Apache Helocopters TO Russia?

B

beemerb

Moderator
Channel 15 news today.Russian cargo aircraft at skyharbor airport.Not knowledgable on russian cargo aircrat but the whole nose lifts up to load.Sitting there waiting to be loaded where 2 apache helocopters.The news people where told that the info on why was restricted information.
They showed vidio taken from a distance.
Any ideas?Why-who and what is going on.
Bob

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Age and deceit will overcome youth and speed.
I'm old and deceitful.
 
Could be anything. Possibly some deal with Mil for technology transfer. They're in a yank to upgrade their Mi-24s.

[This message has been edited by Shin-Tao (edited July 10, 2000).]
 
Probably goin to our good buddies in communist China.

Bob; your signature hurts, if ye be old then I must be ancient.

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Sam I am, grn egs n packin

Nikita Khrushchev predicted confidently in a speech in Bucharest, Rumania on June 19, 1962 that: " The United States will eventually fly the Communist Red Flag...the American people will hoist it themselves."
 
I'll suggest a mundance explanation. The Russians have built the Anotonov giant jet transports. Bigger than C-5s. They now have commercial outfits that charter these guys for all kinds of transport.

Maybe they are being used to trot these guys over to some customer.

I've seen two of these in the Houston Airport a couple of years ago. Awesome planes.

However, I didn't ride back to San Antonio yelling the Russians are ... The UN ...

Sorry, guys. :) Bet you it was a charter.
 
Those Anatov heavy lifters are bigger than pretty much anything out there. Several of them are owned by private charter companies for charter cargo services. Might be that the helos you saw were on their way to an export customer (Israel, UK, Singapore, Holland, etc.) via a chartered freight service. I believe that the first British birds were delivered that way.

Just a hunch but I see stories of military aircraft being packed in those things all the time (I think they used one to move the JSF prototypes recently).

Hope this helps.

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Best,
- Jawper
 
Then why the restriction?. As an American citizen who pays 1000s in taxes, I would like to know what the hell is going on. The technology on those choppers was paid for with our tax dollars.

Waterdog
 
A number of posible explinations.However if things all above board why not tell the media when asked.If a transport job why the Russian markings on the plane?
I don't have any answers but I sure have questions.I put this out here to see if anyone else has answers.I have heard speculation but just that.
Keep it in the back of your mind and maybe something else will click when you see it and all will be clear.
If I see anything else I will post it.By the way you do know that the apache is built in Phoenix.
I will check the paper tommorow and see if anything in it.
Paper web site is www.azcentral.com so you can check too.
Bob


------------------
Age and deceit will overcome youth and speed.
I'm old and deceitful.
 
Antonov AN124[Condor]is one cool plane at my old workplaces shipping office we had a poster of an AN124 being loaded with a fleet of brand new Nissan Pathfinder 4x4s, they were double stacked in the hold!The planes hold even has two electric gantry cranes built in!

Maybe the Apaches are bound for Colombia?The Colombians I believe already operate some MH60 Blackhawks on a sort of lend/lease program for there nasty Narco Rebellion.
Just a thought.
 
Maybe Boris is well now, and learned to fly?
Just kidding, but nothing our government does
really suprise's me anymore.

Regards,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
 
Two likely possibilities;
1) they are going to US forces somewhere (I guess one of our many "GloboCop World Tour" hotspots) where the overwater leg was more than the safe ferry range of the Apache...
2) they are going to an ally nation for demonstration purposes (Israel, perhaps?).

As was demonstrated in Desert Shield/Storm and Kosovo, the Apache is very effective but very maintenance-intensive. Whoever is going to operate Apaches must have a throughly modern army and a large pool of well-educated, thoroughly-trained technicians and mechanics. Only U.S., Europe, and Israel fit the bill IMHO. I don't believe the Chicoms could operate them for long, and Russia has got their own attack helos (some rather good ones, actually). 3rd world nations would never choose the Apache when they can have 75% of the performance with 25% of the maintenance by going with the 4-blade AH-1W (as Turkey recently decided, tossing the Apache and the Tiger out of the running).

Hughes/er, McDonnell Douglas/er, Boeing has been trying to break into the world market with a dumbed-down Apache (i.e., they provide the airframe and some basic electronics, and the buyer adds whatever sensor suite and other digital goodies as needed). But its hard to beat the subsidized Euroweenies on price, so I figure the only nation advanced enough to handle the Apache and willing to accept the stripped-down model is Israel (which has a world-class avionics industry).

My bet is they are going to U.S. forces somewhere, in a pathetic attempt at a low-profile delivery due to some sort of maintenance problem or pilot stupidity (those guys do total a bird occasionally doing something stupid). This "restricted" BS was probably just some public affairs officer screwing with the bubble-headed news droids. If the situation were really restricted, some large, take-no-BS individuals would have appropriated the news cameras and removed all recording media.
 
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