Great idea for the Russian air force The Sukhoi Su-34 (Russian: Сухой Су-34) (export designation: Su-32, NATO reporting name: Fullback) is a Russian twin-seat fighter-bomber. It is intended to replace the Sukhoi Su-24.[6]\r
The Su-34 had a muddied and protracted beginning.[7] In the mid-1980s, Sukhoi began developing a new multirole tactical aircraft to replace the swing-wing Su-24, which would incorporate a host of conflicting requirements. The bureau thus selected the Su-27, which excelled in maneuverability and range, and could carry a large payload, as the basis for the new fighter.[8] More specifically, the aircraft was developed from T10KM-2, the naval trainer derivative of the Sukhoi Su-27K. The development, known internally as T-10V, was shelved at the end of the 1980s sharing the fate of new aircraft carriers; this was the result of the political upheaval in the Soviet Union and its subsequent disintegration.[7][8]\r
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In August 1990 a photograph taken by a TASS officer showed an aircraft making a dummy approach towards Tbilisi carrier.[7][8] The aircraft, subsequently and erroneously labelled Su-27KU by Western intelligence, made its maiden flight on 13 August 1990 with Anatoliy Ivanov at the controls.[9] Converted from an Su-27UB with the new distinctive nose, while retaining the main undercarriage of previous Su-27s, it was a prototype for the Su-27IB (Istrebitel Bombardirovshchik, or fighter bomber).[10] It was developed in parallel with the two-seat naval trainer, the Su-27KUB, although, contrary to earlier reports, the two aircraft are not directly related.[11] Flight tests continued throughout 1990 and into 1991.[8]\r
The Russian Air Force (Russian: Военно-воздушные cилы России, tr. Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily Rossii) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It is currently under the command of Lieutenant General Viktor Bondarev. The Russian Navy has its own air arm, the Russian Naval Aviation, which is the former Soviet Aviatsiya Voyenno Morskogo Flota (Naval Aviation), or AV-MF).\r
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The Air Force was formed from parts of the former Soviet Air Forces after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991--92. Boris Yeltsins creation of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation on 7 May 1992, can be taken as a convenient formation date for the new Air Force. Since that time, the Air Force has suffered severe setbacks due to lack of resources, and has constantly shrunk in size. Since Vladimir Putin became President of the Russian Federation however, much more money has been allocated to the Armed Forces as a whole.\r
Russia Listeni/ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation[10] (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya, IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈrat͡sɨjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia.[11] It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares land borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both with Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk and the U.S. state of Alaska across the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one-eighth of the Earths inhabited land area. Russia is also the worlds ninth most populous nation with 143 million people as of 2012.[12] Extending across the entirety of northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans nine time zones and incorporates a wide range of environments and landforms.\r
The Free Syrian Army (Arabic: الجيش السوري الحر, al-Jaysh as-Sūrī al-Ḥurr, FSA) is an armed opposition structure operating in Syria since the start of the Syrian civil war.[5][6] Composed of defected Syrian Armed Forces personnel and volunteers,[7][8][9] its formation was announced on 29 July 2011 in a video released on the internet by a uniformed group of deserters from the Syrian military who called upon members of the Syrian army to defect and join them.[10] The FSAs leader in August 2011, Colonel Riad al-Asaad, announced that the FSA would work with demonstrators to bring down the regime, and declared that all security forces attacking civilians were justified targets.[11][12] The FSA coordinated with the Syrian National Council starting in December 2011,[13] and supported the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces after the coalitions November 2012 creation.[14] A major reorganisation of the F