Aero India 2011 kicks off tomorrow: MMRCA and technology transfer are the issues of the day

February 8, 2011

The 5 day Aero India 2011 airshow kicks off tomorrow in Bangalore and is expected to attract over 600 equipment vendors from over 60 countries. It also brings to a head the discussions within India as to how to stimulate the indigenous aviation industry and whether offset requirements in defence procurement are effective. There is a school of thought that technology transfer should be used and that offset requirements do not contribute to developing the industry. In the background is the competition for the $10 billion, 126 MMRCA aircraft contract that must be decided in March / April.

DNA reports:

In the premier Indian defence journal, Maj Gen (Retd) Mrinal Suman — who retired from the Indian Army in 2003 and currently heads the defence technical assessment and advisory service of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) — prescribes that India, at present, urgently needs FDI in the defence and military aviation sector which is technology-centric with inherent flexibility. He has suggested that FDI could be 26% for low-tech products, while it could be 51%-74% for matured systems, and 75%-100% for cutting edge technologies.

Maj Gen Suman has decried the drastic fall in defence exports from ordnance factories from Rs41.07 crore in 2008-09 to a mere Rs12.28 crore in 2009-10, and has called it “a reflection of the nature of quality items being produced indigenously”. He has called for significantly increasing FDI and private sector’s participation in defence production and manufacture instead of just restricting to doors and frames of aircraft bodies. Suman also blasted India’s offset policy which envisages Indian companies to manufacture components worth 30% of any deal bagged by a foreign company as a seller to India. He termed it a “flawed policy” as it was not contributing to upgrading the indigenous technological base. He instead suggested that the current offset policy be amended to make transfer of technology the preferred mode.

While this is expected to take centre-stage at Aero India 2011, the intensifying contest for winning India’s $10 billion contract to procure 126 medium-weight multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCAs) will undoubtedly be the second most important issue in focus.

Not surprisingly, this is the first time ever that all six contenders for the contract are participating at an Aero India show — Boeing’s F/A-18 Super Hornet, Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Super Viper (both from USA), MiG Corporation’s MiG-35 (Russian), Dassault’s Rafale (French), EADS’s Eurofighter Typhoon (European Union’s) and SAAB’s Grippen (Swedish).

The contest between these six, this time round, will be there for all to see with these aircraft displaying their skills and manoeuvrability to win the hearts of the Indian Air Force and ministry of defence experts who are expected to place a finger on one of them for procurement.

The IAF is procuring the 126 MMRCAs to bolster its depleting squadron strength. The IAF squadron strength is at present below the sanctioned strength — just 34 squadrons as against the sanctioned strength of thirty-nine-and-a-half.

There is a formidable Russian presence at the air show.

Russia will exhibit over 80 types of weaponry and will be represented by 35 companies at the upcoming Aero India 2011 air show, state-run arms exporter Rosoboronexport said in a statement.
Russia will be represented by 35 companies, including MiG , Sukhoi, Almaz-Antei and Engineering Design Bureau.
Russia will traditionally promote MiG-35 and Su-35 fighter jets, the Yak-130 combat trainer, two versions of Il-76MD transport plane (with different engines), the Il-78MK aerial tanker and MiG-29K and MiG-29KUB naval fighters.
The Be-200 amphibious aircraft will most likely be one of the top attractions of the Russian exhibit as its popularity with foreign customers steadily grows. The plane could be used in a wide variety of roles, from maritime reconnaissance and rescue to firefighting.
Rosoboronexport and Russian helicopters will show the Mi-28NE attack helicopter, the light multirole Ka-226T and the heavy transport Mi-26. All three helicopters are currently taking part in separate Indian helicopter tenders.
The visitors will also be able to receive information about the Mi-35M combat transport helicopter, the Kamov Ka-31 radar surveillance helicopter and the Ansat and Kamov Ka-32A11BS multi-role helicopters.
The air defence part of the Russian exhibit will be represented by the Tor-M2E, the S-300VM, the Buk-M2E and the Tunguska-M1 systems.

Related: https://ktwop.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/eurofighter-typhoon-leads-after-technical-evaluation-but-still-not-the-favourite-for-indian-m-mrca-contract/

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Do super storms indicate that earth’s magnetic polarity is about to switch?

February 8, 2011


A geomagnetic reversal is a change in the orientation of Earth’s magnetic field such that the positions of magnetic north and magnetic south become interchanged. These events often involve an extended decline in field strength followed by a rapid recovery after the new orientation has been established. These events occur on a scale of tens of thousands of years or longer, with the latest one (the Brunhes–Matuyama reversal) occurring 780,000 years ago.

