Click on the image above or this video link to see what this bad boy can do.
Posted on 01/29/2010 10:58:58 AM PST by driftdiver
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Get hold of a copy of the book “MIG PILOT” Subtitled “The Final Escape of Lt. Belenko.” by John Barron.
The true story of the man who defected and flew a Mig-25 out of Russia via Vladivostok and landed it in Japan. He was granted asylum in the U.S., got a new identity, etc.
The U.S. Military was astounded to learn that the Mig-25 couldn’t do most of what it had been hyped to do. It had been clocked at nearly Mach II in a staged flight. When questioned about it, Belenko said the plane that did that staged flight, strictly because the Ruskies KNEW we were spying on them, had to have two new engines installed immediately after the flight. Their ball bearings are/were no good, and one flight at max speed destroyed the engines.
Has Russian bearing quality improved since then? Are they truly up to snuff in many other scientific fields which would be required to build an airplane like this which actually could perform, long term? Your guess is as good as mine. But it is interesting to contemplate.
HA! That’s not saying much is it.
Good point, most people don’t think about the complexity it takes to keep these weapons systems running. I’ve read that in its hey day only about 80% of russian ICBMs were expected to work if launched.
Good read => also referenced in there was the fact that some party hack from Moscow wanted trees planted on road leading to base to make it look better for a pending inspection. Locals said can’t do it b/c of weather / time of year; hack said do it anyway, which they did.
Trees died like locals said they would. To save face, they painted what remained on the “trees” GREEN and drove the dignitaries fast down road so that they couldn’t see the “details.”
Reality usually diverged from what the Party said it was ; - )
Since its not fair that we have F22’s and the Rooskies don’t, Obamateur will give half our planes to them.
Victor Belenko’s “MiG Pilot.” Excellent book.
The discussion concerning how much capability the West had convinced itself that the MiG-25 had (a delusion based on the false notion that Russian and Western aircraft design practices were essentially the same) was interesting. However, the story of his life was more interesting to me; especially the grip that the Soviet propaganda had on his mind even after he defected. (Remember, during a ride in the Northern VA countryside on a break for his CIA debriefings, how he suddenly had the car stopped so he could rush into a “real” supermarket and see how improverished the American worker really was?)
Ahem. So the Russian have spent the last two decades developing a fighter that could match the performance of the F-22, an aircraft that was already in development in 1990.
Swell.
What the heck do the Russians think we have been working on in the interim?
Answer: Fighter generations 6, 7, and 8.
(BTW, how many Sukhoi T-50s (beyond the flight test prototypes) can the Russians afford at present? My guess is: not many.)
Yeah, I know now. The Fox news photo caption was incorrect.
How many can we afford?
“Her slow conversion to socialism. “
You mean rapid descent into communism.
heehee
I figured.
If you are talking about F-22s; about 325 (after the Obama/Gates truncation of a much larger USAF acquisition objective).
F-35s, several thousand. (Buy actually increased by the same Obama/Gates decision to justify the reduction in the F-22 buy; F-22= generation-5; F-35=generation-6 (or so their reasoning goes).)
UCAVs, I don’t know (as we are still developing them and trying to figure out whether they will supplement or surpass the manned fighter). (UCAVs = generation 7, 8?)
but, but we have an open hand and they’re supposed to unclench their fists. Obama said, so it must be true.
Everyone has presented good points; while Russia and China, may not innovate or have the best or first technology they will get the essentials correct, and not have to create the best component, weapon or delivery system (just think Sony, Honda or Toyota). They just have to make the vehicle or weapons delivery system capable enough to be effective at an overall lower cost comparatively and mass produce systems then work on improving capability as needed (think JSF). As their past policies have demonstrated, fielding a 5 – 1 production over xGen ATF’s (fortunately they are just now coming up to this level of performance). If for every F-15/18 (MSIP), YF/22-23, F-35… there are five to six units challenging an ATF, this swarming capability or multi-vector assault creates more work per incident. Face-off may not be too much of an issue at a distance, however, in close tactical frame could undermine ATF abilities; even worse, projection becomes marginal when costs rise per system.
The F22 can handle a 5 to 1 ratio if they have adequate missiles. No doubt though it is something to be avoided.
Okay
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