Never mind the fact that Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine are struggling to win a civil war--the Kremlin wants to wow the Future with a gigantic supersonic cargo plane. Named the PAK TA, the concept from Russia's Military-Industrial Commission will be a supersonic transport than can deliver Russian troops and tanks at high speed across the globe. And, according to Russia's state-owned network, RT, they want them ready for military service by 2024.
In another timeline, these silver jets glistening in the snow would be radioactive wrecks, doomed participants in an apocalyptic war. Instead, these retired Soviet jets wait as museum pieces on the grounds outside Russia's Central Air Force Museum in Moscow. There's an American counterpart in the desert outside Tuscon, full of former Cold Warriors cooking out in the sun, and there are others in Russia itself. Still, this one provides a nice footnote to the history of 1950s MiG fighters and abandoned supersonic bombers: The museum was recently filmed by drone, a robotic eye from a remote control vehicle capturing the stillness of history.
Russia recently ordered a batch of new attack helicopters, including 32 that could go onto a new amphibious assault ship. There's just one hitch: France is building that ship, and following Russia's invasion of Crimea and support for Donetsk separatists in Eastern Ukraine, there's a lot of international pressure for France to cancel the order.
There are college sophomores who were born after Russia began building its newest submarine. The K-329 Severodvinsk (re-designated the K-560 Severodvinsk in late 2013) is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor and is made to hunt other submarines, ships, and targets on land. Construction started in 1993; the ship underwent sea trials in 2011; and on Tuesday, Russia finally commissioned the vessel and welcomed it into the Northern Fleet.
Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin announced on May 13 that his country will end cooperation on the International Space Station after 2020. The comments spurred gloomy headlines: “Russia's retaliation could doom Space Station,” wrote one science news outlet, while NBC News ran with “Russia Makes Plans to Kill Space Station in 2020.”
Russia should prioritize creating a moon base with full-time residents by mid-century, according to a plan created by Moscow State University, the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the firm Roscosmos.
You may be aware that there's some love lost right now between the United States and Russia, and since NASA relies on Russia to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station, things are a bit awkward. And by awkward, I mean NASA has severed all ties with Russia besides what the agency needs to get to the ISS. But with the US imposing sanctions against the country for its actions in Crimea, is ISS transport next to go?
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