On average geomagnetic reversals occur about every 500,000 years so it would seem that a reversal is overdue. How long a reversal takes and whether a reversal can happen very rapidly is not known. That the earth’s geomagnetic field is due to the flow of liquid metals in the earth’s interior – the dynamo theory – is also very likely. The sun’s magnetic reversals seem to happen at every sunspot maximum with an average period of 11 years between reversals giving a 22 year magnetic cycle.

The movement of Earth's north magnetic pole across the Canadian arctic, 1831-2001. Credit: Geological Survey of Canada.

The movement of Earth's north magnetic pole across the Canadian arctic, 1831--2001. Credit: Geological Survey of Canada.

The position of the magnetic poles is also continuously changing with a current drift (increasing) of the magnetic North Pole from N. Canada towards Siberia at about 40km /year. But this movement may be in some cyclic fashion and is unlikely to be directly connected to the half-million year reversals. For the last 200 years the strength of the earth’s magnetic field has been decreasing and could be the precursor of the overdue reversal.

How the earth will behave during a magnetic reversal is a known unknown and provides the basis of much speculation and cataclysmic theories which cannot be tested. The cataclysmic pole shift hypothesis is one such theory which predicts that the earth’s rotation will reverse, the magnetic field will reverse and mankind will be obliterated – probably in 2012!!

But it is thought that reversals take a few thousand years to complete, and during that time–contrary to popular belief–the magnetic field does not vanish.  Magnetic lines of force near Earth’s surface become twisted and tangled, and magnetic poles pop up in unaccustomed places. A south magnetic pole might emerge over Africa, for instance, or a north pole over Tahiti. Weird. But it’s still a planetary magnetic field, and it still protects us from space radiation and solar storms.

Terrence Aym suggests that we may be seeing the beginning of a reversal (and of course since this is overdue it may well occur at any time):

Forget about global warming—man-made or natural—what drives planetary weather patterns is the climate and what drives the climate is the sun’s magnetosphere and its electromagnetic interaction with a planet’s own magnetic field.

File:Magnetosphere rendition.jpg

Artist's rendition of Earth's magnetosphere: NASA via Wikipedia

Magnetic polar shifts have occurred many times in Earth’s history. It’s happening again now to every planet in the solar system including Earth. The magnetic field drives weather to a significant degree and when that field starts migrating super storms start erupting.

The superstorms have arrived.

The Earth’s northern magnetic pole was moving towards Russia at a rate of about five miles annually. That progression to the East had been happening for decades.

Suddenly, in the past decade the rate sped up. Now the magnetic pole is shifting East at a rate of 40 miles annually, an increase of 800 percent. And it continues to accelerate.

Recently, as the magnetic field fluctuates, NASA has discovered “cracks” in it. This is worrisome as it significantly affects the ionosphere, troposphere wind patterns, and atmospheric moisture. All three things have an effect on the weather.

Worse, what shields the planet from cancer-causing radiation is the magnetic field. It acts as a shield deflecting harmful ultra-violet, X-rays and other life-threatening radiation from bathing the surface of the Earth. With the field weakening and cracks emerging, the death rate from cancer could skyrocket and mutations of DNA can become rampant.

Another federal agency, NOAA, issued a report caused a flurry of panic when they predicted that mammoth superstorms in the future could wipe out most of California. The NOAA scientists said it’s a plausible scenario and would be driven by an “atmospheric river” moving water at the same rate as 50 Mississippi rivers flowing into the Gulf of Mexico……

According to some geologists and scientists, we have left the last interglacial period behind us. Those periods are lengths of time—about 11,500 years—between major Ice Ages. One of the most stunning signs of the approaching Ice Age is what’s happened to the world’s precessional wobble. The Earth’s wobble has stopped. ..

….. So, the start of a new Ice Age is marked by a magnetic pole reversal, increased volcanic activity, larger and more frequent earthquakes, tsunamis, colder winters, superstorms and the halting of the Chandler wobble.

Unfortunately, all of those conditions are being met.

Read original article


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Maryland and Washington begin to sound like Delhi

February 6, 2011

In India, planned blackouts are used commonly for the management of electricity load. Delhi is used to regular black-outs and there is is no likelihood in the near future that the availability and quality of electric power will be sufficient to eliminate this system of load management. There is no office or shopping mall or large home in Delhi which does not plan for this by installing diesel generators as back-up. Smaller households or those which cannot afford generators use inverters which are sufficient for lighting and perhaps a fridge during an outage but cannot supply enough power for long enough for any air-conditioners or any heating. Even when power is available, the voltage variation is so large that virtually all electrical equipment must be protected by voltage stabilisers.

