Russia's first stealth fighter makes maiden flight

[TechMan]

Russia's first stealth fighter makes maiden flight - Yahoo! News

MOSCOW – Russia's first stealth fighter intended to match the latest U.S. design made its maiden flight Friday, boosting the country's efforts to modernize its rusting Soviet-built arsenals and retain its lucrative export market.

The Sukhoi T-50's flight comes nearly two decades after the first prototype of the U.S. F-22 Raptor took to the air, and Russian officials said it will take another five years for the new jet to enter service. Still, the flight marked a major step in Russia's efforts to burnish the faded glory of its aviation industries and strengthen a beleaguered military.

The sleek twin-engined jet closely resembling the Raptor flew for 47-minutes from an airfield at Sukhoi's production plant in the Far Eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur on Friday. Development of the so-called fifth-generation fighter has been veiled in secrecy and no images of it had been released before the flight.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hailed the flight as a "big step forward," but admitted that "a lot remains to be done in terms of engines and armament."

Craig Caffrey, an analyst for Jane's Defense Procurement-Military Aircraft, said the new fighter is "hugely important," both for modernizing the aging Russian air force fleet and retaining export markets.

"The T-50 should offer the Russian Air Force a significant boost in its capabilities and ensure that it remains one of the best equipped air forces in the world," he told The Associated Press by e-mail.
Caffrey said the new fighter will attract many foreign customers. "For those countries that don't traditionally purchase military equipment from the U.S. it will be the only fifth generation aircraft available," he said.

The NPO Saturn company said in a statement that the jet has new engines, but military analysts suggested that they were a slightly modernized version of the Soviet-era engine powering the Su-27 family of fighters.

"It's a humbug," said independent military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer. "It's just a prototype lacking new engines and a new radar. It takes new materials to build a fifth-generation fighter, and Russia lacks them."

Putin said Friday the first batch of new fighters is set to enter an Air Force evaluation unit in 2013 and serial production is set to begin in 2015.

Caffrey said the task looks "very challenging, given the amount of new technology that is being incorporated into the new aircraft."
Russian military analysts were also skeptical, pointing at a history of delays in the program and other Russian weapons projects.
"The schedule will likely be pushed back as usual," said Alexander Konovalov, the head of the Moscow-based Institute of Strategic Assessment, an independent think tank.

Russia's prospective Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile has failed in at least eight of its 12 test launches, dealing a blow to Russia's hopes of making it a cornerstone of its nuclear arsenal. Officials have blamed the failures on manufacturing flaws resulting from post-Soviet industrial degradation.

Felgenhauer and other observers said the fighter program, which depends on hundreds of subcontractors, has been dogged by similar problems.

Russian officials have said the new fighter, like the Raptor, will have supersonic cruising speed and stealth capabilities. Its pilot, Sergei Bogdan, said in televised remarks that it was easy and pleasant to fly.
While officials saw the new fighter as essential, some analysts said the country has more pressing needs.

"There is no mission and no adversary for such plane," Konovalov said, adding that the Russian military lacks a modern communications system and satellite navigation. "It would be more expedient to fit modern avionics to older generation jets."

The U.S. administration decided to quit buying the F-22 Raptor, the world's most expensive fighter jet at more than $140 million apiece, effectively capping its production at the 186 already ordered.

 

[TechMan]

Picture gallery
Russia premieres new stealth fighter - Yahoo! News Photos

Video
Russia tests 5th generation fighter jet

 

[DANGER-ZONE]

what the hek
were u sleeping all day long yesterday......there r already hundreds of thread related to the same topic traveling throughout the Forum.
plz go bak to sleep

and this is Pakistans military forum not Indian

 

[TechMan]

what the hek
were u sleeping all day long yesterday......there r already hundreds of thread related to the same topic traveling throughout the Forum.
plz go bak to sleep

and this is Pakistans military forum not Indian

LOL ok!
I searched the forum but didn't find any posts. By the way who talked about India?

