The Russian jets are a serious competition for the US F-15 fighters. The jets of Russia’s renowned Sukhoi design bureau proved to be more successful than their US competitors during a number of tests. The Pentagon has been trying to obtain the Russian warplanes, and Ukraine helped the nation do it legally.

The news about the deal between the USA and the Air Force of Ukraine appeared on the US-based website Strategypage.com. The website said that Russia’s Su-27 fighters were technically similar to F-15 jets, although the Russian planes were 30 percent cheaper.

Several Su-27 jets landed at Langley US air base in the summer of 1992, upon the agreement with the US side. Russian pilots examined F-15 jets at the base and proposed a simulated combat. The US pilots did not like the idea much: they thought that it would be too risky to hold the fight above the base in front of photographers and TV cameras. They eventually accepted the offer, but agreed to hold the mock fight above the Atlantic Ocean, 200 kilometers far from the coast.

The scheme of the mock fight was very simple. A Sukhoi was supposed to fly behind a US jet, and the planes were supposed to switch places with one another.

A US plane attempted to fly away from the Russian jet, but the Russian pilot caught up with the F-15 very easily. The planes switched places, and the Su-27 flew away from the F-15 making a turn and gaining altitude. The Russian jet found itself behind the American fighter a couple of minutes later. The F-125 pilot lost the Russian aircraft out of sight and could not escape from it afterwards: the Russian pilot was keeping the F-15 covered.

The F-15 lost another battle with Russia’s Su-27 in the autumn of 2000, during the US-Japanese drills in the Pacific Ocean. Two Su-27 jets, covering the Su-24MP, conducted a sudden attack of the flagship of the US 7^th fleet, Kitty Hawk. The US aircraft carrier would have been destroyed in real combat conditions.

The US Defense Department is seriously concerned about the growing sales of Su-27 and Su-30 all over the world. Russia has been shipping these jets to India, China, Malaysia, Venezuela, Indonesia and Algeria for years.

Now the US purchased two Su-27 fighter jets from Ukraine. The US military command will now be able to study the phenomenon of Russia’s Sukhoi design bureau thoroughly.

Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev and Germany’s Angela Merkel held a meeting within the scope of the forum to discuss issues of cooperation between the two countries.

Germany has become Russia’s major partner in Europe during the recent years. To which extent are the Russian-German relations strong? Pravda.Ru interviewed one of the leading German experts on Russia, an expert with the German Council for Foreign Politics, Alexander Rar.

“How would you estimate the relations between Russia and Germany?”

“I would say that Germany is the closest partner for Russia in Europe and maybe in the whole world. The two countries always stand together when other states attempt to push Russia from Europe to Asia.”

“Which position does Germany has regarding the gas conflict between Russia and Ukraine?”

“We discussed this question at the German Council for Foreign Politics at the end if June. Germany virtually took Russia’s side. Russia will most likely become a member of the European gas consortium in the future because of Germany’s position on the matter.”

“Does Germany intend to build the Nord Stream gas pipeline?”

“As for Nord Stream, this project is doomed to be successful, because German firms have already invested in it. The German government will be taking a lot of effort to defend the project in spite of the fact that Poland and especially Sweden have been showing a lot of resistance against the project. But Germany will not stop there.

Europe has split in its attitude to the project, which is obviously a negative factor. Germany defends the project claiming that it will be good for everyone. German officials are seriously concerned about the pressure from Poland and Sweden, but the German government is not going to meet their instantaneous anti-Russian requirements.”

“Vladimir Putin is fluent in German. Has it played any role in the development of bilateral relations?”

“I think that it was a big mistake that we missed the chance to establish friendly relations with Russia during Putin’s eight years of presidency. Putin is probably the most Germany-oriented politician in Russia’s history. The two countries achieved a lot during his presidency. Putin’s knowledge of Germany and the German language will has obviously played a positive role. There will be no such chance after Putin, I’m afraid. We missed it because of Germany’s conservative US-oriented political elite.”

“Which are the major discrepancies between the two countries?”

“The biggest one is about the United States. It has been 20 years after the end of the Cold War, but the USA continues to promote NATO’s eastward expansion. Many in Germany share this point of view. Russia is right: what is the point of expanding NATO if no one is going to attack Eastern Europe? If there is no terrorist threat, then what’s the point of the US military presence? The Kremlin is especially concerned about the plans to deploy the missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

“Moscow believes that the European security must be based on Europe only, without the participation of the United States. This is not the position that many people in Europe share.”

“What about Germany’s criticism about the supposedly poor state of democracy in Russia?”

“This is another contradiction between Russia and Germany. Germany believes that Russia must strengthen its democratic institutes. The nation wants Russia to develop the Western style of democracy. German politicians believe that it would ease business relations with Russia and improve Russia’s image as a reliable partner.”

“Are Neo-Nazis strong in present-day Germany?”

“Nazism does not pose any threat to Germany today. This trash has been kicked out of Germany entirely. Local ultra right parties receive only two or three percent of votes at parliamentary elections in Germany. That is why, no one is going to take Russia’s Kaliningrad away, nor does Germany intend to seize other territories, which the nation lost as a result of WWII.”

The new pipeline is to be put in operation in 2014. The members of the Nabucco project do not conceal the fact that this is a political, rather than an economic project. Nabucco will be built to deprive Moscow of an opportunity to control gas shipments to Europe.