The black-outs in Delhi occur most often at peak times (around breakfast or dinner) and commonly at night during low load when equipment is shut off for maintenance to be carried out. Unplanned outages are apt to occur at any time. It is on summer nights that the sounds of Delhi are drowned by those of generators cutting in to keep air-conditioners running. There is no possibility of sound regulations being implemented to limit this noise and for those who have difficulty to sleep there is no alternative but to sound-proof their bed-rooms or to use ear-plugs.

The quality and reliability and availability of electric power in the more developed countries (Europe, Japan, US) is often quoted as the target for the Indian power generation and distribution system to aspire to.

But it seems that the US grid is now so weak that parts of Maryland and Washington are beginning to sound like Delhi. The Wasington Post reports:

map

Blackouts 2010 in Maryland and Washington

In Pepco territory, blackouts mean more home generators, more noise complaints

For Arthur Bennett, blackouts now come with a soundtrack.When last month’s “thundersnow” knocked out power in Bennett’s Montgomery County neighborhood, the preindustrial hush inside his house – when even the refrigerator seemed to hold its breath – soon gave way to the two-stroke roar of engines up and down his block.

Bennett, like many residents of Pepco‘s service area in Maryland and the District, has concluded that blackouts are likely to get even louder as the utility’s fed-up customers turn increasingly to backup power. According to retailers and electricians, home generator sales are booming in the area Pepco serves, especially since the company has been plagued by repeated, prolonged outages
over the past few years. Portable generators sold out at several home stores after the latest storm, and installers report that sales of high-end whole-house units have skyrocketed.

Jim Holt of Gaithersburg’s Holt Electrical said his sales of home generators have been climbing steadily and reached a near “level of panic” after the last blackout – mainly on Pepco’s turf. …….

…………. One thing both generator owners and their juiceless neighbors can agree on is the frustration of having to debate this issue at all. “I really think it’s kind of scandalous that in the capital of the world, we’ve got third-world reliability for electric power,” said Larry Posner of Shepherd Park in Northwest.

Read the entire article.

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Not a very sporting day today

February 5, 2011

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt was banned for 10 years, and fast bowling pair Mohammad Asif for seven years and Mohammad Aamer for five years on Saturday after being found guilty of corruption. The head of the International Cricket Council tribunal Michael Beloff announced the verdict after a lengthy nine-hour hearing in the Qatari capital.

 

Text messages of sumo wrestlers provided by police indicate that one purpose of the suspected match-fixing in the ancient sport was to keep struggling wrestlers in the juryo division. The juryo division is the second of the top two divisions for established sekitori wrestlers, who receive generous monthly pay and are allowed to wear ornate kesho-mawashi sashes at ceremonies and specially formed top notches that set them apart from junior wrestlers.

The text messages showed a rampant and intricate trading of favors, such as diving, among juryo wrestlers desperate to remain in this elite group. Favors could be returned, and traded, from tournament to tournament.

 

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Paid news: The cancer in the Indian media

February 5, 2011

The Hindu stands out as one of the few main-stream media prepared to discuss the insidious and increasing trend towards “paid news” in Indian newspapers and on the multiplicity of Indian TV channels fighting for advertising revenue. The TV “news” channels abandoned the rigour of traditional journalism some time ago and are mainly in the business of manufacturing or sensationalising news or of presenting “paid news”. TV anchors are chosen on their ability to rant and programmes are dominated by

  • instant “breaking” news – much of it manufactured – or
  • revelations of scams filmed by “secret” cameras – but usually provoked, or
  • so-called chat shows and panel discussions where  only antagonistic participation is permitted (and the more one can screech over the other the more likely it is to be re-invited to participate – paid of course).

The Hindu writes:

In newspapers and TV channels, choking with stories on corruption, this is the one story you are the least likely to see. The media are their own worst censors when it comes to reporting on ‘Paid News.’

