Russian Air Force to receive 180 new fighter jets, copters

File photo shows a Russian-made Sukhoi Su-34 Fullback warplane.

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/08/11/255671/russia-air-force-to-get-180-new-aircraft/

Russia’s Air Force Commander in Chief Major General Viktor Bondarev has announced that the country’s aerial warfare service branch will get some 180 brand-new fighter jets and military helicopters by the end of the current year.

“The country’s air force has already received several new Sukhoi Su-34 Fullback warplanes and will get another 12, along with Kamov Ka-52 Alligator and Mil Mi-28 Havoc helicopters, as well as trainer jets including 15 Yakovlev Yak-130 Mitten aircraft,” Bondarev said in an interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station on Friday.

The aircraft to be supplied to the air forces will carry advanced navigation and other equipment and weapons “of significantly higher quality,” he said.

Bondarev noted that some 120 new aircraft joined the Russian air force last year.

The Sukhoi Su-34 Fullback is a twin-seat Russian fighter bomber. It is intended to replace the Sukhoi Su-24 attack aircraft. It made its first flight on April 13, 1990.The Russian Defense Ministry expects to have 124 Su-34s in service by 2020.

Kamov Ka-52 Alligator is a single-seat Russian attack helicopter with the distinctive coaxial rotor system of the Kamov design bureau.

It was designed in the 1980s and adopted for service in the Russian army in 1995. It is currently manufactured by the Progress company in the eastern city of Arsenyev.