Russia shows off new stealth fighter jet

[Lebron James]

Source:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,...est=latestnews

Official: Russia Tests New Stealth Fighter Jet

Friday, January 29, 2010

MOSCOW — A stealth jet fighter intended to match the latest U.S. design made its maiden flight in Russia on Friday, an important step in the country's efforts to modernize its aging Soviet-era arsenals.

The Sukhoi T-50 prototype took to the skies for a 45-minute flight from an airfield at the company's production plant in the Far Eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur on Friday, Sukhoi spokesman Alexei Paveshchenko told The Associated Press.

Russian officials have spent two decades trying to build the so-called fifth-generation fighter and hope the T-50 can challenge the U.S. F-22 Raptor, which first flew in 1997. The Russian project has been veiled in secrecy and no pictures of it had been released before the maiden flight.

If the prototype bearing a close resemblance to the Raptor goes into production, it will be the first major new aircraft design built in post-Soviet Russia. Officials have expressed hope that the T-50 will enter service in 2015.

A Sukhoi statement quoted test pilot Sergei Bogdan as saying the craft was "easy and comfortable to pilot."

Friday's successful test of the plane, developed in partnership with India, comes as a relief to Russian government officials. A series of failures on high-profile weapons projects has blighted Russia's attempts to modernize its rusting arsenals.

But observers said it was early to celebrate.

Alexander Golts, an independent military analyst, said the T-50 is running on old engines, and the only major technological breakthrough was designing the airframe making the jet more difficult for radars to spot, in keeping with its U.S. counterpart.

The specifications and design of Russia's new fighter have keep secret, and Friday's statement offered few details.

Aviation officials have said the new craft will meet the fifth-generation requirements, including a supersonic cruising speed.

Sukhoi said in a statement that the plane has advanced stealth capabilities.

"This allows a significant increase in military effectiveness," the company's statement said. Advanced control systems help fly the aircraft and "allow the pilot to concentrate on tactical tasks," it added.

Russian news agencies reported the highly maneuverable plane has a 3,400-mile range. The Raptor has a range of about 2,960 kilometers 1,850 miles, according to official U.S. data.

So the PAK FA is finally here, this could get interesting.... Its shape sort of reminds me of the YF-23, the former direct rival to the F-22

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Dr Zoidberg]

It's taken them 13 years to produce their first 5th generation fighter, and even then, there are doubts whether it is a true 5th gen or more a case of 4.75 or 4.8. The US (and allies) are already in the early production stages of their second true 5th generation fighter. Let's wait until the specifications are released before we say the Russian's have developed a true 5th gen fighter.

The engines do not appear to have thrust vectoring, which would be an interesting omission for a 5th gen fighter. . The overall shape is somewhat reminiscent of the YF-23 prototype, which lost out to YF-22 during the original ATF program.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YF-23

According to the wiki link on the T-50, later versions will utilise a completely new engine. I believe this is fraught with risk. Building an engine to fit inside an existing airframe is much harder than building a plane around an engine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_PAK_FA

I still think this isn't a case of balancing the odds, this is a case of making one small step towards catching up. By the time it goes into production, several Western airforces will be receiving their first squadrons of F-35; which is arguably more versatile than F-22 in that it has been designed as a multi-role platform.

This will be very interesting to watch. But I don't think we anything to be worried about just yet.

[Babur]

well apparently India has also been involved in its development too

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Sec...3841232131619/

[Nikitn]

well apparently India has also been involved in its development too

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Sec...3841232131619/

Yup. Indians are mad after Russian technology and heavy industry.

Who was it that said our arms industry was dead, now again (while in reality it has been growing)..?

PS. According to Russian news sources this aircraft is in no way similar (inside) to any designs, including American designs, even if it looks like this.

for nice picks: http://rian.ru/photolents/20100129/206814771_7.html

Go Russia .






PS: It won't rival the F-22, as experts predict, but it is more than a match to F-35. Russians did it again.

F-22 costs 10 times + more than an F-15... What would you expect?

Being the economically the GDP of Russia has surpassed the entire USSR prior to the fall, I'm sure they money will be there in the coming decades.

Nope. Not even close (and back then cash was worth much more + everywhere around the world were generally poor). Back in 1980's USSR had the 0,4 of the GDP per capita of USA. USSR's GDP was measured by PPP.

Now it is what, 0.25 (PPP)?

I don't think sending in lots of cash into this is important. No need to waste money replacing equipment every 10 years, when you have an army that could destroy any neighbour/close country (except China) and nukes to take out the bigger ones?

[MathiasOfAthens]

Nice jet, but this is ing cool....

[Babur]

Nice jet, but this is ing cool....

can we have a few?

[Freddie]

can we have a few?

The F-35 Lightning II is being co-developed with NATO nations so the UK will be getting some.

[Treize]

Nice jet, but this is ing cool....

And unaffordable.

[Justinian]

And unaffordable.

You confuse it with the F-22. The F-35 will be very affordable for a fifth gen fighter, probably comparable to or $10 million more expensive than the Eurofighter.

The most it could possibly cost based on estimates is $120 million. The F-22 is like $350 million.

PS: It won't rival the F-22, as experts predict, but it is more than a match to F-35. Russians did it again.