 

[SBD-3]

Most Of The F-22ski Flies
January 31, 2010: The latest Russian fighter design, the T-50, made its first flight on January 29th. Also called PAK FA (Prospective Aviation System of Frontline Aviation), or T-50, it’s a radical development of the Su-27/30/35 series of aircraft. The 47 minute test flight was done without the new engines designed for the T-50. Russia has always had problems with high performance jet engines, and those woes continue.

"Evolving" an aircraft design, in this case, the Su-27, is a Russian custom. New models of a base design are given new names. The U.S. also does this, but keeps the original name. The Russian mods are often much more extensive, extending to the fuselage and basic architecture of the aircraft.

The T-50 is incorrectly touted as a Russian answer to the American F-22. It isn't. But the T-50 contains more features that Russia hopes will make the T-50 (earlier referred to as the Su-47) more competitive against the new American fighters (F-22 and F-35, which are wholly new, and much more expensive, designs). Russia wants to export the new fighter, while the U.S. won't (yet) export the F-22. When the T-50 project went dormant for years, it was believed the Su-35 or Su-37 would be pimped out (a whole lot) to be the official F-22 competitor. But the T-50 hasn't died, not yet anyway. So the Su-35 and Su-37 will continue as advanced models of the Su-27, and not be burdened with competing with the F-22 in the marketplace.

Last year, the Russian Air Force bought 48 Su-35 jet fighters from Sukhoi, to be delivered within six years. Aside from the T-50, the Su-35 is the most advanced of these Su-27 designs. A year ago, one of the two F-35 prototypes crashed on takeoff. The cause was a problem with one of the two engines. A third prototype is under construction. Russia had hoped to have the destroyed prototype fly over the May Day parade in Moscow on May 1st. The crash was really bad PR, since one of the consistent shortcomings of Russian warplanes has been the unreliable engines. But the project is moving forward, and Russia expects to export over 160 Su-35s in the next five years, and eventually have more Su-35s in service than the U.S. has F-22s. But the more advanced T-50 is being pushed to, if not leapfrog the F-22, at least stay in the race.

The Su-35 is a 34 ton fighter that is more maneuverable than the original, 33 ton, Su-27, and has much better electronics. It can cruise at above the speed of sound. It also costs at least fifty percent more than the Su-27. That would be some $60 million (for a barebones model), about what a top-of-the-line F-16 costs. The Su-27 was originally developed to match the F-15, which is larger than the single engine F-16. The larger size of the Su-27/30, allows designers to do a lot more with it in terms of modifications and enhancements.

The Su-35 is to have some stealth capabilities (or at least be less detectable to most fighter aircraft radars). Russia is promising a fighter with a life of 6,000 flight hours, and engines good for 4,000 hours. Russia promises world-class avionics, plus a very pilot-friendly cockpit. The use of many thrusters and fly-by-wire will produce an aircraft even more maneuverable than earlier Su-30s (which have been extremely agile).

Many of the advanced features promised for the Su-35, are now earmarked for the T-50. The T-50 began development eight years ago, when the Su-47 design was selected as the successor to the Su-27/30 series, as well as the MiG-29. The MiG version of the T-50 lost the competition, but will contribute some ideas. The new aircraft is not meant to be a direct rival for the F-22, because the Russian aircraft is not nearly as stealthy. The 37 ton T-50 will carry up to eight tons of munitions, hanging from 12 hard points. This reduces stealthiness, which the F-22 and F-35 get around by using an internal bay for bombs and missiles. But if the maneuverability and advanced electronics of the proposed T-50 live up to the promises, the aircraft would be more than a match for every fighter out there except the F-22. If such an T-50 was sold for under $100 million each, there would be a lot of buyers. India has already agreed to invest several billion dollars into T-50 development, and will buy many of the aircraft if the design is successful. But that depends a lot on Russian military engine and avionics developers getting their mojo back. That is not a sure thing, not matter how much Russian politicians and air force generals want it to be so.
Warplanes: Most Of The F-22ski Flies

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

lol just the other day I read a post ppl saying russia will need 10 years to build stealth lol .....

