What's good (and bad ) about Russia?

[willedoo]

13 hours ago, Marty_d said:

Hey Willedoo,

Just watched a brilliant Russian/Ukrainian movie - "Battle for Sevastopol".  On Netflix.

 

Story about Lyudmila Pavlichenko, a Russian sniper with 309 confirmed kills in WWII.

 

I started watching with no great hopes (Netflix is not known for quality movies) but it was beautifully shot and engaging.  Some of the flying scenes - Bf109 vs Polikarpov i-16 - were obviously CGI, but most of the movie was great.

 

I can definitely recommend it!

 

Cheers, Marty

Thanks Marty, I know the movie but have only ever watched the shorts, so look forward to seeing the full movie. Russia makes some brilliant movies, particularly the WW2 genre. It's a pity so few of them are sub titled for export.

 

 

[willedoo]

13 hours ago, Marty_d said:

Just watched a brilliant Russian/Ukrainian movie - "Battle for Sevastopol".  On Netflix.

Marty, another good movie I have on my hard drive is 'Kandahar'. Not to be confused with another movie of the same name, it's the true story of the Russian Ilushin 76 crew who were forced to land at Kandahar by a Taliban Mig-21. They were held captive for about a year before escaping with their plane.

 

It's Russian language only and would be a popular movie overseas if they subtitled it. A lot of people create subtitle files that you can sync with the movie, but they are often not very good. The best one I found for Kandahar from a translation point of view lags in timing. Unfortunate, but better than nothing.

[willedoo]

I bet this bloke had to change his pants when he got home yesterday. It was in Nizhnevartovsk, a small city in Western Siberia. It turned out that the bear escaped from a hotel where two brown bears were kept as pets. It wasn't hurt when the bus bumped it, and was tranquilized and taken away by the authorities.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Crikey! The say the worst thing you can do when you encounter a big item like a bear is to run away. That bloke did better than I thought possible-

I guess he had motivation.

[willedoo]

After eight years of living in exile in Moscow, Edward Snowden and his wife have applied for Russian Citizenship. As a dual U.S./Russian national, it will give him the option of traveling on a Russian passport if need be. They had a son last year in Moscow. I'm not sure of the law, but he might possibly be a citizen by birth.

 

In other news, Covid has finally brought about some welcome reform of Russia's tourist visa rules. A rule change was passed through parliament this week to create a six month tourist visa. A hotel booking is all that will be required to obtain the visa. Previously, the visa term was very limited and needed tour operator bookings for fixed tours. Another change is for those with a close relative who is a Russian national. A multiple-entry private visa will enable the visitor to stay for twelve months.

 

The tourist visa will be good for longer term travelers and tourists. You could burn up one visa just visiting the myriad of museums in the country.

[willedoo]

It looks like the MiG and Sukhoi companies will soon cease to exist. For a few years now, the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has united all the Russian aircraft design and manufacturing companies under one umbrella. The decision was made this week to merge MiG, Sukhoi and UAC into one legal entity called the Corporate Aircraft Building Center. The other companies such as Ilyushin and Tupolev will be subordinated to the new entity.

 

The engineering and design side of it won't be changed. They are saying that personnel optimization will affect only the administrative and managerial personnel of the UAC. That could be translated as a few thousand paper shufflers getting the sack. Apart from reducing debt and non-production costs, the reforms are also aimed at giving a boost to domestic civil aircraft production. It might make the development of new airliners like the Sukhoi Superjet more cost effective.
 

 

Edited March 19, 2021 by willedoo

[Old Koreelah]

Europe is now admitting that the Russian vaccines are very effective and want some...

 

ehttps://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-24/scientists-sceptical-but-russias-sputnik-v-is-proving-doubt/100024922

[willedoo]

10 hours ago, Old Koreelah said:

Europe is now admitting that the Russian vaccines are very effective and want some...

 

ehttps://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-24/scientists-sceptical-but-russias-sputnik-v-is-proving-doubt/100024922

Out of necessity the EU has had to eat humble pie.They were earlier claiming the Russian vaccine was a geopolitical propaganda plot by Russia. As time has gone by, they've been forced to admit it's one of the better vaccines.

 

It looks like it will soon get EU emergency use approval. At least the EU did the right thing earlier this month and allowed EU member states to unilaterally order the vaccine. Not long before that, they were at loggerheads with Hungary over the issue. There's also been reports recently of Germans flying to Moscow and getting the vaccinated.

 

The worst case of politics has been from Ukraine. They are going through a third wave and are way down the pecking order to receive vaccines. Russia has offered them the Sputnik vaccine, but the Ukrainian government hates Russia so much that they have not only refused it, but passed an act of parliament banning it in their country on grounds of national security. Talk about paranoid delusion; the sooner they boot the N's out of power there, the better. Meanwhile, Ukrainians are dying of Covid. At least Russia has offered the vaccine to the people in the disputed Donbass region, so they look like having a chance of getting vaccinated.