What are you basing that on -- your extensive internal knowledge of both the Russian and American jet fighter programs? I see nothing to suggest it's any better -- or worse -- than the F-35 based on the actual plane itself, because it's far too early in this one's design stage for anyone but the people making it to have any clue how good it is.

Set aside your nationalism for once...

^^It looks better then the F-22 and F-35 if you ask me. Whether or not it actually is better is an entirely different question.

Based on what, the pictures?

[Armija]

Based on what, the pictures?

He said that it looks beter ....LOOKS.... and that can be assumed from pictures..

[Treize]

You confuse it with the F-22. The F-35 will be very affordable for a fifth gen fighter, probably comparable to or $10 million more expensive than the Eurofighter.

The most it could possibly cost based on estimates is $120 million. The F-22 is like $350 million.



What are you basing that on -- your extensive internal knowledge of both the Russian and American jet fighter programs? I see nothing to suggest it's any better -- or worse -- than the F-35 based on the actual plane itself, because it's far too early in this one's design stage for anyone but the people making it to have any clue how good it is.

Set aside your nationalism for once...



Based on what, the pictures?

120million is a lot! (And that is a rather conservative estaminate)
And the USN already estaminated the operating costs to be 40% higher than a (Super) Hornet.

Mark my words, all planned F-35 orders will shrink, even Italy's.

Using a cheaper modern multirole aircraft (F-16 block 60/Gripen NG) combined with a small number of F-22/T-50-like aircraft is a better solution IMO.

[Panzerbear]

What are you basing that on -- your extensive internal knowledge of both the Russian and American jet fighter programs?

as I said, based on the experts' estimates. oh, and just for the record, most of the characteristics of PAK FA is still classified. even if I knew something about it, I wouldn't talk about it on video games forums.

my grandpa, for example, is a chief engineer of Russian nuclear submarines developments, and he has been working for the government for over 40 years now. even he prefers not to discuss his work with me, it is that secret. let me assure you that PAK FA is probably even more secret, so no, I do not have any inside knowledge on the matter, calm the hell down.

Set aside your nationalism for once...

LOL he accuses me of nationalism.

[Pielstick]

Very interesting news indeed, we finally get to see the long awaited PAK-FA.

Let's not get too excited though.... The Russians have put an aeroplane in the air, nothing more nothing less. I'd be interested to know how much more work has to be done on the aircraft's systems and avionics. How far along is the radar in development? The defensive aids suite? Communications and datalinks? Of course we know this aircraft is currently flying with "old" engines developed for the Flanker. How far away is it from flying with its intended engines? What about its weapons? How far away are the next generation of Russian missiles from being fielded?

As I said, just putting an airframe in the air doesn't mean production or service entry is imminent. Look how long it took to get the F-22 and Typhoon operational... and how long it is taking to get the F-35 into service. The PAK-FA is a LONG way from operational service. Anyone now saying "The PAK-FA will be in service in X years" is talking out of their backside.

As for this "Generation 4, 4+ 4++, 5" nonsense, it's simply a marketing term invented to help justify the enormous cost of the F-22. It means nothing in the real world and is an extremely misleading indicator of an aircraft's capability.


Congratulations to Sukhoi and the Russians for putting the PAK-FA into the air, but let's not get carried away, or turn it into a p*****g match with the F-22.

[MaximiIian]

And unaffordable.

IIRC, it's a lot less expensive than the F-22. Eighty mil compared to two hundred.
And one of my friends, who is an officer in the USAF, tells me that the F-22 is really just a proof-of-concept, tech demonstrator, and testbed for all of our stealth technologies and such. The F-35 is the real thing.

[Adar]

IIRC, it's a lot less expensive than the F-22. Eighty mil compared to two hundred.
And one of my friends, who is an officer in the USAF, tells me that the F-22 is really just a proof-of-concept, tech demonstrator, and testbed for all of our stealth technologies and such. The F-35 is the real thing.

The F-22 is a state of art air superiority fighter intended to replace the F-15 as the best air superiority fighter in the world.

The F-35 is a multirole aircraft intended to engage targets after the F-22 have established aerial control. It is pretty much the F-16 and F-18 replacement.

This is why the US government is willing to export the F-35 but not the F-22, allies with the F-35 can never challenge US air supremacy but allies with the F-22 could do it.

[Azog 150]

The F-22 is a state of art air superiority fighter intended to replace the F-15 as the best air superiority fighter in the world.

The F-35 is a multirole aircraft intended to engage targets after the F-22 have established aerial control. It is pretty much the F-16 and F-18 replacement.

This is why the US government is willing to export the F-35 but not the F-22, allies with the F-35 can never challenge US air supremacy but allies with the F-22 could do it.

I thought that the F-22 wasn't going to be built in large enough numbers for foreign operations though?

[Banana Jelly]

Nice jet, but this is ing cool....

Dayuum 0:07 made me lol


But ing sick

[MathiasOfAthens]

Prob if you pay for it.... and bow down to the USA for ever and ever.

[Babur]

Prob if you pay for it.... and bow down to the USA for ever and ever.

damn

well we will have to stick to the Sukhoi PAK FA then, which is logical since we were involved in its development

[Heinz Guderian]

damn

well we will have to stick to the Sukhoi PAK FA then, which is logical since we were involved in its development

didnt you guys just get an aircraft carrier from Russia?

This new Russian plane, i'm guessing its not going to be for export. Is the F-22 still not offered abroad? I read japan wants them.