Russian Photos (updated on regular basis)

[Cantabron]

Guys because I cannot remember, what is the missile system on the bridge of Admiral Kulakov after the modernization program?

Gibka turret for Igla...



I

[D-Mitch]

Gibka turret for Igla...



I

Oh.. yes! Thank you!

[owais.usmani]

[Kalo]

053 flies again

[D-Mitch]

Task Force of the Russian Army in 1916

Photos here: http://englishrussia.com/2012/06/21/...-russian-army/

[Polponero]

What is this?

[DasVivo]

What is this?

Tu-214ON (Otktrytoye Nebo/Open Skies), used for verification Open Skies agreement where by particular flights can overflight areas of signatory states to allow for greater transparency in military capabilities

[Khathi]

I believe this is not an Open Skies aircraft, but a dedicated SIGINT one. OS patrols usually utilize optical surveillance and don't need such an impressive setup of antennas and such. A dedicated recce plane on the other hand... So the correct designation is Tu-214R, I believe.

[owais.usmani]

Tu-214ON (Otktrytoye Nebo/Open Skies), used for verification Open Skies agreement where by particular flights can overflight areas of signatory states to allow for greater transparency in military capabilities

No dude no, you've got it all wrong. Read here: http://militaryrussia.ru/blog/topic-661.html

[metberkut]

Yup, Khathi is correct, that is not ON at all, but Tu-214R. RIVET JOINTski if you wish.

[Khathi]

Yep. Government tries to save KAPO by basing various special need planes on Tu-214 airframe. You see, while it's a generally nice plane, and well regarded by the pilots, it's somewhat less loved by the airline managers as it still has a lot of teething problems despite being more than two decades in production (Tupolev's decline is the reason why it haven't yet received any major modernization), and is more maintenance-intensive than modern Western planes, such as A-320, its main competitor. Even Vladivostok Air, the plane's launch customer and most loyal supporter, has recently moved to Airbus products, especially after merging into Aer0flot. So Kazan's plant is in dire straights as it has almost no orders, and survives on small projects like this. BTW, the second airframe still sits there awaiting its radars, and won't fly for at least a whole year.

[Hyde]

Yep. Government tries to save KAPO by basing various special need planes on Tu-214 airframe. You see, while it's a generally nice plane, and well regarded by the pilots, it's somewhat less loved by the airline managers as it still has a lot of teething problems despite being more than two decades in production (Tupolev's decline is the reason why it haven't yet received any major modernization), and is more maintenance-intensive than modern Western planes, such as A-320, its main competitor. Even Vladivostok Air, the plane's launch customer and most loyal supporter, has recently moved to Airbus products, especially after merging into Aer0flot. So Kazan's plant is in dire straights as it has almost no orders, and survives on small projects like this. BTW, the second airframe still sits there awaiting its radars, and won't fly for at least a whole year.

Red Wings seems to like it. They just ordered 44 additional Tu-204SM which are pretty much a very large modernization, with new engines and everything.

[artjomh]

Red Wings seems to like it. They just ordered 44 additional Tu-204SM which are pretty much a very large modernization, with new engines and everything.

Red Wings is owned by a arussian billionaire. Russian billionaires sometimes have to demonstrate how patriotic they are. For the sake of their general wellbeing.

[Maximmmm]

This is pretty amazing: http://2leep.com/bar.php?url=http://...com/37915.html

A Russian taskforce from 1916
I'd put in some example pics, but I don't know how besides hotlinking...

[Khathi]

Red Wings is owned by a arussian billionaire. Russian billionaires sometimes have to demonstrate how patriotic they are. For the sake of their general wellbeing.

Also note that Tu-204SM is produced by Aviastar (and is based on their in-house developed upgrade package), not KAPO. Vladivostok Air also used Ulyanovsk-built 204s, not 214s, BTW.