Message posted by Q-nimbus (Member since 08/20/2020) on September 27, 2023 at 5:04:18 PST:
It’s been some time since we’ve seen something coming out of Area 51, and it was worth the wait. Fascinating stuff. There must have been a very good reason to retire the remaining airframe as I reckon an asset like this is almost invaluable, especially these days. The article speculates that it may have been retired because the program shut down, or that the airframe was overstressed. I would like to add my own speculation: that it may have been nearly impossible to get spares as they are needed for Ukraine’s own fleet of SU-27’s. Secondly, I’m pretty sure the FME-program constantly gets new goodies out of Ukraine and it may have been necessary to reallocate staff, funding and resources to other, new, FME-programs.
In Reply to: Wright Patterson Museum getting an Ex Ukrainian SU-27 that likely spent the last decade at Groom Lake posted by Chenstrap on September 26, 2023 at 20:12:43 PST:
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