Just before the 2009 Assembly elections in Maharashtra, a large newspaper group in the State brought its editors together for a meeting in Pune. Generally, it was agreed, winning a seat in the State legislature would cost Rs. 3 crore to Rs. 5 crore. ($700,000 to $1.1 million). ….. If there’s that kind of money being spent, said the cash-box boys, we should get a decent share of it. What, after all, is election expenditure but campaign and propaganda expenses? Detailed plans for ‘pay-to-print’ were soon under way in one of the biggest media groups in the State. ……

Paid news comes in many packages: pre-paid, post-paid and yet-to-be-paid, for instance. There are also deluxe tariffs and aam aadmi tariffs, the former in crores (10s of millions), the latter in lakhs (100,000’s). Sadly, these media groups met, even exceeded, their targets.

But it’s not just during elections that paid news or its Euclidian variants occur. The crazy saturation coverage of Davos in some channels was not caused by breathless public interest or media curiosity. It had a lot to do with ‘partnerships’ and corporate subsidies the public can’t see, and won’t be allowed to see. Some channels sent out ‘rules’ to their journalists of things that just had to be done. Rules with no particular journalistic rationale at all. …..

It is a scam worth more millions than anyone can accurately estimate. Most other institutions of Indian democracy and regulatory structures have tried doing something about it. But in the free media, there was a costly silence…..

So the ECI, Parliament, SEBI and top political leaders have all contributed to the fight against the slaughter of honest journalism. Even the spineless PCI did so, before deserting ship. But in the media there is near-total silence. True, there are the exceptions. And the fact that all those journalists went public at those meetings shows how deep their resentment runs. But institutionally, the media’s failure is huge and, if not reversed, will extract a terrible price. The corporate media have censored the Paid News story, browbeaten their own journalists and cheated the public of information it has every right and need to know.

Read the entire article.

Related: India’s Election Commission To Address It’s Paid News Problem

Paid news syndrome is a full blown cancer in Indian Media

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La Niña will last well into 2011 and could extend into 2012

February 5, 2011

A new article has been posted on the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration website and comes to the conclusion that there is an even chance that La Niña conditions could extend into 2012:

Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) by Klaus Wolter 4th February 2011

El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the most important coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon to cause global climate variability on interannual time scales. Here we attempt to monitor ENSO by basing the Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) on the six main observed variables over the tropical Pacific. These six variables are: sea-level pressure (P), zonal (U) and meridional (V) components of the surface wind, sea surface temperature (S), surface air temperature (A), and total cloudiness fraction of the sky (C). …… Negative values of the MEI represent the cold ENSO phase, a.k.a.La Niña, while positive MEI values represent the warm ENSO phase (El Niño)………

Discussion and comparison of recent conditions with historic La Niña events

In the context of the rapid transition of the MEI into strong La Niña conditions, this section features a comparison figure with strong La Niña events that all reached at least minus one standard deviations by June-July, and a peak of at least -1.4 sigma over the course of an event. The most recent moderate La Niña events of 1998-2001 and 2007-09 did not qualify, since they either did not reach the required peak anomaly (the first one) or became strong too late in the calendar year (both).

The updated (December-January) MEI value has strengthened slightly to -1.62 standard deviations after almost dropping below -2 standard deviations in August-September. Nevertheless, the most recent value ranks 2nd for this time of year, clearly below the 10%-tile threshold for strong La Niña MEI rankings , but slightly weaker than the value recorded in 1974. If one were to take the average of all MEI rankings since July-August (a six-month period), the strongest La Niña half-year periods of mid-55, ’73-74, and late ’75 averaged slightly stronger than the current event, for now (this is means Rank 4 for the current event, up one from last month).
Negative SST anomalies are covering much of the eastern (sub-)tropical Pacific in the latest weekly SST map. Many of these anomalies are in excess of -1C.
For an alternate interpretation of the current situation, I highly recommend reading the latest NOAA ENSO Advisory which represents the official and most recent Climate Prediction Center opinion on this subject. In its latest update (6 January 2011), La Niña conditions are expected to last “well” into the Northern Hemisphere spring of 2011. …….. While La Niña conditions are guaranteed well into 2011, it remains to be seen whether it can rally once more to cross the -2 sigma barrier, and/or whether it will indeed last into 2012, as discussed six months ago on this page. I believe the odds for a two-year event remain well above 50%, made even more likely by the continued unabated strength in various ENSO indices.

It seems self-evident ( even if not fashionable or politically correct) that the sun controls our climate and that the oceans do the sun’s bidding as they drive the atmosphere which then determines our weather.

