In addition to writing for Aviation Week Network, Maxim holds a key position at Russia's Air Transport Observer magazine (www.ato.ru). In the past he was in charge of several ATO sister aerospace publications and earlier worked for the Moscow-based CAST defense think-tank.
Maxim has a degree on international relations from MGIMO University, Moscow, Russia, and for several years worked at the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Maxim Pyadushkin (Farnborough), Michael A. Taverna (Farnborough)
The Russian air force will take delivery of its first Sukhoi Su-35S fighter by the end of the year, with a Libyan deal for the aircraft also anticipated to be concluded in the same time frame. Sukhoi CEO Mikhail Pogosyan confirmed here that the air force would begin to receive the latest upgrade of the Su-27 Flanker before the year is out. The Su-35S, sometimes also known as the Su-27M2, matches the Flanker airframe with more powerful 117S engines, thrust vector control and new avionics and systems.
Maxim Pyadushkin (Moscow), Douglas Barrie (London)
Moscow continues to pursue a comparatively aggressive schedule for its fifth-generation fighter, with a pre-production batch of the Sukhoi T-50 planned to enter manufacturing in 2012. The defense ministry, however, appears to be moderating previous claims that the aircraft would enter service in 2015, with senior officials now suggesting delivery of the first operational standard of the aircraft would begin in 2016. It remains to be seen if, even with a year’s slip, the revised schedule can be met.
The Russian military is continuing to juggle its rotary lift requirements with a further extension of the Hind combat support helicopter’s life in Moscow’s inventory. Last month the air force decided to order 22 Mil Mi-35Ms—the latest development of the Mi-24 Hind family—as part of a wider program to begin to overhaul the military’s rotary aircraft inventory.
