| Mako11 | 05 Dec 2016 1:14 p.m. PST |
Russia lost a Su-33, as it attempted to land on the Kuznetsov, and its deck cable snapped, apparently, either due to neglect (rust), and/or overuse. Might want to check on those a bit more frequently, and/or update the replacement schedule for those. So, it sounds like the Sukhoi ended up in the drink, but the pilot was able to safely eject. link That's two jets lost in a short period of time, on ops off Syria. They lost a Mig-29K a bit before this one. |
| Lion in the Stars | 05 Dec 2016 1:45 p.m. PST |
Shame about the bird, but glad the pilot survived. |
| zoneofcontrol | 05 Dec 2016 2:14 p.m. PST |
After the previous stories about the ship being towed. Could it be possible that there were no tugs available and they relied on the jet to tow the ship?!? |
| 15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 05 Dec 2016 3:12 p.m. PST |
It is a shame such a beautiful and elegant fighter was lost but don't be too sorry. The plane just came back from bombing (or supporting planes that bombed) "terrorists" and possibly civilians in Aleppo.
I'm surprised it didn't just fly out of and land from the base in Latakia. Guess they needed to gain more operational experience taking off/landing on a flight deck. |
| PMC317 | 06 Dec 2016 4:05 a.m. PST |
28mm Fanatik – RuAF planes are bombing civilians – but not in Aleppo. That's the province of the SyAAF. |
| wminsing | 06 Dec 2016 7:09 a.m. PST |
Well the Russians are learning like the Chinese will soon learn that carrier operations are in fact quite hard. -Will |
| Mako11 | 06 Dec 2016 2:07 p.m. PST |
Yep, and just occasional practice doesn't cut it. You have to keep at it full-time to remain sharp. |
| Lion in the Stars | 06 Dec 2016 10:56 p.m. PST |
And even with constant practice, it will still kill you if you so much as blink at the wrong time. |
| Los456 | 07 Dec 2016 6:20 a.m. PST |
Yeah the Kuznetsov maintains a similar OPtempo to our US carriers, and its a ship that has been around for quite a while, so I dont think the Russians are learning anything they haven't already known for a long time. Arresting cables also snap on our carriers as well and Carrier-based aircraft experience accidents in our Navy as well. Carrier aviation is just a dangerous business. |
| 15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 07 Dec 2016 1:30 p.m. PST |
Carrier aviation is just a dangerous business. Especially on a moonless night. It's a scary undertaking to land on a rolling, pitching flight deck even under normal circumstances and has been likened to a "controlled crash." Still, these articles give me a chuckle because they imply that the Russians are incompetent, inexperienced, or both. We just lost another Hornet (the latest of several already lost this year) in routine operations and most of us aren't even aware of it. link |
| Deadles | 07 Dec 2016 2:48 p.m. PST |
I've noticed the spate of F/A-18 crashes. Usually it's the F-16 that suffers a higher attrition rate (simply due to numbers flown across the world by a large number of users). By all account USMC training especially has been hit hard by sequestration as well as problems with maintenance planning. And most USMC F/A-18 ops are land based, not carrier ones. |
