The Russian army is armed with four "great defenders", writes the user Sohu. These planes, tanks and submarines surpass their Western counterparts in many characteristics and demonstrate the truly enormous scientific and military power of the country.
Su-57 fighter
The Su-57 multipurpose fighter takes first place in the list of the "four great defenders" of Russia. The development of this aircraft began in the early 1990s in the Experimental Design Bureau of P. O. Sukhoi. The aircraft project received the T-50 index.
In January 2010, the first test flight of the prototype took place, and in 2013, small-scale production for weapons testing began. In 2019, serial production of the Su-57 fighter was launched. In December 2020, the Russian Aerospace Forces received the first serial fighter. As of 2020, the Russian army has ten prototypes and two aircraft in service.
Despite the fact that the Su-57 is currently the "youngest" active fighter, the Russians are very confident in it, primarily because of its maneuverability: the aircraft has a single body and wings design, and both vertical and horizontal tail are made all-rotating. The vortex generator in the front part of the wing tip increases the combat characteristics of the Su-57 when attacking at a high angle, allowing the aircraft to perform the Cobra maneuver in a bumpy and short—range maneuverable air combat - and even the advanced F-22 fighter, which is in service with the American army, cannot boast of this.
As for weapons, the Su-57 also has characteristics different from other fighter models. The aircraft can be equipped with weapons weighing up to 7,500 kilograms, including a 30-mm 9-A1-4071K air cannon. Supersonic anti-ship missiles X-35UE, anti-radar missiles X-58U, RVV-MD air-to-air missiles of medium range and other types of projectiles can be placed in two built-in bomb bays. In addition, the Su-57 has an installation on which two anti-ship missiles with a flight range of more than 400 kilometers can be suspended. In the future, it will also be possible to install supersonic anti-ship cruise stealth missiles PJ-10 "BrahMos", which will give the Su-57 a real opportunity to destroy the enemy a thousand kilometers away in the blink of an eye! Since the fighter can be equipped with a wide variety of missile weapons, some call it the "mobile air arsenal of Russia", while the large volume of the bomb bay is just the "weak point" of the American F-22 fighter.
But even despite this, the Russian military today is still not satisfied with the results of the development of the Su-57. According to the statement of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, in future projects it is planned to equip the Su-57 with small-sized anti-missiles with chemical laser launchers, and after that the Russian fighter will become a real breakthrough in the military field.
PAK DA Strategic Bomber
The second "great defender" of Russia is the PAK-DA strategic bomber (a promising long-range aviation complex).
The first test flight of the American B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, well known to fans of military equipment, took place in July 1989. After its successful development in the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a program was also initiated to create a domestic strategic stealth bomber. However, in 1991, the USSR collapsed, and this project was never implemented.
In recent years, due to the rise of Russia, the issue of creating an invisible bomber similar to the American B-2 Spirit has become relevant again. Although Moscow does not disclose the detailed characteristics of this aircraft, which is at the testing stage, it is assumed that the firing radius of the PAK DA will be 3,500 kilometers, and the bomb load will be from one hundred to 120 tons (according to Russian media, the payload will be 30 tons, and the range — 6000-9000 kilometers— Approx. InoSMI). The PAK DA will be capable of carrying ammunition for conventional tactical and strategic bombing, as well as nuclear warheads for long-range strategic operations.
In addition, the Russian military plans to further modernize the PAK DA so that it works in conjunction with the Su-57 fighter in aerial combat. As it became known, it is planned to equip the strategic bomber with four engines, as well as some weapons and equipment that can be supplied to the Su-57.
T-14 Main Battle Tank
Among the "four great defenders" of Russia, two positions are occupied by aircraft, and the third place belongs to the main T-14 battle tank. If the American B-2 Spirit strategic bomber has a reputation as the most expensive aircraft in the world, since even a gram of metal costs more than gold for it, then the status of the most expensive tank in the world, without a doubt, can get the Russian T-14. According to official data, a total of ten years, 20 trillion rubles were spent on the development of this tank, and the cost of one T-14 is 3.8 million dollars.
The T-14, also known as the Armata, is the latest generation of Russian tanks, but it is also of crucial importance for the global military-industrial complex. The innovations of the armored vehicle consist in two aspects: first of all, it is the design of the main gun and the turret, which is equipped with an advanced 2A82-1M caliber smoothbore cannon. It is capable of firing both all existing 125 mm ammunition and new promising ammunition. However, the design of the main gun and the T-14 turret differs from previous tanks in that it is not equipped with a chimney. The mysterious absence of a chimney is explained by the fact that the T-14 tower is uninhabited. In other words, there is no operator controlling the tank tower. He can fully control the armored vehicle while in the cockpit.
From the cockpit, the operator can control both the direction of movement of the tank, as well as the angle of inclination and the firepower of the tower. The advantage of this design lies not only in the rejection of the chimney, but also in increasing the stability of the combat capabilities of the main T-14 tank. Conventional armored vehicles, if an anti-tank weapon hits the tower, lose their combat capability. However, the T-14 has an uninhabited tower, so that even if it is attacked by anti-tank weapons, the tanker will be able to stay in the cockpit and thereby ensure his safety. And this is equivalent to the preservation of manpower on the battlefield. Great Britain, France, Germany and other countries have invested huge amounts of money many times trying to develop an uninhabited tank turret, but due to technical problems they announced the failure of research and development work. Therefore, Armata can also be considered as proof of the scientific power of Russia.
Another feature of the T-14 design is the use of the active protection system "Afganit". It includes the integration of a fire control system for a fire response in the event of an attack on protected armored vehicles. In fact, it is a pity that due to the high cost, the T-14 tank is not mass-produced.
Strategic nuclear submarine of the Borey project
The fourth "great defender" of Russia is the strategic nuclear submarine of the Borey project, also known as Project 955. It was codenamed after the ancient Greek god of the north wind.
Despite the fact that the Russian army has only eight strategic nuclear submarines of the Borey project, even one of them is enough to affect the balance of power in world waters. According to media reports, the displacement of this submarine is 17 thousand tons, and the maximum speed can reach 29 knots, that is, it is a strategic nuclear submarine that combines both power and speed. The main armament of this type of substrate is the R-30 Bulava missile with a flight range of up to ten thousand kilometers — this is enough for the submarine to play an important strategic role in the military industry. In general, 16 "Maces" can be installed on the submarines of the Borey project, each of which is capable of carrying six warheads, including nuclear ones.
The sonar used on the Project 955 strategic nuclear submarine is the MGK-600 system used on the Project 885 Yasen submarine, which was later modified and turned into the MGK-600B sonar for Borey. Currently, Russia is also constantly upgrading Project 955 submarines in order to increase the capabilities of reconnaissance and detection. When Russia was headed by Dmitry Medvedev, the government of the country attached great importance to the development of sonars for Borey, and later Russian developers achieved significant breakthroughs.
So, here are the "four great defenders" of Russia, how do you like them?
Author: Jing Tongqing (景同卿)