The price of the hardware,the radars and data processing capacity along with installation for a complete new Aegis system rounds out to almost 70 mn$.
So when 2 days later, a Sukhoi 24,a 1980s airframe interdiction/fighterbomber suddenly buzzed the USN Donald Cook there was shock and awe throughout the Navy all the way to the Pentagon.
Which turned to nearly full blown panic when it was learned exactly how the elderly Sue got so close. As it approached the destroyer all electronic systems shut down leaving the ship as defenseless as a little dhow
The radars along with all associated systems shut down as if a switch was turned off. The jet then buzzed the ship,which is a low high speed overflight once and then repeated the manoeuvre eleven times.
The Cook and its shaken crew immediately after set sail for Romania while it was another 2 days before the Pentagon could issue this response:
The Pentagon on Monday criticized a Russian jet's repeated buzzing of a U.S. antimissile ship sailing in international waters in the Black Sea.http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/pentagon-protests-russian-jets-buzzing-antimissile-warship-black-sea/
The action happened on Sunday and involved a nuclear-capable -- but unarmed -- Su-24 fighter aircraft that made a total of 12 flying passes close to the Aegis-equipped USS Donald Cook while it conducted patrol operations in the western Black Sea, the Defense Department told reporters.
"The aircraft did not respond to multiple queries and warnings from Donald Cook, and the event ended without incident after approximately 90 minutes," department spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren was quoted as saying in a Pentagon press story. "This provocative and unprofessional Russian action is inconsistent with international protocols and previous agreements on the professional interaction between our militaries."
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A Technical director at the Russian Airforce Academy said "The more a radio-electronic system is complex, the easier it is to disable it through the use of electronic warfare."It now emerges there was a small metal basket like addition under the fuselage of the Su 24 called a khibny. From the total temporary switch off the ship systems the khibny was obviously used to generate a form of directed electro magnetic pulse.
But then again we shouldn't be surprised by this episode:for generations the Anglo Zionists have heard how wonderful their equipment is. The full weight of American advertising,the films,movies and documentaries has relentlessly pushed this line. The internet is full of fanboys echoing defence manufacturer stats like professional salesmen.
Here's a strangely prophetic writeup from just such a source a month prior to the Donald Cook incident: Another final would be to get a carrier strike group, or at least some Destroyers and Cruisers, into the Black Sea right now, as it may catch Russia off guard. Once they are in there they are at risk of confronting the Black Sea Fleet directly, along with Russian warplanes operating out of its own territory on the Black Sea's eastern seaboard.http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/putins-game-of-battleship-the-black-sea-fleet-and-why-1537656215
Also the Russians may have been a little too clever for their own good-recall Gulf war 1. The Iraqis expected their licence built T-72s,the Lion of Babylon aka Asad Babil to perform as advertised and successfully engage American M1s. What happened was a disaster from which the Russian reputation for quality still hasn't discovered.
Scores of MBTs were literally turned inside out by ATGMs,120 mm APFDSs, and HEAT rounds.
The Anglo Zionist ordnance penetrated and detonated inside the many Iraqi T -72 hulls explaining the characteristic loose turret,the result of explosive internal overpressure.
Saddam unwittingly paid the price of a deliberate Moscow policy. They decided to supply downgraded equipment to their valiant Arab and African 'allies' known as 'monkey equipment.' The lion of Babil had no reactive armour plates and were built with mild commercial steel not the hardened multilayered steel normally used.
Also their anti tank rounds were a generation obsolete and could barely scratch US MI and Brit Challengers. When the truth of Russian armour was seen in the quality of their own frontline units knowledgeable Western observers were aghast. In the late 90s NATO fired on some of the same T-72s left behind by departing Russians in Germany.
"During the tests we used only the weapons which existed with NATO armies during the last decade of the Cold War to determine how effective such weapons would have been against these examples of modern Soviet tank design. Our results were completely unexpected. When fitted to the T-72A1 and B1 the 'heavy' ERA made them immune to the DU (Depleted Uranium) penetrators of the M829A2 APFSDS (used by the 120 mm guns of the Cold War era US M1 Abrams tanks), which are among the most formidable of current tank gun projectiles. We also tested the 30mm GAU-8 Avenger (the gun of the A-10 Thunderbolt II Strike Plane), the 30mm M320 (the gun of the AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter) and a range of standard NATO Anti Tank Guided Missiles – all with the same result of no penetration or effective destruction of the test vehicles. The combined protection of the standard armour and the ERA gives the Tanks a level of protection equal to our own. The myth of Soviet inferiority in this sector of arms production that has been perpetuated by the failure of downgraded T-72 export tanks in the Gulf Wars has, finally, been laid to rest. The results of these tests show that if a NATO/Warsaw Pact confrontation had erupted in Europe, the Soviets would have had parity (or perhaps even superiority) in armour” – U.S. Army Spokesperson at the show.
