Il-114 Is Certified ...

 ... and it goes to serial production--NOW. 

So is TU-214 ... and SU-75 Checkmate's first flight is this year.  

MC-21, well, you know the story--it is now serial and first 17 ships are getting ready for delivery. A shortened version of it is also being produced. 

50 Times! Pepe Escobar In Moscow.

I expand here a little bit on the Moscow-Beijing axis, but not before reviewing what Sergei Chemezov and Rostec have in store for friends and enemies alike. 

Meanwhile, Pepe, who is in Moscow now, wrote an excellent piece for the Saker Blog. 

Whatever happens next geopolitically, Russia is at heart a – giant – obstacle on the warmongering path of the Hegemon: the ultimate target is top “threat” China. Putin’s ability to size up our extremely delicate geopolitical moment – via a dose of highly concentrated, undiluted realism – is something to behold. And then Foreign Minister Lavrov provided the sweet cherry on top, calling the hapless US ambassador for a hardcore dress down: oh yeah, this is war, hybrid and otherwise, and your NATO mercenaries as well as your junk hardware are legitimate targets. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council, now more than ever relishing his “unplugged” status, made it all very clear: “Russia risks being torn apart if it stops a special military operation (SMO) before victory is achieved.” And the message is even more acute because it represents the – public – cue to the Chinese leadership at the Zhongnahhai to understand: whatever happens next, this is the Kremlin’s unmovable official position.

The stage is, indeed, set, but one thing has to be understood--I repeat it non-stop for the last several years--and Vladimir Mozhegov explains it well today (In Russian): 

Russia is different and last Europe.

And she is not saving the previous one. Rightly so. The one which may (may, as in if) come instead of current cloaca--we will cross this bridge when we get to it.

Chemezov About S-550.

As I speculated earlier (a week ago) on S-550:

Yes, I saw that in the news. The dialectics of weapons development (in Russia) suggests extra-long range (1000 km) complexes against aerodynamic targets with the ranges of speeds up to Mach=10 with maneuvering capability. I stress, aerodynamic or atmospheric.

This speculation turned out to be very exact. Rostec's big honcho Sergei Chemezov speaking about S-550 disclosed some new details about it. 

ДУБАЙ, 15 ноября. /ТАСС/. Новейшие комплексы С-550 будут обладать большей дальностью обнаружения целей и дальностью действия ракет. Они смогут перехватывать любые цели, заявил журналистам глава госкорпорации "Ростех" Сергей Чемезов на международном авиасалоне Dubai Airshow 2021. "Это работа, которая никогда не останавливается и будет дальше вестись с тем, чтобы увеличить и дальность обнаружения, и дальность ракеты с возможностью перехвата любых целей. Вот на это и направлены работы по С-550".  

Translation:  DUBAI, November 15. / TASS /. The newest S-550 complexes will have a greater target detection range and missile range. They will be able to intercept any targets, Sergei Chemezov, head of the Rostec state corporation, told reporters at the Dubai Airshow 2021 international air show. "This is a work that never stops and will continue to be carried out in order to increase both the detection range and the range of the missile with the ability to intercept any targets. This is what the work on the S-550 is aimed at," he said.

Now, we may speculate more and assume with a very good level of reliability of our assumptions that we are looking at further development of S-500--incidentally, S-550 already exists as a weapon system--and we will be looking at a system with the range of intercept of aerodynamic and hyper-sonic targets of atmospheric variety (including gliders) at insane ranges. For purely anti-ballistic tasks we know A-235 Nudol is already in and its mobile version should start arriving to front-line units fairly soon. I am going out on a limb here and propose that S-550 is a system to basically ground any Air Force in the world permanently in Russia's immediate and medium-range geographic vicinity (up to 1000 kilometers) and address any issue of salvos of cruise missiles. 

Generally speaking, the whole notion of S-550 deployed somewhere around St. Petersburg being able to shoot down any NATO aircraft taking off from airfields near Warsaw, or, if deployed in Kaliningrad, to shoot down combat aircraft taking off from Ramstein  is a grim proposition for NATO, but that is how it works nowadays. It also means no AWACS and targeting, since even with S-500 it is basically a death sentence to any recon and EW aircraft on the theater of operations, with around 1000 kilometer range of AD missiles, come on. Rumor has it that E-3's AN/APY-2 radar has a maximum range of up to 500 kilometers, which is a bad proposition already now with S-500 arriving to front-line units and capable to hit aerial targets at precisely this range. So, make your own conclusions. 

