Russia tests stealth fighter jet

BBC:

A new stealth fighter has made its maiden flight in Russia's far east.

The Sukhoi T-50 jet spent 47 minutes in the air over Komsomolsk-on-Amur and test pilot Sergei Bogdan said "it is easy and comfortable to pilot".

The jet - also known by the Russian designation PAK FA - is seen as a potential rival to the US F-22 Raptor, which first flew in 1997.

The "fifth generation" jet is designed to be invisible to radar. Russia's air force hopes to acquire it in 2015.

The new jet has been developed in partnership with India. It is seen as a significant milestone in Russia's efforts to modernise its Soviet-era military hardware.

...

The Russian air force lost several planes to the primitive Georgia anti aircraft weapons during that war. It will be interesting to see if they can actually produce this air craft and more importantly maintain it. That has become one of the critical areas for the F-22.

Comments

  1. Rorschach11:41 AM

    Even a cursory look at the aircraft will tell you it's RCS won't be much improved over an F/A-18 E/F, if any. There are too many things hanging off the thing. It will be an improvement over the current Mig Fulcrum and Sukhoi Flanker, but won't hold a candle to the F-22 or F-35. Mainly due to the avionics suite and supercruise, but it will have to jettison most all of it's external weapon/fuel load for dogfighting.

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