Jane's International Defence Review 7/2007, pg. 15:
However the Western defence establishment still denies the reality of the sheer indestructibility and quality of Russian engineering. Ever since the development of the AK-47 these characteristics as well as cutting edge have been the hallmarks of their warfighting products.
Burning AK-47
The Ekranoplans,a wing over ground effect sea plane. Developed in the late 80s this 80 metre ,8 turbo fan beast was purpose built to fire the fearsome Sunburn antiship missile in the Black sea. It was too fast to be countered by conventional means.
The Kamov twin coaxial rotor gunship first came out at the same time. It doesn't need a tail rotor,the achilles heel of rotary aircraft,is faster and more manuoevrable than other choppers of is class while still being better armoured. A further plus is the fact that its weapons payload is also higher.
The Koalitsya 152 mm self propelled howitzer was the simple answer to an age old question-how to increase firepower in the most cost effective manner? 2 guns save wear and tear on the barrel while doubling the fire delivery rate.
An American flyboy admitted after a test flight that the Su-35 outclassed the problematic F-35 in all ways.
There is already a further Sukhoi-47 flying. Seen here with its distinctive forward swept wings it does even more than its predecessor.
The T-95,which appeared in the late 90s, produced by the famous Uralvagonzavod works,makers of the T-90 was to have a a main gun of minimum 135mm.
Around the same time another prototype,the black eagle produced by Omsk Transmash came out and was said to be fitted with a massive 152mm
It now appears the 2 designs were likely a test bed for a completely new tank to be called the Armata for which a whole family of armoured vehicles has been developed. I can't find photos anywhere but it will be a game changer.
Already the T-90 contains a 3 layered defense system: First is the shtora that fires a smoke curtain automatically when it senses a laser designator;the doppler radar equipped arena that shoots down incoming missiles and finally the reactive armour itself.
This producer of this short 5 minute video is knowledgeable and breaks it down for the neophyte.
Contrast with this excoriation of the MI Abrams from what an experienced US serviceman. Words like 'overrated' and 'paper tiger' are used in the 4 minute video.
The Akula came out in the 70s. It incorporates a 2 titanium hulls. As late as the 80s the CIA insisted Russia lacked the smelting technology for such a feat. It can dive twice the depth of its American counterpart up to 2000 feet.
The superfast Shkval (squall) torpedo is a massive 2 tons with 300 kg high explosive charge. It has been operational since the 90s and is capable of speeds of 220 mph 3 times faster than the next fastest model,the Brit Spearfish. Its been sold to the Ukraine,India and Iran.
The key to its speed is in the nose cone. Air is forced out encasing the entire body in a sheath of bubbles reducing drag. Its believed there are new models approaching the speed of sound.
As far back as the early 70s the Russians realised they couldn't compete against the West in the traditional naval manner:navies would match potential enemy tonnage ship for ship. They decided to go for technology to negate the Anglo Zionist advantage and found it with missiles.
The US still wedded to carrier based airpower only developed specific anti ship missiles with the Harpoon.
A host of similar NATO missiles soon came out in the following decades. Exocets,Otomats,Penguins and Sea Eagles were all sub sonic,with a maximum range of 100 nm and well under a ton in total weight.
They could still do serious damage to warships
The USS Stark was nearly sunk in the Persian Gulf in 1987 when an Iraqi mirage accidentally targeted it with an Exocet.
A closeup of the impact point
Ivan on the other hand turned his missiles into true ship killers. Big at over 20 feet,weighing over 2 tons and flying over twice the speed of sound they're a nightmare for any competent Western naval commander sailing into harms way.
They're the last 6 in this series.
The Sunburn was purposely designed to defeat the US Aegis combat system with a very low flight profile and violent terminal manouevres. When the Iranian defence minister Ali Shamkhani visited Moscow in October 2001 for a special demonstration he immediately ordered at least 20. Some say this is the real reason the US will never do anything more than alternately bark and sabre rattle at the Persians
Observers have declared the day of the supercarrier is dead. Thanks to the supersonic speed and payload the kinetic energy of a heavyweight supersonic missile would at the very least mission kill anything afloat while 2 good hits anywhere on the hull would sink it.
Only the US operates supercarriers. With over 5000 crewmen of all types, displacing over 100,000 tonnes at a 1000 feet long these giant ships are actually bumbling missile magnets. Carrying tens of thousands of tons of fuel,at least 40 aircraft, unimaginable amounts of highly explosive ordnance and the incalculable prestige of being the potent symbol of America these craft will go the way of the arquebus.
This was one of the first true battle rifles. The arquebus came out in the early 1500s when the crossbow was still the main weapon. It allowed massed fire and was in turn superseded by the musket.
Its a natural law that every weapons system has a natural life cycle that lasts only til its counter measure has
been found. With respect to the supercarrier that day has come in the form of Russian ingenuity seen in their fast heavy missiles.
China supersonic anti ship ballistic missiles have neutralize the US navy supercarriers or plane carriers threat to China. I Hope African countries create a modern weapon industry like China.
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