The portfolio of Russian military industry increases

Rosoboronexport has informed that the portfolio of Russian military industry increased in the first 6 months of 2017 from 42 to 45 billion $. The main successes of previous years have been the sale of Su-35s, Su-32s (to Algeria) and naval contracts with India. According to Rosoboronexport sources there is an increased interest in Russian equipment following it's use in combat.

The figure is noticeable if we take into account that countries like China, Turkey and South Korea. Russia has also gained new markets like UAE and Kuwait. The collapse of relations with Ukraine have not really affected the fulfillment of contracts, and Russian companies have been replacing Ukrainian suppliers. In the cases where it was not possible, agreements with other countries were reached.

References:

- http://roe.ru/press-centr

Fifty years since the first flight of the Su-24 Fencer

The second of  July marked the 50th anniversary of the su-24 first flight. It was carried out by the test pilot Vladimir Ilyushin. The T-6-1 prototype was rather different from the final version, which entered service in 1975. It did not have variable geometry wings. Despite the long development the Fencer was a success, it was produced until the 1990s and exported in good numbers. It will remain in service for a few more years with several Air Forces.

T-6-1 (airwar.ru)

References:

- https://www.ruaviation.com/news/2017/7/4/9116/

- http://www.airwar.ru/enc/xplane/t6.html

T-72B accident in Minsk

A T-72B suffered an accident during a rehearsal for the independence parade at Mink. The most likely cause was excessive of speed. It seems that the driver did try to slow down before losing control. In the first photo a EQ2058 vehicle (from China) can be seen.

References:

- http://www.tank-net.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14200&page=263

Possible T-90 acquisition by Egypt

According to several Russian blogs, Egypt could have signed a contract for 400-500 T-90MS. The dea would include final assembly in local facilities. At the moment there is no more information. Is the contract is indeed signed, it would be a huge success for Uralvagonzavod, manufacturer of the vehicle.

T-90MS (http://img.news.sina.com).

In recent years Egypt has acquired large quantites of Russian hardware (S-300, MiG-29, Ka-52). The financing would be provided by the Middle East monarchies, who want to avoid Iranian influence in the region.

References:

- http://altyn73.livejournal.com/1179256.html

Ammunition used by ISIS tanks

Jim Warford has uploaded this graphic at tank-net forum. It shows the different ammunition used by T-55s/ and T-72s operated by ISIS. The round on the left is probably a BM-8 APDS. It was retired in the late 70s due to obsolesence. The one in the middle is a Belgian M1000A1 APFDSD, exported to Syria in the 1980s. The one on the right is the hardest to identify. The nose is quite long, thus it could be a 3BM-42

References:

- http://www.tank-net.com/forums/

- http://www.mecar.be/data/1156859729100mmM1000.pdf

- http://www.kotsch88.de/m_100mmmun.htm#br

- http://fofanov.armor.kiev.ua/Tanks/ARM/apfsds/ammo.html 

Shooting competition organised by North Korean Air Force

The North Korean Air Force has published photos of the targeting/shooting competition, organised yearly. The event is very simple, a darts board is drawn in a proving ground and different types of aircrafts shoot at it. The event was  supervised by Kim Jong-Un.

References:

- http://forum.keypublishing.com/

- Fotos vía twitter.

Sosna-U fire control system in a T-72B3

These photos are rather interesting because they show the “insides” of T-72B3, the upgraded version used by the Russian Army. Large numbers have been acquired in recent years and they were used in the Ukraine conflict. The main improvement is the Sosna-U FCS (Fire control system), which has a thermal sight. The first image shows another T-72 as seen by the thermal camera. The second image shows a screen for the driver.

The third image shows the parameters included in the FCS. In previous versions many of these were not included. Now they are calculated automatically. The first 5 are:

- Temperature of propellant.
- Temperature of air
- Atmospheric pressure.
- Wind speed.
- Lateral inclination.

References:

- http://www.tank-net.com/
- http://otvaga2004.mybb.ru/