Thread by @RALee85

Thread: There has been a lot of Russian aviation news this week. Yesterday, Putin announced that the VKS is equipped with 65% modern helicopters and aircraft and that Russia will purchase an additional 76 Su-57 fighters (up from a planned 16) and 100 Mi-28NM as part of GPV-2027.

He said that, from 2013-2018, the Russian Air Force received more than 1k new and modernized aircraft out of the VKS' total ~3k aircraft and helos. He emphasized 3 points: 1) the VKS is focusing on developing new and modern aircraft, including the Su-57, Su-35S, and Tu-160M. 2/

2) through modernization, the capabilities of existing military aircraft and helicopters are being increased. He specifically noted equipping the MiG-31 with the Kinzhal, and emphasized the need to upgrade Tu-95, Tu-160, and Tu-22M bombers to be able to carry ALCMs. 3/

3) "The combat use of Russian aviation in Syria revealed a number of shortcomings in the technical condition of airplanes and helicopters" as well as their munitions, which would have been "impossible to detect during the tests at the test sites". 4/

I wrote a separate thread about the future contract for 76 Su-57 for an estimated 160-170 B RUB, which will likely be signed at MAKS-2019. Putin also specifically mentioned the Su-24M's success in Syria due to its modernized SVP-24 targeting system. 5/

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1128704233983942656

Among the most notable aviation issues that Russia discovered in Syria was the poor performance of the Mi-28N helicopter (compared to that of the Ka-52), which was supposed to be the Russian Army Aviation's primary attack helicopter. 6/

2 Mi-28N crashed in Syria. The 1st on April 12, 2016 occurred at night, and, as a result, Russia banned the further use of ONV-1 Skosok NVGs for helicopter crews (replaced by the GEO-ONV1). The Mi-28N's electronics and optics were not sufficient. 7/
tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/6…

The Ka-52 also successfully employed the Vikhr-1 ATGM at long ranges in Syria, but the Mi-28N didn't have an ATGM with a comparable range. Russia is also upgrading the Ka-52's GOES-451 so that it can ID a tank at 10 km during the day and 8 km at night. 8/
военное.рф/2018/%D0%9C%D0…

The Mi-28N has also had a number of crashes during testing. The Mi-28NM modernization is designed to address these problems, including better optics and a new long-range ATGM (Product 305) with a range of more than 25 km. 9/
tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/6…

The first Mi-28NM prototype (yellow 701, registration # RF-13633) has been undergoing tests in Syria since March, including tests of the Product 305 ATGM. It was spotted operating alongside a Mi-35M helicopter. 10/
tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/6…

The first two Mi-28NM were supposed to be delivered to the MoD in 2018 but this was pushed back until 2019. In February, Interfax reported that the MoD had refused to sign a contract for serial deliveries of the Mi-28NM because of inflated prices. 11/
interfax.ru/russia/651526

General Anatoly Gulyaev said the Mi-28NM was overpriced and that Russian Helicopters was refusing to compromise. In March, Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko said they had agreed on the price for the 1st contract for either 6 or 18 Mi-28NM. 12/
tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/6…

Krivoruchko said they were preparing a "big contract" for both the Ka-52 and Mi-28NM. Last summer, Yuri Borisov said that Russia would procure 114 Ka-52 helicopters as part of GPV-2027, which should bring the total # of Ka-52 in the military to ~260. 13/
kommersant.ru/doc/3541262

The MoD has been quite happy with the Ka-52's performance and with the Progress Plant's on time deliveries. A modified naval variant, the Ka-52K, was also planned for Russia's Mistral helicopter carriers, which may be used on the new Project 11711's ships laid down in April. 14/

Although the MoD was clearly unhappy with Russian Helicopters' negotiations over the Mi-28NM, given that they could just purchase more Ka-52 instead, it seems the need to spread out helicopter orders in GPV-2027 probably played a role (the Mi-28NM is built by Rosvertol). 15/

There were also photos taken of a new Mi-35M (blue # 41) undergoing flight tests at Rosvertol in Rostov-on-Don (equipped with a Vitebsk airborne defense complex built by KRET) that seemed to indicate the MoD had signed another order for the cheaper Mi-35M as well. 16/

Last month Izvestia reported that the MoD would conduct a large-scale modernization of its Mi-35M to the Mi-35MV standard with new armor, radar, engines, the OPS-24N1 surveillance/targeting system, President-S defense complex, and the Vikhir-1 ATGM. 17/
iz.ru/848585/aleksei…

Also notable is that the VDV's new army aviation brigade that will be established in the next couple of years is slated to have Mi-8AMTSh, Mi-26T2, and Mi-35M helicopters but not Ka-52 or Mi-28 (the Mi-35M can also carry 7 soldiers). 18/
tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/6…

A TASS source said that Russian Helicopters is also working on a new helicopter for the VDV that will be a further development of the Mi-24/Mi-35M. Presumably, this will be related to the Mi-35MV project though there might be other specifications for the VDV. 19/

Russian Helicopters was set to be one of the big losers of GPV-2027 with a reduction in military orders, from 80-90 per year in GPV-2020 to 30-40 in GPV-2027 according to Yuri Borisov. Russia's army aviation has already reached ~80% modern equipment. 20/
tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/5…

The reduction in MoD orders has decreased Russian Helicopters annual helicopter deliveries:
2012: 290
2013: 275
2014: 271
2015: 212
2016: 189
2017: 221 depending on source
2018: 220 expected
21/
vedomosti.ru/business/artic…

From 2012-2016, between 51-47% of Russian Helicopters annual deliveries were part of the state defense order, so the reduction here has impacted total deliveries. But Russian Helicopters hasn't been able to find sufficient military export or civilian orders to compensate. 22/

So Minpromtorg suggested an alternative plan to create demand: to force domestic civilian operators to retire any helicopters older than 25 years (mostly Mi-8T), and buy new helicopters even though these helicopters should last at least 40 years. 23/
kommersant.ru/doc/3727265

So the decision to procure 100 Mi-28NM might be part of the government's plan to support these factories, even if procuring 3 attack helicopters is expensive. Kommersant estimates the cost of the 114 Ka-52 and 100 Mi-28NM at 180–190 billion rubles. 24/
kommersant.ru/doc/3968914

Today, Putin announced that, "in the past six years, much has been done to upgrade the Russian orbital group of military and dual-purpose spacecraft. This segment has been reequipped by almost 80 percent and increased by 50 percent." 25/
en.kremlin.ru/events/preside…

He said Russia has 156 spacecraft and satellites in total, and that, over the past 3 years, Russia's space-based missile warning system has recorded the "launches of over 150 ballistic missiles and carrier missiles of both Russian and foreign origin." 26/
tvzvezda.ru/news/forces/co…

He further emphasized "the preservation of strategic stability and military parity directly depends on our ability to effectively resolve security tasks in outer space" and acknowledged the "systematic problems in the aerospace industry." 27/

He directly referenced the importance of satellites to Russia's operation in Syria: "the information that comes from space systems and complexes directly affects the nature of conflicts today ... we saw this as we were fighting the terrorist groups in Syria." 28/