RUSSIAN FIGHTERS AND CRUISE MISSILE

Russian media has reported that the upcoming T-50 PAKFA is having a new cluster bomb developed specially for carriage on the fighter. Dubbed “Drill,” the munition relies on satellite navigation for guidance and has an effective range of 30 km. Russia is one of only 16 nations left that still produces cluster munitions.

Russian fifth-generation fighter T-50, which also is called PAK-FA (Russian acronym for Future Tactical Fighter), will enter the full-rate production late in 2017. Delivery of production-standard PAK-FAs to the Russian Aerospace Force would commence in 2018.

Progress has been made in talks between Pakistan and Russia over the purchase of the Su-35 fighters. Pakistani Ambassador to Russia Qazi Khalilullah called the talks “fruitful” adding that Islamabad “is considering different options of deepening cooperation with Russia.”

An export version of the Kalibr cruise missile may be sold to India. Due to provisions of international agreements that prohibit the export of missiles with a greater flight distance, the distance of the export models could be curtailed to less than 300 km. The Kalibr has seen battlefield testing during Russia’s support for the Syrian Government.