The members of the project could not sign the agreement since 2002 since it was not clear which country would be exporting its gas along the new pipeline. The gas from Egypt and Iraq was not enough, whereas the countries of Central Asia were following Russia as their major partner.

The European Union and the United States were showing more pressure on gas exporting countries promising support and benefits in return. As a result, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan agreed to fill the new pipeline with their gas. US officials did not conceal the feeling of deep satisfaction from such a decision.

Mikhail Saakashvili, the President of Georgia, arrived in Ankara to witness the beginning of the new project. Georgia does not participate in the construction of the pipeline, but the country took a lot of effort to make the anti-Russian project become real.

Mikhail Delyagin, the Director of the Institute for Globalization Problems, said that Nabucco was obviously a geo-strategic project of the United States.

“The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline separated Russia from the Caucasus, and Nabucco will contribute even more to it. Europe would obviously prefer to purchase gas from the Asian states, rather than from Russia’s Gazprom, because the Asian gas is not complicated with transit problems in Ukraine. One should also bear in mind the fact that the USA promised its support to Georgia prior to its aggression against South Ossetia to ensure Nabucco. The new pipeline will be built near South Ossetia, and the USA will need to establish either Georgia’s or NATO’s control over the nation. This is a weighty argument to have Georgia as a NATO member. The Georgian army will be provided with weapons to defend the competitive pipeline,” the expert said.

Nabucco’s capacity of 31 billion cubic meters is evaluated at approximately 7.9 billion EUR.

“It was our first visit to the new state, which appeared as an independent country nearly a year ago. It happened after an act of rude aggression on the part of the Georgian regime,”Itar-Tass news agency quoted Medvedev as saying. “The Georgian regime is entirely responsible for what happened in August of 2008,” Medvedev added.

“The Georgian nation will someday bring down its sentence on Saakashvili’s regime. Russia’s objective is to help the young nation rise to its feet, overcome difficulties and survive under very complicated conditions in the Caucasus,” the president told reporters at a news conference in Russia’s Sochi.

Speaking about the living conditions in the city of Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, Medvedev said that the life of the people there was very hard. However, he continued, all of them were grateful for Russia’s decisions, the nation made during the war. “If we hadn’t made those decisions, many of those people wouldn’t have been alive today. They were thanking Russia with tears in their eyes,” the Russian leader said.

Medvedev said that he visited Russia’s army base in Tskhinvali. “The base is a signal for those who may have idiotic plans in their heads,” he said.

Georgia attacked the unrecognized republic of South Ossetia on August 8, 2008. The majority of the South Ossetians hold Russian passports. Russia responded to Georgia ’s aggression immediately to defend its citizens. Georgia was defeated, and Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on August 26.

Dmitry Medeved also told reporters that a Russian strategic nuclear-powered submarine performed a successful launch of a ballistic missile on July 14. The president did not specify the class of the missile, though.

Russia has been testing its Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile for several years already. Several of such launches did not prove to be successful. A source from Russia’s Defense Ministry told Interfax news agency that it was not the Bulava missile, which Medvedev spoke of.

To all appearance, it goes about the launch of a sea-based strategic missile of the Russian Navy. The missile was launched successfully on Monday night. The test launches of the Bulava rocket will take place later, in accordance with a special program.

India may considerably enlarge its fleet of Russian-made Su-30MKI by 2015 – to 230 planes, news agencies reported with reference to India’s Defense Minister Arackaparambil Kurian Antony. The official said that India had purchased 98 of such fighter jets from Russia since 1996.

The quantity of warplanes, which Indian Air Force plans to purchase from Russia during the forthcoming years, is equal to the quantity, which the nation has already ordered within the framework of current agreements. In 2010, India will most likely have the fleet of 100 Russian fighters. The deal to purchase 120 jets from Russia will cost India about $12 billion.

Therefore, Su-30MKI may become the most common fourth-generation aircraft that has ever been exported in the world.

India considers acquiring USA’s F/A-18E/F as its frontline fighter, but the nation sees no alternative to Russia’s heavy interceptor jet for the time being. The analogue for Russia’s Sukhoi Su-30 is USA’s F-15 Eagle. The latter exists in three versions: F-15I – for Israel, F-15K – for South Korea and F-15J – for Japan. These planes differ from the point of view of their equipment and capacities.

For example, Japan’s warplanes are optimized for intercepting air targets, whereas F-15I are universal jets, just like F-15E Strike Eagle, on the basis of which they were made.

Russia’s Su-30 range develops similarly. Su-30MKK, designed for South Korea, are long-range interceptors, whereas the jets, which Russia designs for Malaysia , can work with ground targets. The flexibility of the Su-30 platform makes the jet Russia’s basic export warplane.

Many experts believe that the new and expensive designs of fifth-generation aircraft will not oust 4+ and 4++ generations – Russia’s Su-30 and Su-35. The capacity of the fifth-generation aircraft is excessive for many types of battle missions. The fourth-generation aircraft can be much more preferable at this point.

A computer modeling of an air fight between USA’s F-35 and Russia’s Su-30, which was conducted last year in Australia, showed that the state-of-the-art American fighter took advantage of the Russian jet in four of ten cases. US officials originally said that their plane would prove to be entirely predominant.