Wednesday, 17 September 2025

Ukrainian Zlin crop-duster carrying air-to-air missiles

 

From the 'Ukrainian News' FB page

 "..Ukrainian Crop-Duster Turned Drone Hunter. A Ukrainian tractor driver has captured rare footage of a Zlin Z-137T AgroTurbo agricultural aircraft — normally used for crop spraying — now modified to intercept and destroy Russian UAVs. The plane has been fitted with R-73 short-range air-to-air missiles, turning a civilian workhorse into an improvised air defense asset.This innovative adaptation reflects Ukraine’s ongoing ingenuity on the battlefield, where every available resource is re-purposed to counter Russia’s relentless drone attacks.."


From the Eduard Info page;

 ".. one option [ for combatting increased numbers of Russian drones..] is to give light aircraft the ability to strike Russian Shahed drones from a greater distance. This is how the agricultural aircraft of Czech (or Czechoslovak) origin, the Z-137T, has appeared in Ukrainian skies. It is a successor to the famous family that began with the Z-37 Čmeliak (Bumblebee). The aircraft was captured on a short video. It sports green-grey camouflage and two white stripes on the rear fuselage, which are the Army Aviation markings. Under the centre section, there are two additional fuel tanks, and two R-73 missiles under the wings. At the location of the missile pylons, two dark bands are visible encircling the wing, apparently reinforcements of the skin. The R-73 missiles use infrared guidance with a range of 30 to 40 kilometers depending on the version. On the Z-137T they are mounted on AKU-73 pylons. The aircraft itself has no radar or other equipment for targeting drones. The pilot must therefore be guided into the proper area by a ground control station. From there the missile takes over, being fully autonomous and able to find the target on its own. For this, however, it requires electrical power. It is therefore likely that the Z-137T has been fitted with an additional generator for this purpose. Voices were raised questioning the authenticity of the video on the grounds that the Z-137T lacks standard camouflage and the blue-yellow identification markings used at the front. It can only be said that none of the known photos of Yak-52 aircraft show a standard camouflage pattern either. They usually retain their original civilian paint, and some have even sported attempts at the wild camouflage schemes. The blue-yellow identification elements required in the combat zone are carried sparingly on Yaks as well, usually on the rudder only. These light aircraft do not operate near the frontline, but rather fight Russian drones in the interior..."



Tuesday, 2 September 2025

ВКС России получили четвёртую в 2025 году партию истребителей Су-35С - Russian Air Force accepts another 'batch' of Su-35S

 


The Russian Air Force has just received the fourth batch of Su-35S fighters this year. PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (UAC, part of Rostec State Corporation) announced on August 21, 2025 that it has handed over the next batch of new Su-35S multi-role fighters to the Russian Air Force. The 4++ generation aircraft passed a full cycle of factory tests, were accepted by the technical staff and tested in various operating modes by pilots of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
One of a batch of new Su-35S fighters built by the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Gagarin Aviation Plant (KnAAZ) of the United Aircraft Corporation, which were handed over to the Russian Air Force in August 2025. The onboard number is obscured (c) United Aircraft Corporation PJSC

UAC announced the transfer of the first batch of Su-35S fighters to the Russian Air Force in 2025 on March 29, 2025, the second batch on May 12, and the third batch on June 25. As usual, UAC reports from 2022 onward do not disclose the number of aircraft delivered, and the fighter aircraft's flight numbers are retouched on the official photos and videos distributed.The third batch handed over on June 25 reportedly consisted of three aircraft. According to "bmpd" on LiveJournal, during 2024, KnAAZ transferred four batches of Su-35S fighters to the Russian Ministry of Defense with a total estimated number of 15 aircraft. Presumably, the now transferred Su-35S fighters are manufactured under the additional (fifth) contract signed by UAC for the supply of Su-35S aircraft to the Russian Ministry of Defense. In total, taking into account previous contracts, the Russian Air Force has received an estimated 135 serial Su-35S fighters between 2012 and the end of 2024.