 

The Astra Zeneca vaccine is a single vector vaccine, with the same vector being used in both shots. The Russian Sputnik vaccine is two vector, with different vectors used for the first and booster shots. A few weeks back, the Russian developers offered Astra Zeneca co-operation on a trial whereby the Astra Zeneca vaccine would be used for one shot and one of the Sputnik vectors for the other shot. Astra Zeneca were keen to do it, but I haven't heard any news updates on it since then. It would be the best way out of a hole for Astra Zeneca if it was successful and improved their vaccine. I think the Russians were thinking it might improve theirs as well.

 

It's sad that politics has to rear it's ugly head in the midst of a global pandemic, but it was to be expected.

Edited March 24, 2021 by willedoo

[willedoo]

Back to the subject of Vladimir Putin, the man the West loves to hate. There's been speculation in the press that Putin's health is fading and that he may soon step down. Rumours of Parkinson's Disease have circulated for years, but it could be wishful thinking. Video footage from his weekend off in Siberia last weekend shows him to be as fit and agile as you expect of someone in their late 60's. Recent constitutional amendments will allow him to run for two more six year terms as president, from the next election in 2024. My tip is that he will do at least one more term and see off a couple more U.S. presidents.

 

Recently, the Russian opposition leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, outlined in an interview his prediction of the eight possible candidates to replace Putin. He also jokingly said that none would be the next leader as he himself would be the next president. Zhirinovsky is a bit of a character and could probably be likened to our Bob Katter.

 

The first candidate named was head of government, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. A former taxman, he seems to be well respected and trusted.

 

Next was Defence Minister and former Governor of Moscow Region, Sergey Shoigu, a capable and popular politician.

 

Sergey Naryshkin, head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, was also named. He has long experience in federal government as a previous deputy prime minister, chief of the presidential administration, and chairman of the State Duma.

 

Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of the parliament, is a former deputy prime minister and has been a close aide of Putin.

 

Sergey Sobyanin, Mayor of Moscow, is also on the list. He would be a serious contender, having done a lot for Moscow during his ten years as Mayor.

 

Valentina Matviyenko, senator and chair of Russia’s senate is the only woman on Zhirinovsky's list. She is a former Governor of Saint Petersburg and not too popular there. Buckley's chance IMO.

 

Alexey Dyumin, at 48, is the youngest on the list. Presently governor of the Tula Region and a former deputy defence minister.

 

Finally, Dmitry Medvedev, former president and prime minister and long term right hand man of Putin. He's already had his run and is another one with Buckley's chance of being president again. Last year he resigned as prime minister to become deputy chairman of the Security Council. As an indication of his unpopularity, an opinion poll named his resignation as the best political event of 2020.

 

My pick of that bunch would be current defence minister, Sergey Shoigu. He's very experienced and capable and seems to have the strength required to protect Russia's interests. He is also close to Putin and I get the impression Putin is grooming him as a successor. If so, that would only be Plan B, as Shoigu is only two years younger than Putin. If Putin did two more terms, Shoigu would be too old to take over.

 

It's a given that the United Russia Party will remain in power for a long time, with the only question being how long Putin will stick around. The problem for the opposition in Russia is that the two biggest opposition parties are diametrically opposed politically, which rules out an opposition coalition like we have here. The second biggest party, Zhirinovsky's Liberal Democratic party, is a right wing nationalist party, and number three is the Russian Communist Party.

 

To put it as an analogy with Australian politics in a federal sense, if the Liberal and National parties weren't in a coalition, we would rarely see a non Labor government here. If the Nationals were far right and the Liberals far left, and they couldn't possibly see eye to eye enough to unite, Labor would rule. That's the party situation in Russia. A lot of people in the West like the delusion that the United Russia Party only gets in due to rigged elections, but the reality is that the party is more popular than the far right and far left alternatives. For the majority at election time, it's a no brainer. It's no surprise that older Russians provide a lot of support for the Communist Party, until recent times number two. The interesting thing is that the current number two party, the right wing nationalist Liberal Democratic Party gets most support from the younger population.

 

 

Edited March 25, 2021 by willedoo

[Jerry_Atrick]

Interesting take, Willi... None of these names outside Putin and Zhirinovsky mean anything to me, but that is because, apart from the controversy, we rarely get Russian news to the same depth as Western nations.

Sounds like they have the same issues as any other nation in terms of their power struggles; the political system may be different, but, the problems seem the same.