A lot of military mambo-jumbo talk will be initiated now on all kinds of "military" forums and in "military" media by fanboys and ignorant journos, but the simple truth expressed in layman's lingo is that if you have a bow and arrows and a good eye-sight and if I have a AK-12 with collimator night vision sight, guess from three attempts who is going to win. Remarkably, as I state this for years and years, and years--there is nothing unexpected in Russia's weapons' development. In fact, it is boring and predictable: if Russia has 500 kilometer range AD complex, you can bet your own dear ass on the next complex with the range of 800 or 1,000 kilometers and faster and better missiles being in works. It's the same with Russia's anti-shipping missiles, just follow the speeds since 1960s: M-0.95 for Malakhits, M=1.3-1.5 for P-6/35, M=1.5-2.5 for P-700 Granit and P-270 Moskit, M=2.5-3.0 for P-800 Onyx, M=3.5 for X-31, M=4.2 for X-32, M=8-9 for 3M22 Zircon. GZURs with M=12+ and the range of 1,500 kilometers are coming. See any pattern? Same with AD complexes, or, for that matter, with anything else. If one can launch Zircon at 1,000 kilometers at M=9, then, as the logic goes, one will have little trouble creating AD missile of the same range and speed.

Twenty five years ago one US Navy SEAL wrote a book with a telling title--Never Fight Fair. This is exactly what war is and following Clausewitz dictum that the main object of war is "to compel enemy to do our will", there is nothing better for doing it than fielding a massively superior military technology, which breaks completely old warfare paradigms and sets up new ones. This is called Real Revolution in Military Affairs. In related news, Russia flew her MC-21 with PD-14 engines to Dubai. 

I know, Russia is collapsing especially strongly today. (/s).      

S-400 For Turkey.

This Wednesday CEO of Russian hi-tech giant Rostec, Sergei Chemezov confirmed in his in depth interview to Kommersant that Turkey, indeed, bought 4 battalions (divizion) of S-400 Air Defense System. The value of contract is $2.5 billion, with 45% of cash advance (paid) and 55% of Russia issuing a loan to Turkey--a pretty standard practice in large weapon systems purchase contracts.  There is no need to go in depth about this system--it is arguably the best air defense complex in existence and it has more than enough global publicity, especially after closing Syria's skies over Russian bases there, that now there is a line to buy this weapon system. Turkey contract, however, is very special. 

Make no mistakes, Russia has experience with providing NATO members with weapon systems--enough to recall deliveries of TOR-M1 Air Defense Complexes to Greece. But Turkish case is very special. Turkey is a strategic anchor for NATO's southern flank, it has largest armed forces in NATO, with the exception of the US itself, it is also hugely important regional power--so, ramifications of Turkey being increasingly pulled towards Russia, not only in some key economic fields such as nuclear energy, Turkish Stream or being present on Russia's internal consumer market, but in hi-end weaponry are immense. Well, of course Erdogan is an extremely inconvenient client and nobody really has any illusions on Turkey being perspective ally of Russia in the region, but deliveries of S-400 do change regional dynamics tremendously. After all, Turkey will be able to close her airspace to anybody, including, of course, ever moody United States. In general, Turkey gets a really strong card in her dealings with NATO (forget EU--by now only sublime believe in Turkey being accepted to EU), while Russia gets a good chunk of cash and of influence--and this is not a bad thing for Russia, once one considers that Russia already got a foothold right next to Turkey. Namely in Syria, with Putin ratifying today Russian-Syrian Agreement on the naval base in Tartus. This agreement allows Russian Navy to have in this base simultaneously 11 ships and submarines, including ones with nuclear propulsion.

I am pretty sure some former Soviet 5 OPESK (Operational Squadron) veterans who experienced all "privileges" of staying anchored in Hammamet Gulf for days "resting" (or rusting) while US 6th Fleet was having fun on its furloughs in Naples teared up now, imagining safe and comfortable conditions which Tartus will offer shortly. Tartus, of course, is not Naples (albeit, today Naples is a certified multicultural shithole) but it sure as hell beats being "parked" in the middle of Hammamet. Tartus is a lovely historic town where good booze and good food can easily be procured and many Syrians traditionally vacation there. Here is pre-war Tartus. Russian bases now sure as hell will guarantee that the place will remain peaceful for awhile and that it may, at some point of time, attract even non-military tourists.

Naval Base in Tartus allows to control Eastern Mediterranean, while the delivery of S-400 increases Turkey's degree of freedom required for very serious strategic decisions. It is a balancing act, but once one compares the mid of 2015 to the end of 2017 and how dramatically both global and regional situation changed for Russia, one may begin to appreciate a geopolitical trapeze act Russia has to perform to preserve an emerging configuration in a globally important region.