Back in February 2019 when Russian news websites posted the first articles about the new Burevestnik “nuclear powered cruise missile”, I almost wrote about how ridiculous the idea was, since clearly nobody would be silly enough to build a nuclear powered cruise missile. The whole thing was surely just Russian propaganda exaggerating the abilities of a new project, like they had with the PAK-TA back in 2015. Fast forward to August 2019 and an apparent explosion during an engine test killed at least five people and spewed radiation into the atmosphere. I’m no longer so sure, maybe the Russians really Continue Reading
Russia
Russia Does Not Start Designing New Super Transport
Over the past few days Russian media sites such as Sputnik and Russia Today have been reporting on plans for a new super-heavy transport aircraft for the Russian Air Force, under the title “PAK-TA”. There were conflicting statements about the specifications, although the aircraft would undoubtedly be huge, carrying 200T+ of cargo over 7000km (4350 miles). However what stood out most was the unusual design presented in all the articles. It is unclear why the design is coming from the Volga-Dnepr (a specialist cargo-charter airline), when other sources claim that Ilyushin (an actual design bureau) will be designing the aircraft. What is however Continue Reading