Tag Archives: Russia

India disappointed with new Russian stealth fighter

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Sukhoy1
India is reportedly disappointed with the result of a fighter program between the Indian Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Russian Rosoboronexport and Sukhoi announced in December of 2010.

The initial press release indicated that the proposed Fifth Generation Fighter:

…will have advanced features such as stealth, supercruise, ultra-maneuvrability, highly integrated avionics suite, enhanced situational awareness, internal carriage of weapons and Network Centric Warfare capabilities.

After delivery of the prototype, however, FOX News reports:

The Russian prototype is “unreliable, its radar inadequate, its stealth features badly engineered,” said Indian Air Force Deputy Air Marshall S Sukumar at a Jan. 15 meeting, according to minutes obtained by the Business Standard.

The Indian government, the largest importer of arms according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, routinely buys from Russia and the west. The U.S., however, has so far refused to provide the advanced Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter. Some defense experts indicate that the Indian Air Force may not be currently ready for the F-35 according to the FOX article.

Defense consultant Robbin Blair indicated that the Air Force of India may be leaning toward the French-designed Dassault Rafale fighter jets depending on what the French add to the aircraft.

This plane is quickly built and apparently tests better than the Russian prototype.

Suicide bomber kills at least 16 at Russian train station

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By Sergei Karpov
VOLGOGRAD, Russia

Interior Ministry members stand guard in front of the train station where a bomber detonated explosives in Volgograd
(Reuters)—A suicide attacker set off a bomb in the entrance hall of a Russian train station on Sunday, investigators said, killing at least 16 people in the second deadly attack within three days as Russia prepares to host the Winter Olympics.

Authorities said the attacker detonated a shrapnel-filled bomb in front of a metal detector just inside the main entrance of the station in Volgograd, a busy hub north of the violence-plagued North Caucasus region on Russia’s southern fringe.

Islamist militants in the North Caucasus have carried out a long string of attacks since President Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000. They now confront him with his biggest security challenge, threatening to disrupt the Olympics that start in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in 40 days.


(Raw video of the bombing released by AP)

Read more and see more video at Reuters

The Man Who Invented The AK-47 Has Died — Here’s His Greatest Regret

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Russian weapon designer Mikhail Kalashnikov presents his legendary assault rifle to the media while opening the exhibition “Kalashnikov – legend and curse of a weapon” at a weapons museum in Suhl, eastern Germany, in this July 26, 2002, file photo.

Mikhail Kalashnikov, the creator of the famous AK-47 assault rifle, has died at the age of 94, according to Russia Today. He had reportedly been suffering from heart problems and was in intensive care since November.

The Kalashnikov AK-47 is frequently cited as the world’s most popular assault rifle, with its only serious rival being the American M-series rifle. Still, Kalashnikov had mixed feelings about his success.

“I would prefer to have invented a machine that people could use and that would help farmers with their work — for example a lawnmower,” he said on a visit to Germany in 2002.

Read more at Business Insider

Putin Signs Abortion Advertisement Ban

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President Vladimir Putin has signed a law banning advertisements for abortion, the Kremlin said, a step activists said would infringe on the reproductive rights of women.

Putin has made stemming a post-Soviet population decline a priority during 14 years in power and struck a conservative tone in his new term, praising what he calls traditional values and holding up the Russian Orthodox Church as a moral guide.

He has drawn fire from the West for a law he signed earlier this year that critics say discriminates against homosexuals.

Read more at The Moscow Times

The US opposes demonopolization of the Internet

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This week’s conference of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Dubai failed to produce an agreement on country-level Internet governance. After heated debates, the conference passed a vague-worded resolution calling on the ITU to play a more active role in the development of the Internet.

Russia and China suggested giving partial control over the allocation of web addresses either to ITU member states or to a specialized agency under the aegis of the United Nations. At present, this is the exclusive monopoly of the United States it exercises through the U.S.-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names (ICANN) controlled by the U.S. Commerce Department.

The United States is visibly unprepared to share this monopoly with anybody else. All main IT resources, servers and transfer protocols are located in the United States, notes Russian IT expert Anton Korobkov-Zemlyansky.

Read more at The Voice of Russia.

SEE ALSO: US rejects UN telecom treaty over Internet rift

Pentagon Denies Reports of Russian Sub near U.S.

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Pentagon denied on Thursday media reports that a Russian nuclear powered submarine cruised unnoticed for several weeks in the Gulf of Mexico near the shores of the United States.

“I don’t know what that information was based on, but it was not correct,” Wendy Snyder, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon, said.

The Washington Free Beacon reported earlier that Russia’s Akula class nuclear powered submarine (Project 971) freely traveled in June and July in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico undetected by the U.S. Navy.

Read more at RiaNovosti

Russian attack submarine sailed in Gulf of Mexico undetected for weeks, U.S. officials say

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BY: Bill Gertz
August 14, 2012 5:00 am

A Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine armed with long-range cruise missiles operated undetected in the Gulf of Mexico for several weeks and its travel in strategic U.S. waters was only confirmed after it left the region, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

It is only the second time since 2009 that a Russian attack submarine has patrolled so close to U.S. shores.

The stealth underwater incursion in the Gulf took place at the same time Russian strategic bombers made incursions into restricted U.S. airspace near Alaska and California in June and July, and highlights a growing military assertiveness by Moscow.

Read more at The Washington Free Beacon

Russian MPs suggest allowing public use of firearms shortly after Colorado shootings

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Guns goin’ back in the U.S., back in the U.S., back in the U.S.S.R.

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Following the shooting spree in a Colorado cinema, Russian legislators have drafted a bill which would allow public use of firearms. The law’s sponsors hope to curb crime rates, while opponents say legal air-guns already cause enough damage.
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The principle behind the drafted bill allowing the private use of handguns is “my home is my castle,” so any invasion of private space could be met with loaded barrels.

Aleksandr Torshin, who drafted the bill, says pistol owners might get divided into several groups. Some would be sanctioned to use weapons to protect their homes only, while others would be authorized to take handguns in their cars. The most privileged group would be permitted to carry pistols anywhere. This third category could include postmen, ambulance staff and social workers.

Read more at Russia Today