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http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #358 JANUARY 2018 // 19

Russia & CIS

Maiden flight for A-100 prototype

RUSSIA’S A-100 airborne

early warning and

control (AEW&C) aircraft

completed its first flight

on November 18 from

the Taganrog Aviation

Scientific and Technical

Complex (TANTK), near

the Sea of Azov in the

far west of the country.

The milestone was

announced by the

mission-system designer,

Vega Radio Engineering

Concern, part of Russian

Electronics of the

Rostec Corporation.

According to Vega, the

first A-100 prototype

tested aerodynamic

characteristics, avionics

and various elements of the

‘radio-technical complex’

during its maiden flight.

The A-100 is intended

to replace Vozdushno-

Kosmicheskiye Sily

Rossiyskoy Federatsii (VKS

RF, Russian Federation Air

and Space Force) A-50 and

A-50U Mainstay aircraft

from 2020. Compared

with its predecessors,

the A-100 incorporates

an active electronically

scanned array (AESA) radar

• codenamed Premier – as
  opposed to a mechanically
  scanned radar.

Above: The A-100 utilises the airframe of the Il-76MD-90A – also known as the Il-476. The

initial prototype has been completed using the third Il-76MD-90A airframe: serial 01-03 that

was delivered to Taganrog in November 2014. Meanwhile, 01-04 delivered in April 2015 will

become the A-60SE combat airborne laser system prototype. UAC

Tu-160M

rolled out

at Kazan

A FIRST example of the

Tu-160M2 strategic bomber

has been rolled out at the

Kazan Aviation Plant, the

United Aircraft Corporation

(UAC) announced

on November 16.

The aircraft is thought

to have used the airframe

of one of two aircraft that

were left uncompleted after

production of the original

Tu-160 came to an end in

1994. These are serials
      8-04 and 8-05, both of
      which are expected to
      become test aircraft for
      the Tu-160M2 version.
      The Tu-160M
      incorporates the same
      basic airframe as the

existing Tu-160 Blackjack,

but includes all-new

avionics, electronics,

cockpit, communications

and control systems, as

well as new weapons. New

NK-32 series 02 engines

of increased thrust are

also to be incorporated.

The Tu-160M2 project was

first publicly announced

in April 2015, during a visit

to the Kazan factory by

the Russian minister of

defence Sergei Shoygu.

In February 2016, the

commander-in-chief of

the aerospace forces

Viktor Bondarev declared

the first new Tu-160M

would fly in 2019, after

which series production

would begin. However,

according to Russian news

agency TASS, first flight

has now been brought

forward to February 2018.

Series production of the

improved Tu-160M2 for

the VKS will begin in 2023.

It’s planned that two to

three Tu-160M2s will be

produced annually by the

Gorbunov Aircraft Plant

in Kazan under a contract

signed by UAC and the

Russian Defence Ministry.

In October 2016, deputy

defence minister Yuri

Borisov announced the VKS

had a total requirement

for 50 Tu-160M2s.

First

production

Mi-28UBs

enter

service

AN INITIAL batch of two

Mi-28UB combat training

helicopters has been

delivered to the VKS.

The Russian defence

ministry announced on

November 17 that the

new dual-control variants

had been delivered from

the Rostvertol factory

in Rostov-on-Don to

the 344th TsBPiPLS

(Centre for Combat

Applications and Flight

Crew Training)/696th IIVP

(Training and Research

Helicopter Regiment) at

the 339th Training Air

Base at Torzhok in the

Tver Region. They had

been formally transferred

to the VKS at Rostov-

on-Don on November

9 following completion

of acceptance flights.

Signature of a contract

with Russian Helicopters

for the first batch of

24 series production

Mi-28UBs was announced

by the defence ministry on

April 24, 2016. On August

22 the next year, Russian

Helicopters confirmed

that the first eight were all

expected to be delivered

by the end of 2017

• see Mi-28UB enters
  production for Russia,
  October 2017, p24. All
  factory tests had been
  completed by October

19. Delivery of all 24
    helicopters is expected to
    be completed by the end
    of 2018. Dave Allport

New Be-200ChS

for EMERCOM

Above: The third Taganrog-built Be-200ChS for Emercom, RF-31140 (c/n 64620070305, line

number 03-05), takes off from Taganrog on November 27 for its maiden fl ight. UAC

ANOTHER NEW production

Be-200ChS firefighting

and search and rescue

(SAR) amphibian has

been flown. It is destined

for the Ministry of the

Russian Federation for

Civil Defence, Emergencies

and Elimination of

Consequences of Natural

Disasters (MChS Rossii

or EMERCOM). The

aircraft, RF-31140, made its

maiden flight on November

27 from Taganrog.

It is one of six ordered

through a state contract

signed on May 25, 2011.

Handover to EMERCOM

was scheduled to take

place before the end of

December 2017, once

acceptance tests had

been completed. The

aircraft will be operated by

EMERCOM’s integrated

Krasnoyarsk aviation

rescue centre, part of

the Siberian Regional

Centre. Dave Allport

Russian Falcon in Iran

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT

Vladimir Putin travelled

to Tehran on November 1

to visit regime authorities

including Iran’s Supreme

Leader Ali Khamenei for the

second trilateral Caspian

Summit. Putin arrived in

a convoy of governmental

aircraft operated by

Spetsialny Letny Otryad

• Rossiya (Special Flight
  Detachment [SLO Rossiya]).
  These consisted of Il-62M
  RA-86539, two Il-96s
  (including RA-96022),
  Tu-204-300 RA-64059,
  Tu-214 RA-64520 and,
  as seen here, Falcon
  7X RA-09007.

Keyvan Tavakkoli

Above: Although the fi rst fl ight of the Tu-160M2 has been brought forward, it seems likely that

serial 8-04 will only be modernised to full M2 standard after fl ight trials. UAC