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Aviation History
1988
1988 - 1278.PDF
DEFENCE Pentagon reviews Soviet power WASHINGTON D.C. The military spending gap between the Soviet Union and the USA was "virtually eliminated" for the first time in recent years, according to the latest edition of Soviet Military Power. The Pentagon's annual breakdown of the military balance between the two superpowers observes, however, that over the last decades the Soviet Union has spent almost 20 per cent more than the USA on its military, and that the country spends roughly two-and-3-half times as much of its gross national product on defence as the USA. US Secretary of Defence Frank Carlucci also says "We have seen no evidence of the USSR changing the offensive nature of its force structure". This view was strongly disputed by several academics who testified before the House Forign Affairs Committee last week, where the widely held view was that Mikhail Gorbachev is committed to reducing defence expenditure in order to spend more on building up its high- technology base. "The goal of current Soviet strategy," said one speaker, including their extraordinary flexibility in arms control, "is to create a benign foreign policy environment. This would allow the Soviets to divert resources from direct investment in defence and to reap the economic benefits of technological co-operation with the advanced industri alised capitalist states". Of principal significance in this year's Soviet Military Power is the revelation that the Soviets have constructed a huge complex of underground tunnels and bunkers to house their leadership in time of war. Estimates have equalled the cost of this system to that of creating one leg of its stra tegic nuclear defence triad (such as a fleet of ballistic missile submarines). Carlucci says simply that such a system would be "enormously expensive for an already strapped economy". The book contains a satel lite photograph of entrance facilities to a "wartime relo- 12 The Utka-class wing-in-ground-effect (Wige) aircraft has been under development for several years, but deploy ment is still over a year away. The Wige combines considerable range and payload with a minimal thrust requirement, which poses the question of why the vehicle shown has eight engines. Flight understands that later applications could include the coastal defence role, using the extra power to drive an anti-cruise-missile laser cation centre for the Soviet National Command Author ity" a few kilometres south of Moscow. "Such facilities," says Carlucci, "demonstrate the Soviet commitment to surviving a nuclear war, and strike at the very basis for deterrence, since the lead ership would be able to survive the retaliation resulting from a Soviet first strike". The book concludes that the USSR clearly "expects to exercise national command and control through all phases of protracted nuclear war". Other highlights include: • Initial operational deploy ment of the Blackjack variable-geometry strategic bomber is imminent at Dolon AB, currently the main oper ating base of the Tu-142 Bear H force. Blackjack's unrefuelled combat radius is quoted as 7,300km, and the aircraft is capable of a Mach 2 dash. • The Soviet Union is expected to produce two new fighters in the mid-1990s: an air superiority fighter (ASF) for offensive counter- air operations, and a defensive counter-air fighter (CAF). The Pentagon says that the manoeuvrability of the ASF and CAF "will be significantly greater than that of the Flanker B and Fulcrum A". Initial operational capa bility for both types is This 16,000-tonne Oscar-class cruise missile (24 x SS-N-19s) submarine has been fitted with acoustic tiling to reduce its sonar signature. Gaps can be seen where several tiles have come off, leading to an increase in the passage noise generated expected in the late 1990s. • More than 12 11-76 Main stay airborne early-warning aircraft are now in service. The 11-76 Midas tanker became operational in 1987, principally to support the strategic bomber force. • A defence-suppression vari ant of the MiG-25, the Foxbat F, is entering service. Armed with the AS-9 Kyle and AS-11 Kilter anti-radar missiles, Foxbat F's mission would be stand-off attack of air defence radar systems. • Su-24 Fencer Es are being used in both the reconnais sance and electronic counter- measures roles, replacing the Yak-28D/E Brewers. • About 450 MiG-29 Ful- crums are in service, and all are based west of the Ural mountains, facing Nato's Central Front area. • The Air Defence Force operates more than 160 MiG- 31 Foxhounds and 100-plus Su-27 Flankers. Both types have true look-down/shoot- down capability. • The Soviet Navy has received the first examples of the C-model Backfire, used in the long-range anti-shipping role. • Deployment of the SS-24 Scalpel rail-mobile inter continental ballistic missile started in 1987. • The SS-N-21 sea-launched cruise missile has entered service. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 14 May 1988
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