The consequences of an extended La Niña into 2011 / 2012 could be

  • another good monsoon year in India,
  • a cold winter again for 2011/2012 in the Northern hemishere


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Posted in Climate, Geosciences, Weather | 3 Comments »

German freighter sinks Indian Navy frigate

February 4, 2011

From thelocal.de:

Cargo Ship Nordlake IMO 9057173 by MSC Michi

Cargo Ship Nordlake 22,450 tons

A German cargo ship has slammed into an Indian frigate in the port of Mumbai, causing the military vessel to catch fire and eventually sink.

The ocean liner Nordlake, based in Hamburg and managed by the Klaus E. Oldendorff shipping company, crashed into the Indian navy vessel Vindhyagiri in a narrow navigation channel at the entrance to the port of Mumbai on Sunday, Indian broadcaster NDTV reported.

The nearly 400 people on board the Vindhyagiri – including the ship’s crew and their visiting families, who were celebrating Navy Day – were successfully evacuated before a massive fire broke out on the vessel some 12 hours later.

A preliminary investigation found that the Nordlake was exiting the harbour as theVindhyagiri was navigating its way in. The Nordlake swerved to avoid another ship and subsequently struck the Vindhyagiri.

INS Vindhyagiri 2682 tons

The Indian navy called the sinking of the Vindhyagiri India’s greatest peacetime casualty, noting that a frigate has never been sunk by a civilian vessel. Built in 1981, the Vindhyagiri suffered extensive damage, but the navy said the ship could possibly be repaired and eventually brought back into service.

The nearly 180-metre-long Nordlake, which flies a Cypriot flag, did not sustain any serious damage. The freighter supports an international crew, and no Germans were on board at the time of the crash.

“We are happy that, to our current understanding, the accident has caused neither environmental harm nor any human casualties,” Peter Rybarczyk, chief executive of the Klaus E. Oldendorff shipping company, told Hamburg broadcaster NDR.

The Director General of Shipping in Mumbai has ordered an inquiry into the collision, NDTV reported, while the navy has also filed a complaint that argues the ship from Cyprus did not follow standard operating procedure.

The Nordlake has a deadweight of 22,450 tons and almost ten times greater than the standard weight of INS Vindhyachal at 2682 tons.

Photo: DPA

Mumbai harbour after collision: photo DPA

 

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Wind Power capacity compromised in Texas: Rolling blackouts as Mexico supplies some back up

February 4, 2011

That wind power generating capacity is intermittent capacity and cannot be relied upon is obvious but sometimes escapes notice in the enthusiasm for “renewable energy”. That wind power must be backed up by other more reliable generating capacity for the periods when winds are too low or too high or when the weather is too cold is also often glossed over. That wind power must be used when the wind does blow irrespective of level of demand  and thereby displace more stable power (thus rendering it more expensive) is an inevitable consequence.

The following report comes as no surprise.

METEOROLOGICAL MUSINGS reports:

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said 7,000 megawatts of generating capacity tripped [“tripped” means failed]Tuesday night, leaving the state without enough juice. That’s enough capacity to power about 1.4 million homes. By rotating outages, ERCOT said it prevented total blackouts.
“We have the double whammy of extremely high demand, given the lowest temperatures in 15 years, combined with generation that’s been compromised and is producing less than expected or needed,” said Oncor spokeswoman Catherine Cuellar. Oncor operates power lines in North Texas and facilitated the blackouts for ERCOT.
The article didn’t give a clue as to what generating capability failed, but I can make a pretty good guess: Wind energy…
For a time, Texas was bragging about being the #1 state for “wind power” (it still is) and we were bombarded with TV commercials and newspaper editorial touting the “Pickens Plan” for massive spending on wind energy. Pickens himself was building a huge wind farm in northwest Texas. He has now ceased construction.
Now, because of relying so much on wind power, the state is suffering blackouts.
Mexico is trying to help by shipping power to Texas, but it is not enough.

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Posted in Energy, Environment, Technology, US, Wind power | 5 Comments »

Sylvia Bulfone-Paus misconduct story stretches back to at least 1999

February 3, 2011

I have posted earlier about 12 retractions of papers concerning research done under the supervision of Sylvia Bulfone-Paus, a Director at the Research Center Borstel in Germany. Six of the retracted papers had been identified earlier and the next six are reported in Retraction Watch.

The retractions came after an investigation which confirmed the misconduct but put the blame squarely on two Russian researchers Dr. E. Bulanova and Dr. V. Budagian with comments that Bulfone-Paus bore responsibility as their supervisor but that she herself  had not committed any misconduct. The blogger / whistle blower represented by the Marco Berns / Martin Frost persona had commented that the singling out of Bulanova and Budagian was suspicious and hinted darkly at much earlier wrong-doings (and in fact had specifically mentioned the year 1999).

