands known to Japanese as northern territory but the Russians are anxious in resolving this long driven issue as much as the Japanese showing an unprecedented attitude of concession with Putin himself stating he is wanting a fair resolution so they can sign an actual peace treaty between the two nation so they can discuss the future.

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That train is long gone Russia will not give an inch of its territory . Japan is in deep economic and demographic troubles , and alliance between China & Russia is formed to deter any Japanese military attempt . Bit of old news , but still relevant :

SamuraiBlue said:

The only reason Russia is making this kind of generous suggestion is because they are losing grounds in exporting natural gas in which they see direct competition with the US in which shale gas and shale oil has already lowering the international prices.

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No , only reason that Japan needs to import Russian gas is because they lost some of their nuclear power . US cannot meaningfully supply Japan with natural gas because there is no pipeline , and transport with ships is relatively expensive because you need special ships :




Btw :

4 new Su-34 ( total 28 without pre-series ) delivered to a second combat unit equiped with this heavy fighter-Bomber seems based to Morozovsk 48°18'43.37"N 41°47'28.10"E and no Chelyabinsk as it was announced.

More logical to base in North Caucasus rather than in central Russia. Su-34 replace Su-24, build to Novosibirsk.

And now is almost sure first Su-35 unit is based to Komsomolsk /Dzemgi 50°36'19.70"N 137° 4'52.92"E ( where is built ) and Su-27SM go to Lida in Bielorussia, new VVS base.

The first Su-34 unit based Voronej is the first " new " frontline units receiving a new fighting aircrat
from about 20 years !!!

Novosibirsk plant. 25, 26 and 27th.

Official: Russia To Expand Kyrgyzstan Military Airbase
Oct. 27, 2013 - 01:22PM | By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN — Russia will expand its airbase in Kyrgyzstan at the end of the year ahead of the shutdown of a US base in the country, a senior commander said Saturday.

The number of planes at Russia’s Kant airbase in the country “will at least double by this December,” Viktor Sevastyanov, a senior Russian air force commander, said at a ceremony marking the base’s 10-year anniversary.

Russia will also send in more pilots, he said in televised remarks.

The Kant airbase last year was a source of disagreement between Kyrgyzstan and Russia, which is competing for influence in the region with the United States, whose lease at its Manas base expires in July.

Last year Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev complained that the Russian base was not benefiting Kyrgyzstan and instead owed Bishkek $15 million (€11 million) in back rent.

However in September Russia and Kyrgyzstan signed an agreement allowing Moscow to continue operations at Kant until 2032 in exchange for Moscow’s writing off nearly half a billion dollars in debt owed by the Central Asian country.

The base, located about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Bishkek, currently has 10 Sukhoi fighters, two Mi-8 helicopters, and about a dozen other transport and training airplanes. It is Russia’s only airbase in Central Asia.

The United States is meanwhile planning to pull its flight operations from the Manas base ahead of the expiration of its lease, and use an alternative airbase in Romania as a transit point for troops leaving Afghanistan.

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Bigger base.

thunderchief said:

Watch the context : according to the Blue Samurai , Russia desperately needs Japan and they are doomed without them. In fact , it is Japan that desperately needs natural gas - they reduced production of their nuclear plants because of Fukushima tragedy .

Of course they do not need or want Japan in Siberia (or any other country) . They are not giving concession to foreign companies. Article says it all - Japanese will get 49% and Russians will retain control package even for that one oilfield.

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Hehehe...actually, thunder, they are giving concessions. 49% is about as close as you can come to being equal partners as possible. A 30-35% share would have been a large share, so it is obvious that the Japanese are adding a lot to the table in terms of development and upfront costs, and so they drove a hard bargain to get almost half ownership and profits...in addition to the oil.

If the deal goes very well and the Russians ultimately want it all, they will have to buy that 49% share out, and it will not be cheap. In the mean time, both are benefiting from their mutual agreement. I would not be surprised to learn that anpother point in the contract specifies a certain number of years where the Russians agree NOT to try and buy them out or takeover...otherwise, Japan would not have signed. They would protect themselves to make sure thay got a good ROI by contract before the Russians could exercise their majority ownership.

The fact that they signed an agreement to have a Japanese Company come in and develop the oil field, from which Russia stands to profit, means that Russia wants them to come in. Apparently Russia feels that it needs the money that this deal will bring them, otherwise they would not have signed a contract.

They did not do it simply to allow Japan to fullfill its needs for energy. They did it because they too (the Russians) had something to gain and would benefit from.

I do not believe Blue Samurai meant that Russia HAD to have Japan, and Japan alone, develop their oil. My read was that the Russians and the Japanese both had something to gain. Russians hard cold currency and a developed oil field within their borders, and Japan gaining energy it needs badly. Apparently they want the Russians funding/money badly enough to have their governmental oil company contract with Japan to do it in this case.

All I am saying is that neither absolute is the case. They both have wants and needs and have reached an equitable agreement to meet those needs.

It's not that Japan has Russia over a barrell at all, or that Japan is somehow taking advantage of Russia...far from it. It is also not that Russia absolutely doesn't want Japan to be in there, and does not feel it needs them at all.