Russia has every thing they just only show it when strategically its needed to be shown

Typical response from war on madness folks , its not stealth if Russia claims it ....

just a sukhoi craft ... that is invisible to radar lol

Just goes to show with little inginuity , you can covert any craft into a stealth plane

Looks fantastic form the images

...so is russia back as super power ? not to forget they have trillion dollar worth of profits ... so who won the cold war now ? Putin must be asking his cabinet folks and drinking russian wine

 

[unicorn148]

T50 has an internal bay to carry missiles and bombs and it has a greater payload than F22 the range of T50 is double that of F22
the prototype is not the original plane it takes time to make it better so don't come to conclusions about it .Even a new engine is under development with far greater thrust and a decreased RCS so wait till the first plane is produced so as to compare with any other plane

 

[PlanetWarrior]

Did India place her order for a 100 to be delivered soon ?

 

[SBD-3]

 

[SBD-3]

Russian Unveils Stealth Fighter Intended to Match U.S. F-22 Raptor
MOSCOW — Russia's first stealth fighter intended to match the latest U.S. design made a successful maiden flight Friday, giving a boost to the country's efforts to modernize its rusting Soviet-built arsenals and retain lucrative export market.

The Sukhoi T-50's flight comes nearly two decades after the first prototype of the U.S. F-22 Raptor took to the air, and Russian officials said it will take another five years for the new jet to enter air force service. Still, the flight marked a major step in Russia's efforts to burnish the faded glory of its once-proud aviation industries and strengthen a beleaguered military.
The sleek twin-engined jet closely resembling the Raptor flew for 47-minutes from an airfield at Sukhoi's production plant in the Far Eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur on Friday. Development of the so-called fifth-generation fighter has been veiled in secrecy and no images of it had been released before the maiden flight.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hailed the T-50's flight as a "big step forward," but admitted that "a lot remains to be done in terms of engines and armament."

The NPO Saturn company said in a statement that the jet has new engines, but military analysts suggested that they were a slightly modernized version of the Soviet-era engine powering the Su-27 family of fighters.

"It's a humbug," said independent military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer. "It's just a prototype lacking new engines and a new radar. It takes new materials to build a fifth-generation fighter, and Russia lacks them."

Putin said Friday the first batch of new fighters is set to enter an air force evaluation unit in 2013 and serial production is set to begin in 2015. But analysts were skeptical, pointing at a history of delays in the new fighter program and other Russian weapons projects.

"The schedule will likely be pushed back as usual," said Alexander Konovalov, the head of the Moscow-based Institute of Strategic Assessment, an independent think tank.

Russia's prospective Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile has failed in at least eight of its 12 test launches, dealing a blow to Kremlin's hopes to make the submarine-based weapon a cornerstone of the nation's nuclear arsenal. Officials have blamed the failures on manufacturing flaws resulting from post-Soviet industrial degradation.

Felgenhauer and other observers said the fighter program, which depends on hundreds of subcontractors, has been dogged by similar quality problems.

Russian officials have said the new fighter, like the Raptor, will have a supersonic cruising speed and stealth capabilities. Its pilot, Sergei Bogdan, said in televised remarks that the T-50 was easy and pleasant to fly.

While the new fighter will significantly bolster Russia's air force capability and allow the country to compete more efficiently in the global arms market, some analysts said the country has more pressing needs.

"There is no mission and no adversary for such plane," Konovalov said, adding that the Russian military lacks a modern communications system and satellite navigation. "It would be more expedient to fit modern avionics to older generation jets."

The U.S. administration decided to quit buying the F-22 Raptor plane, the world's most expensive fighter jet at more than $140 million apiece, effectively capping its production at the 186 already ordered.
Source :FoxNews

 

[unicorn148]

Did India place her order for a 100 to be delivered soon ?

India plans to build 250FFGA by HAL which will start in 2016 and first one will role out by 2017 50 will be same as PAKFA while remaining 200 will be dual seat