Russian Doomsday Plane Flies to Tehran – Time to Understand These Airborne Command Posts

Russia dispatched a Tupolev Tu-214PU airborne command post, often referred to as a “Doomsday plane“, to Tehran‘s Imam Khomeini International Airport. Tu-214PU aircraft, registration number RA-64531, operating under call-sign RSD420, took off from Moscow and landed in Tehran at around 10:10 am (IST) on July 13. The deployment coincided with escalating U.S. and Israeli airstrikesContinue reading “Russian Doomsday Plane Flies to Tehran – Time to Understand These Airborne Command Posts”

How the Sukhoi Design Bureau Overtook the Great Mikoyan Design Bureau

During the Cold War, the Mikoyan-Gurevich (MiG) design bureau held a monopoly on frontline fighters (like the MiG-21 and MiG-29), while the Sukhoi Design Bureau (Sukhoi) specialized in strike aircraft. Sukhoi seems to have surpassed the legendary MiG pack due to the massive success of the Su-27 “Flanker” family. Mikoyan’s financial struggles following the SovietContinue reading “How the Sukhoi Design Bureau Overtook the Great Mikoyan Design Bureau”

F414 “Trap”: After 3X Price Hike, Why Swapping U.S. GE Engines for India’s Tejas Mk-2 & AMCA Won’t Be Easy

Commercial negotiations for the GE F414 engine, selected to power India’s Tejas Mk-2 and the initial variants of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), have hit a serious roadblock. Despite an earlier agreement on technology transfer, GE Aerospace has sharply escalated its price demands — nearly tripling the per-unit cost. Initial estimates had put theContinue reading “F414 “Trap”: After 3X Price Hike, Why Swapping U.S. GE Engines for India’s Tejas Mk-2 & AMCA Won’t Be Easy”

“Too Big to Fail”: How Pakistan Plays Both Superpowers — U.S. & China — For Endless Bailouts & Staying Relevant: OPED

Pakistan’s PM Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir arrived in Switzerland for the Iran Peace talks. Qatar’s foreign ministry announced “the launch of the Lake Lucerne Summit and the first meeting of the high-level committee with the participation of representatives from the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the twoContinue reading ““Too Big to Fail”: How Pakistan Plays Both Superpowers — U.S. & China — For Endless Bailouts & Staying Relevant: OPED”