Both of them wanted this deal...otherwise there would have been no deal.

thunderchief said:

No , only reason that Japan needs to import Russian gas is because they lost some of their nuclear power . US cannot meaningfully supply Japan with natural gas because there is no pipeline , and transport with ships is relatively expensive because you need special ships :

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If you are talking about the large thermos bottle carriers I believe Japan has the largest fleet presently carrying LPG from middle east.
As for importing from the US, Itochu, a Japanese trading house had become a minority partner of 34% signing a Joint Development Agreement with Coastal Caverns, Inc. to develop a gas exporting facility in Louisiana which is scheduled to ship out LPG at the end of 2014.
As for east Siberian gas, they have very little time and a short list as customers and want Japan as a customer since the only other customer is PRC and Mongolia. You may ask SK but this is a very little known fact but Japan trade house handles all the bidding on behalf of SK since they themselves does not have that function as their own industry base.

The fifth flight-capable test variant of the Sukhoi PAK FA fighter jet has made its maiden flight at the company’s test range in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in Russia’s Far East.

The flight took some 50 minutes and was dedicated to testing the aircraft’s powerplant and flight stability, the company said in a statement.

The jet will take part in further testing at the site before relocating to the Zhukovsky test range near Moscow, where four other PAK FA prototypes are being fly-tested. Two more vehicles are used in ground testing currently.

PAK FA, also known as T-50, is Russia’s first 5th generation fighter jet, a counterpart to the American F-35C Lightning II and F-22 Raptor, and China’s J-20.

Its first-ever flight took place in January 2010. The test program since then has included some 450 air tests.

Most of the information about the aircraft remains classified and its final characteristics are not known yet. It will be a stealth one-man supercruise-capable fighter with an estimated maximum speed of more than Mach 2 (2,135 km/h).

It’s is expected to carry up to 7.5 tons of armaments in its two internal bays and up to six external hardpoints. In addition to missiles it is likely to be armed with auto cannon.

Russian Defense Ministry has so far ordered 60 PAK FA aircraft and may double the number in the future. The fighter jet is expected to enter service in 2017.

The fighter jet will be offered to foreign buyers, too, including possibly India, Vietnam, Brazil and Peru.




[video=youtube;IT-wX-OewIo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT-wX-OewIo[/video]

RIA NOVOSTI said:

MOSCOW, October 29 (RIA Novosti) – Two Russian Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers on Monday flew from an airbase in southwestern Russia and landed in Venezuela, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The nuclear-capable bombers, which took off from the Engels airbase in the Volga region, “flew over the Caribbean, the eastern Pacific and along the southwestern coast of the North American continent, and landed at Maiquetia airfield in Venezuela,” the ministry said in a statement.

According to the Russian ministry, the bombers covered a distance of more than 10,000 kilometers (over 6,200 miles) during a 13-hour non-stop flight. Two NATO F-16 fighter jets were scrambled from Bodo airbase to monitor their flight near the Norwegian airspace.

The ministry said the current mission was carried out “in line with the program of combat training.”

Russian strategic bombers conducted a similar mission in 2008. It was followed by a visit to Venezuela by a Russian naval task force, which took part in joint exercises with the Venezuelan navy.

The Tu-160 Blackjack is a supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber, designed to strike strategic targets with nuclear and conventional weapons deep in continental theatres of operation.

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This is Putin flexing some muscle in the Western Hemisphere. The US should land a dozen B-1s in Georgia on a similar training exercise in answer. But, IMHO, Obama is incapable of successfully engaging in such activities against the likes of Putin. Putin laughs at the Obama administration's foreign affairs and it taking advantage of the opportunity.

Russian military helicopter crashes in Moscow, both pilots bail out safely
Published October 29, 2013 | Associated Press
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MOSCOW – Moscow city officials say that a Russian military helicopter has crashed on a test mission, but both pilots bailed out safely.

The Ka-52 helicopter gunship went down Tuesday on Moscow's outskirts, causing no damage on the ground, according to city officials.

Russian news reports quoted said that the crashed helicopter belonged to its developer, the Kamov design bureau, and was undergoing tests as part of a program to develop a carrier-borne version.

The helicopter crashed near a helipad in southeastern Moscow just a few hundred meters (yards) from apartment buildings.

The Ka-52 is a two-seat attack helicopter that was commissioned by the military in 2008. About 20 have been built so far, and the Defense Ministry has signed a contract for 140 more Ka-52s.

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one of Jeffs fav helos went down

TerraN_EmpirE said:

one of Jeffs fav helos went down

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And it was the Ka-52K LHD variant too. Just dang!

I think this happened a couple of weeks ago, like October 13th.

I read that the preliminary investigations indicated that the cause of the crash was because the ejection seat system malfunctioned and it activated. when that happens, the blades are blown off first, allowing the crew to safely eject straight up out of their compartment. So, I guess without a main rotor and any crew, the thing came down.

But it does prove I guess that the ejection seats work. The crew survived. Ejection seats in an attack helicopter are pretty rare.