Posted on 06/30/2010 12:18:14 AM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
a high-profile visit to view what is Russias first low-observable aircraft, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin watched the prototype Sukhoi T-50 being put through its paces at the Zhukovsky flight test research center near Moscow and got a tour of the new aircrafts cockpit June 17.
The T-50 is being developed to meet the Russian air forces PAK FA requirement for a multirole fighter to replace the Su-27 Flanker. It has logged about 16 flights, say U.S. officials, first flying Jan. 29. (AW&ST Feb. 8, p. 30). The initial stage of state testing of the aircraft is presently due for completion in 2012.
Sukhoi chief Mikhail Pogosyan estimates there will be a worldwide market for 1,000 of the aircraft over the next 40 years. Putin contends the aircraft will carry a price tag that is one-third that of the U.S.-built Lockheed Martin F-22. Unlike the F-22, which the U.S. Congress has ruled cannot be sold to foreign governments, the new Sukhoi design is built with export in mind.
India is already a participant in the program, with an interest in a two-seat version of the PAK FA.
The first prototype T-50 is not believed to have been fitted with radar. The design will have at least two fixed active, electronically scanned arraysone facing forward, the other facing aft and providing about a 120-deg. field of regard in each direction. The design may also have cheek radar apertures.
The aircraft is flying with a pair of NPO Saturn 117S engines, which are a further modification of the AL-31F engine family that powers various Flanker derivatives.
(Excerpt) Read more at aviationnow.com ...
Ping
The above pic is from RIA Novosti.
I have to wonder at the “cruising speed” figure. When Victor Belenko brought his MIG25 to Japan, we thought it had a cruising speed of Mach 3. But what we didn’t know is that the engines had to be replaced after that.
In the late 70’s, I was a KC-135 co-pilot when every flight crew member on the base was suddenly ordered into an auditorium on the base. No one else allowed; mandatory attendance. Really hush-hush.
Once we’re all there wondering what the hell was going on, out comes the Colonel to introduce a speaker.....Belenko.
Fascinating, to say the least. We all learned a LOT.
Okay all you Aircraft experts, tell this Grunt how good is this Russian plane?
I’m pretty skeptical myself. At this point, they don’t HAVE this plane. What they have shown is a prototype of an airframe with a lot of promises about what it is going to be in the future.
The airframe flies, but at this point, that’s all anyone knows. We don’t know how stealthy it will be, we don’t know if the promised avionics are going to perform as they claim, we don’t know if it is going to be as cheap to build as they say, and the timeline they give on development and deployment of this aircraft seem awfully optimistic to me.
Even if the design, stealth, avionics, etc., all work exactly as advertised (something I am also skeptical about), to build these things in the numbers they are talking about is going to require many new factories to be built, hundreds if not thousands of skilled workers (many of which are going to have to be trained from scratch) and all the ancillary infrastructure that accompanies a program of this magnitude — schools and hospitals for the base workers, commissary and exchanges, etc.
Given the state of the Russian economy and looking at other Russian defense programs, such as the conversion of the Gorshkov for the Indian Navy (way over time and budget), I just do not see this bird as an immediate or even near future threat.
Russians are master bluffers. I won’t say this thing is a complete bluff, but...
Did the Russian post some photos last year of their pilots flying in open cockpits at Mach 3?
I saw them here. We all got quite a laugh....
I bet is was interesting.
That would have been awesome; would have loved to have heard that. Thanks for serving.
It was awesome...and very eye-opening. Thank you for your kind words.
Many things about his presentation struck me......but one prominent example:
When the US authorities brought him to America and showed him around (under VERY tight security for his own protection), he truly believed that the whole thing was a put-on. Shopping malls, the beautiful roads/highways, homes, etc.....he actually thought this had all been organized to impress him. It took him a long time to realize that this was really how Americans lived. When that sunk in......it floored him.
Another one: The average Russian pilot is highly skilled, but what they lack most is initiative. This isn’t so much their fault; they are totally controlled by folks on the ground telling them what to do.....they aren’t (or weren’t) allowed to exercise judgment, etc. on their own. To do so was considered “hooliganism of the air” and was punishable (and rather severely). In simulated air-to-air combat, the man showed SERIOUS airmanship skills....and routinely got his ass waxed by US fighter pilots (who are expected, TAUGHT to think, react, show initiative in combat).
Now you know why.
Obama would love that control but the military culture would have to have a big change.
Well it was really all GCI (ground controlled intercept). Pilots were virtual automatons; skilled labor told what to do step by step throughout preflight, flight, and post-flight. Ludicrous, really.
But totally in keeping with Soviet culture, just as individual initiative is in keeping with ours.
I say BS
I say BS
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