[vannrox]

Interesting.

[Poohbah]

Great. It can pull 10+Gs and do the funky chicken.

Missiles are getting to the point where they can pull 100+Gs, and the Air Force version of Lockheed-Martin's F-35 will eventually mount a 100-kilowatt laser with a 10KM range, and it will be stealthy to boot.

The only way to describe this is to compare it to the various cavalry arms of the European armies in July, 1914. Splendid troops, well-trained, well-equipped...and completely frickin' irrelevant in the era of the Maxim Gun.

[Vigilantcitizen]

"The only way to describe this is to compare it to the various cavalry arms of the European armies in July, 1914. Splendid troops, well-trained, well-equipped...and completely frickin' irrelevant in the era of the Maxim Gun."

Bwahaahahaha!!

The revolving missle magazine is pretty neat though.

Just for kicks, should I ping stavka2?

[knighthawk]

S-37 at FAS:

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/row/s-37.htm

[PushinTin]

Garbage. This reporter obviously got some major kickback for this article. There is nothing radical about it. As stated in the article NASA tested a similar design almost twenty years ago. Gee, big surprise, the Ruskies stole the design and made it bigger. We all know bigger is better. The F-22 would kick major butt on this puppy. No stealth, Non-steering jets, No heat signature reduction equal major sitting duck.

[FlyVet]

USA has messed around with this forward-swept-wing design, based on the F-5/T-38 airframe. I think the Germans also messed with it during the WW II era. If I remember right, it had triple-redundant computer systems to keep it stable, because it is literally "flying backwards", which makes it extremely maneuverable, due to its inherent instability. The problem is, if the computers were to fail, it's instant death for the pilot. Try throwing a dart backwards some time, then imagine a plane acting like that at 500 knots or better.

[paddles]

Too bad they only have enough money to build two of them. It'll be great for airshows.

[adam stevens]

This worries me. America must have a military that can destroy all enemies. Otherwise the world that hates us because we will free will be tempted to strike and might even win.

[Bobby777]

this is from a Popular Mechanics article from over a year ago ... is somebody else copying it and publishing it?

[hosepipe]

Foreign Aid to Russia.?... We see can where the last aid went..

[1rudeboy]

I wonder how well it rusts.

[Kozak]

The Russian challenge comes in the form of the single-seat Sukhoi S-37, the world’s first combat aircraft to successfully exploit forward-swept wing (FSW) technology

Not exactly . German Ju-287

[BnBlFlag]

I thought the Russkies were broke!

[Young Werther]

They build an aircraft which will enhance a pilot's control inputs, i.e. increase maneuverablility. then you have pilots that can only fly the thing once or twice a month due to lack of fuel and maintenance dollars.

The beast will look nice on a pedestal outside one of their airbases but it won't provide any military advantage. I've mentioned before that pilots I knew in the Air Force were't afraid of Third World pilots in "better aircraft" Russia's pilots are/always were Third World! It's the pilot and tactics not the plane that wins air battles! The Top Gun experience during the Viet Nam war proved that training and tactics trump hardware every time.