Putin satisfied with Russian fifth-generation fighter tests

Webindia.123 ^ | 4/20/2010 | Webindia.123

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin today said he was satisfied with the tests of Russian fifth-generation fighter jets.

''Flight tests of the fifth-generation fighter are continuing successfully," Putin said in his annual address to the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament.

Under the Russian Constitution, the government is obliged to deliver annual reports to the State Duma.

''Once again I want to thank everyone who worked on this machine, as well as those who are now putting it in the air,'' Putin said. The first Russian fifth-generation fighter jet was delivered to Zhukovsky in the Moscow region for a flight test on April 8.

The fighter jet performed its maiden flight on January 29 when it spent 47 minutes in the air.

The Sukhoi design bureau started project development of the aircraft after it received the tender in April 2002. Last summer, the fighter's design was approved, and the prototype blueprints were delivered to the KNAAPO aviation construction company based in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

The T-50 is the domestic name of the fighter which had been developed as the Advanced Front-Line Aviation Complex (PAK FA) for Russian Air Force.

The PAK FA can carry either eight next-generation air-to-air R-77 missiles, or two large controllable anti-ship bombs weighing 1,500 kg each. It can also carry two long-range missiles developed by the Novator Bureau which can hit targets within a 400 km range.

Last month, Putin had said the fifth-generation fighter will have more than 2,000 flight tests before full-scale production starts.

''Before the jet's serial production is launched, it should complete over 2,000 test flights,'' he said.

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