[willedoo]

A bad accident earlier this week with three of the four crew members of a Tu-22M3 bomber killed by an uncommanded ejection on the ground. During a pre flight check, three ejected while the pilot in command remained in the cockpit. Not much of a chance with the old non zero/zero seats.

https://theaviationist.com/2021/03/23/ejection-seats-activation-during-preflight-operations-on-russian-tu-22m3-bomber-kills-three-crew-members/

 

[willedoo]

Russia's new prospective military transport aircraft, the Ilyushin Il-112V has successfully completed its second flight. It first flew a year ago and has had weight reductions since the first test flight. A twin engine turboprop, it looks like it would replace the Antonov An-26 and An-32. Similar capability and role to a Caribou by the look of it. Has a very flat wing; no anhedral.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2021 by willedoo

[willedoo]

Haven't posted here for a while; it's been a bit quiet on the Russian front with not much worthy news to talk about.

 

It's been announced that development has started by Sukhoi on a new generation single engine fighter. It will be the first single engine fighter produced by the Russian Federation in post Soviet times. The aircraft will be a mach 2+ stealth design.

 

They also say the Sukhoi Su-57 will be able to operate from two to four Okhotnik heavy strike drones when finally configured. The Okhotnik (photo attached) is a big drone, almost the size of the Su-57. It makes you wonder about the demands put on future pilots and whether the old two seat system with a Wizzo is the better way to go.

 

And in other military/religious news, the Russian Orthodox Church is introducing regulations to stop the common practice of consecrating weapons. Priests will be able to bless the soldiers but not their weapons specifically. There has been past controversy over priests blessing things like ICBM nuclear missiles.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Blessing weapons? I would expect that of American gun nuts, but haven’t heard it happens.

[Yenn]

Are the gun nuts attached to the gun bolts. If so I hope they used thread seal to keep them there/

[onetrack]

I must say, I do like the juxtaposition of a 21st century Sukhoi being pushed out by an ancient 1970's Belarus 4WD farm tractor! 

[Old Koreelah]

3 hours ago, onetrack said:

I must say, I do like the juxtaposition of a 21st century Sukhoi being pushed out by an ancient 1970's Belarus 4WD farm tractor! 

When the prototype of the Zero, Japan’s most lethal warplane, was first moved from factory to airfield, it was via a slow ox-drawn wagon.

[willedoo]

The latest batch of 36 OneWeb satellites has arrived  at Ignatievo airport via An-124. The refrigerated containers are then transferred to the Vostochny Space Center by road transport. Last year, OneWeb applied to launch 48,000 satellites but have revised the application down to a bit over 6,000. The Russian launch company is a subsidiary of Roscosmos contracted with Arianespace and Starsem.

 

They use the Soyuz launch vehicle with the Fregat upper stage to deploy the satellites. The Fregat is the only upper stage in the world that can deliver payloads to multiple different orbits. It can operate autonomously with it's own navigation, power and guidance systems and it's stored liquid propellant engine can be restarted up to twenty times in flight to enable complex missions. It's made up of six spheres welded together; four for propellant and two for avionics, with a central main engine.

 

 

 

 

 

[facthunter]

Aeroplanes are made to fly. They have tractor  engines when they have the prop in front of the engine. Nev

[willedoo]

In other aviation news, the first female fighter pilots in modern times are soon to join the air forces. There has been a recent push in Russia to provide opportunity for female pilots in the defence forces. Training has been carried out at the Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots. The majority of female trainees will go into transport, several into assault aviation, and a smaller number into fighter aviation.

 

Some of the trainees have finished the 4th. course flying L-39 trainer.

 

 

[octave]

6 minutes ago, willedoo said:

In other aviation news, the first female fighter pilots in modern times are soon to join the air forces.

The first female fighter pilots in the RAAF graduated in December 2017

[willedoo]

10 minutes ago, octave said:

The first female fighter pilots in the RAAF graduated in December 2017

Sounds like we're not too far ahead of Russia in that field. These current graduates will be the first Russian Federation female pilots. After WW2, there were very few female pilots in the Soviet Union. Any that were often had connections to work their way in. The three female air regiments in WW2 were more of a political gesture rather than a need for pilots. After the war, they were expected to go home and be housewives.

Edited June 13, 2021 by willedoo

[facthunter]

Look up "Night Witches". They used to have a re union each year. Be few left now. Nev

[willedoo]

Marina Raskova's original idea was for the three regiments to be all female. The 588th. Night Bomber Regiment was the only mainly all female regiment with female commander, mechanics, pilots and navigators. The fighter regiment and the bomber regiment had a lot of male staff, mainly ground crew. The bomber regiment flying the Pe-2 used a lot of male gunners because of the strength required to operate the guns.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Canadian Air Force was way ahead of anyone post WWII - 1989: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Foster_(pilot)

 

(Noting Russia had female jet pilots in WWII?? - Didn't know Russia even had jets at the end of WWII... Maybe I read that wrong?)

Edited June 13, 2021 by Jerry_Atrick