they build thermonuclear devices but can't make a dependable jet engine...
Posted on 07/08/2010 5:43:16 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The head of Russia's MiG and Sukhoi aircraft design bureaus has stopped further export of RD-93 engines to China, citing use of the engines in MiG-29 clones.
Pravda, in a report earlier this week, said Mikhial Pogosyan sent an official letter to Russia's defense export enterprise Rosoboronexport, saying he made the decision because China's FC-1 jet fighter, which has been using the RD-93 engines, is a competitor to the MiG-29.
"Russian engineers are facing a tough choice: either to refuse from the contract (with China) worth $3.75 billion or lose African and Asian markets," Pravda wrote. "China's FC-1 does not have the advantage over Russia's MiG-29 from the point of view of performance but it is much cheaper: $10 million versus $35 million.
Ping
Oh boy — I’m sure the ChiComs are THRILLED with THAT development
So China can build a fighter for 10 million?
Ha! In America we can NOT build a fighter for $10 million.
{Instead we’ll spend that $10 Million on a lawsuit against Arizona...}
[/cynic]
An F-105 Thunderchief cost 2.14 million in 1960 when we still knew how to procure and produce weapons. Inflation adjusted, it would cost 15.7 million. This Chinese plane is a winner just on price if it is as cheap to maintain as a Mig-29
Yeah... that was back when we COULD produce.
But maybe the Chinese version is like some of the “cheap Chinese” stuff where a break-and-replace policy is more cost effective than “maintenance.”
For a very long time now, a military aircraft is not a mode of trasportation, it is a weapons platform.
If all you want is a fuselage, wings, and an engine, you can build an aircraft for $10 million.
However, if you want a fully integrated avionics package including a decent radar, navigation, smart bombs, targeting pods, electronic countermeasures, failure redundancy, computer controlled flight controls, electronic full authority digital engine control, etc., it will cost $50-60 million.
The cost of an aircraft is not just how much the steel, titanium, aluminum, and paint cost, but also how much it cost to design and develop the airframe. When you rip off someone else’s design, you bypass a large hunk of that cost.
You also need to take into account the deep corruption within the Russian Army and Russian Military Industrial Complex.
I think that Russia might finally be seeing the light, or at least a glimmer of the light. Too bad they haven’t put 2 and 2 together on Iran yet.
Hopefully they will tackle the corruption in their aerospace industry.
plan B The WS-13 for Guizhou Aero Engine Group.
plan C The WS-9 or WS-9A for Xian Aero Engine Group.
chicom bump for later........
they build thermonuclear devices but can't make a dependable jet engine...
and the wily chins couldn't see that coming??? my bookie coulda told me that...
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