The latest 6 retracted papers  listed include one from 1999 giving some credence to the Martin Frost allegations:

Bulfone-Paus, S., Bulanova, E., Pohl, T, Budagian, V., Dürkop, H., Rückert, R., Kunzendorf, U., Paus, R., and Krause, H. Death deflected: IL-15 inhibits TNF-α-mediated apoptosis in fibroblasts  by TRAF2 recruitment to the IL-15Rα chain. FASEB J. 13:1575-1585 (1999, cited 118 times)

For this paper Bulfone-Paus was both first author and corresponding author. It would seem that any misconduct here cannot be passed off onto authors nos. 2 and 4.

After the investigation Martin Frost  wrote:

It was confirmed that the Institute Directors have been “snooping” on their workforce.  They have indeed viewed the log files of e-mails of the workers.  This deeply distressing news was compounded when it was revealed that the only person who the management arraigned after the Stasi-like “snooping” exercise was a member of der Betriebsrat (workers council) showing that the confidence essential for the worker – Betriebsrat relationship is now severely compromised.

The two other Directors are now discussing what to do next with Bulfone-Paus.

But as Retraction Watch describes, some damage control is being done by the institute with some assistance from the Editor of the EMBO Journal who includes the following sentence in his retraction notice:

The authors declare that key experiments presented in the majority of these figures were recently reproduced and that the results confirmed the experimental data and the conclusions drawn from them.

Why would the Journal publish a line so blatantly intended to white-wash some of the authors? Or does the editor mean that the retraction of the paper is somehow negated!

On this theme of the behaviour of Journals Martin Frost also wrote:

We have been sent the exchange of e-mails below from Dr. Karin Wiebauer.  They describe Dr. Wiebauer’s efforts to rid the scientific literature of the contamination of the mainpulated Bulfone-Paus papers. ….. One interpretation of the exchange is that the Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Immunology is stonewalling and attempting to bury the scientific miscconduct.

The sad saga goes on….


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Posted in Behaviour, Ethics, Scientific Fraud, scientific misconduct | 1 Comment »

First Sukhoi Superjet 100 to be delivered this month – 2.5 years late

February 3, 2011

Embraer E-Jet: Wikipedia

The Sukhoi Superjet 100 is a modern, fly-by-wire regional jet in the 75- to 95-seat category. The Superjet 100 will be produced by Russian aerospace firm Sukhoi’s civil division, of which Finmeccanica of Italy owns 25%. The jet airliner is being developed in collaboration with Finmeccanica subsidiary Alenia Aeronautica.

The SSJ is designed to compete against the Embraer E-Jets and the Bombardier CRJ programs. The SSJ aims for lower operating costs than its Embraer or Bombardier counterparts for the price of $31.7 million.

The deliveries were first scheduled to begin in late 2008, and Sukhoi predicted that 163 units of all variations of the Superjet 100 would be delivered by the end of 2016. On 7 July 2008, Sukhoi officially confirmed that the original schedule was too optimistic, and first deliveries would begin in December 2009.

Bombardier CRJ: image altairva-fs.com

In September 2010, the CEO of SuperJet International said that certification was expected in November 2010. In October 2010, the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SN95004) passed noise testing carried out under the auspices of Russian and European certification authorities (AR IAC and EASA respectively). On 4 November 2010, the first production Superjet (SN95007) intended for Armavia was test flown.

Now the first delivery is scheduled for this month but – ominously – only after  “further tests”. This schedule is likely to slip but perhaps not by much.

Ria Novosti reports:

File:Sukhoi Superjet 100.jpg

Sukhoi Superjet 100 at the MAKS 2009 Airshow. image Wikimedia

The delivery of the first Sukhoi Superjet 100 to Armenian Armavia airlines is scheduled for next month, officials in the Russian Far Eastern Khabarovsk region said on Wednesday.

The SN 95007 will be handed over to Armavia after further tests, regional transport minister Sergei Ivashkin said, adding that 64 test flights had already been conducted.

The Superjet 100 is a family of medium-haul passenger aircraft developed by Sukhoi in cooperation with U.S. and European aviation corporations, including Boeing, Snecma, Thales, Messier Dowty, Liebherr Aerospace and Honeywell.

The tally for orders for the plane has reached 170, with more regional airlines expected to line up as customers. Russian flagship carrier Aeroflot has signed for 40 Superjets.


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