Massive Expansion Underway At Russia’s Northernmost Arctic Air Base (Updated)
The Arctic base’s runway was expanded last year and now a large apron area is being built to support large-scale deployments.
Tag: A-50
The Air Force Almost Got A Near Hypersonic Radar Plane Killing Cruise Missile Decades Ago
The primary goal was to give bombers, such as the B-52, a means to destroy Soviet air defense sites and airborne early warning and control aircraft.
The SR-71 Blackbird’s Predecessor Created “Plasma Stealth” By Burning Cesium-Laced Fuel
The A-12 – the predecessor to the U.S. Air Force’s iconic SR-71 Blackbird – was extremely high- and fast-flying, but also incorporated then-state-of-the-art features to reduce its radar cross-section. These included a combination of a stealthy overall shape and radar-evading structures, as well as the use of composites in its construction and the application of radar absorbing materials to its skin. A far less known, but still a key component of the Skunk Works plan to make the A-12 harder to spot on radar involved a cesium-laced fuel additive to cut the radar signature of the plane’s massive engine exhausts and afterburner plumes by creating an ionizing cloud behind the aircraft to help conceal its entire rear aspect from radar waves.
Moscow Disputes Seoul’s Account Of Unprecedented Aerial Altercation Over Sea Of Japan
Russia has disputed that one of its military aircraft violated South Korea’s national airspace over disputed islets in the Sea of Japan, as well as reports that South Korean fighter jets fired approximately 360 20mm cannon shells in a series of warning shots during the altercation. The incident occurred during a joint Russian-Chinese aerial patrol involving two Tu-95MS Bear bombers and an A-50 Mainstay airborne early warning and control aircraft from Russia’s military flying together with a pair of China’s H-6K bombers.