Monday, 1 September 2025

A review of RIAT 2025 - not a classic!

 


RIAT 2025 was not a classic! That is the general sentiment, reiterated in the report published in the current issue of Air Forces Monthly. While RIAT may still be the leading airshow in Europe in terms of aircraft participants, fast jet displays and international support, RIAT 2025 faced challenges like unexpected aircraft cancellations, including after the aircraft had actually arrived at Fairford - like the B-1. The missing Czech Gripen and Spanish Harrier were big disappointments. This also left static displays sparser than usual - full of holes in fact. Then there was the controversial £15 parking charge, which contributed to some attendees feeling the event was not its best. Despite these issues, the show also featured significant moments like the British airshow debut of the Boeing E-7 Wedgetail, along with the Egyptian and Pakistani participation. There were strong flying displays from various teams and nations, including the Polish F-16. Just weeks after RIAT the Polish Air Force F-16 crashed during a rehearsal for the Radom Air Show, killing Major Maciej “Slab” Krakowian, a 36-year-old NATO veteran and award-winning airshow performer and one of the country's top fighter pilots. Back to RIAT, the U2 in flight was a first and the Atlantique display was worth watching. I liked the comments of 'capercaillie';

" ..Well compared to last year I found Friday very underwhelming, not really going to be up with the recent excellent post COVID shows I'm afraid to say. Yes there are some superb attendees (Thank you Pakistan and Egypt), but they're few and far between and after you take them away, the secondary supporting cast you can usually find are completely absent. Static fast jets to watch powering out on departure days are so low in numbers, the massive void of space that greeted you Friday from where the U-2 is parked to the west end was something I never expected to witness at Fairford and never encountered previously since 1985. I enjoyed the Portuguese Merlin and Swedish Blackhawk, the Polish F-16 was very good (some of the hype on here was a little extreme - I've been watching Dutch and Belgian displays since the 80s) and I'm still puzzled as to why two Finnish F-18 displays were utilised as opposed to something different in the air - Atlantique, Tifon, M346 etc, but apparently that gets weirder today with two Danish F-16 displays???? I thought originally the plan was the U-2 to fly all three days..."

And 'binbrook87' on Flightline;

"...to me RIAT is about fast jets and to only have Typhoons, F-18, Gripen and F-16 in the flying programme this seemed well short on the norm. There just needed a couple more 'star' items. I know that the Harrier cancelled but it still needed more. Another Gripen wouldn't have made up the difference. Too many helicopter displays? Which unless you're at crowd centre you cannot appreciate at all. Maybe it's my age but the 'wow' factor just seemed to be missing this year. The flying seemed to stop earlier than previous years and it just sort of petered out rather than finishing on a high like most years..."


In the end RIAT 2025 probably just about met its aims of bringing in aircraft people would not see elsewhere, and the level of participation was perhaps -just-  the best of any airshow this year compared with other 2025 airshows in Europe. I certainly found plenty of highlights in both the static displays as well as the flying. This blogger was in Paris in June and while the static was not bad with a big US participation, the flying display was a little tame mid-afternoon on the Saturday afternoon with one prop warbird after another. Although these did include Bronco, Yak, Flamand, P-40 etc etc. And Paris did have a Lakenheath F-35 in the air - this was an amazing display seen from the runway end car-park fence! And somewhat bizarrely I thought, although F-22s were at Lakenheath during the month they couldn't get airborne for RIAT...




RAF Fairford is one of the main European bases of the legendary U-2 Dragon Lady Spy Plane so it was only fitting for the United States Air Force put on a display of how this aircraft gets in and out of the air with the aid of the Dodge Charger chase car being driven by another U-2 pilot. Dafydd Phillips video of the U-2 embedded via youtube coding. A single click on the red triangle to watch here. Thanks Daf!