Jan 292010
Remember, we don’t need the F-22, because it’s an obsolete throwback to the Cold War. Anyone who thinks that the US should have advanced warplanes is clearly a paranoid warmongering reactionary.
Many more photos and vids available on this thread:
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,9186.0.html
25 Responses to “Sukhoi T-50 PAK FA first flight”
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I see that Russia is up to its normal game of “copy”
although some of its stuff was original.
Impressive, it looks like a merging of a Su-30 with an YF-23.
Anyway is a real beauty and yes it is the answer for who those thinking that US (or Europe as well, we had the same stupid critics for Typhoon) definitely needs of F-22, perhaps more than originally planned.
Sharp looking plane! There is indeed a lot of Northrop YF-23 in the design… which is interesting, as there was a lot of Northrop YA-9 influence in the Suhkoi Su-25 “Frogfoot” attack aircraft also.
And then there’s this: http://www.ussr-airspace.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28_39_109&products_id=1229
Suggesting Northrop may have had a little security problem a couple of decades back.
Alas, YF-23 is (was) better looking. The best looking jet of all time, IMO. The F-22 is much improved… but the YF-22 was one fugly looking bird. Has there ever been a competition where the aesthetic gap was so huge, with the aesthetically-challenged winning??
Though this thing is far from a finished product, of course. TODO: frameless canopy, panel alignment, fit and finish, 3D TVC. I believe the randome and intakes are not in their final shape either. I don’t think it will be inducted in 2013 like Putin said, or 2015-2018 like the Russian MOD keeps saying. 2020 at the very least, and no China will not be getting any. On the videos I’ve seen it seems to take off at a much steeper angle than the Su-30 chase plane.
IMO, it’s not a copy of anything in particular, but synthesis of many things things (mostly American, of course) known to work. You can see it in the previous gen aircraft. The Mig-29 and Su-27 don’t look like a copy of anything, but you can definitely see aerodynamic elements of the teen series remixed.
A few things are original. The moving LERX is a first, AFAIK – benefits of canards without killing stealth.
http://www.kommersant.ru/dark-gallery.aspx?picsid=415335&stpid=65
I’m pretty sure they would sell them to China if India agreed to it, as India and Russia are supposed to be working on this as a co-project.
One of the websites I looked at today pointed out that there are two underbelly weapons bays visible in the top photo, one just aft of the nose gear bay, the other towards the rear of the aircraft.
There may also be bays for smaller AAM’s visible just above the main gear bays, but they appear to be smaller than the side bays on the F-22.
I assume all the yellow parts on the aircraft are unpainted composite material.
It also appears to have a rear-pointing radome on the tip of the tail, allowing it to keep track of aircraft that are behind it and lock missiles on them.
The TVC vanes on the engine nozzle of the IR-homing AA-11 allow it to be dropped nozzle forward from a aircraft and fly back to hit a target.
At least part of the armament of the aircraft will probably consist of the new folding-fin version of the AA-12.
AFAIK, India has had no technical input into this project thus far, neither have they ponied up any cash. The co-project will be the so-called FGFA – a two-seater derivative much like the Su-30MKI was. I don’t think they will approve a sale to China if they have any say in it. I believe there were miffed by Su-30MKK sales as they supposedly incorporated some developments from the MKI version paid for by India. WRT Russia, much of the tech transfer to China happened in the 90s, when Russia defense sector was in dire straits. They got burned by selling small “evaluation” samples, only to see them cloned a few years down the track. Also, Russia shares a rather long border with China.
BTW, I wouldn’t pay too much attention to the airframe colors. In the 80s, Ka-50 prototypes would fly with an extra pair of doors painted on.
I wonder if this thing will perform anything like an F-22, where being outnumbered 10 to 1 is still an unfair fight for the other guys.
Jim
Those inlets look rather large for a stealth aircraft, but it is still just a prototype. I’m curious to find out about its A/G capabilities.
It is a rather good looking aircraft, especially for a Russian one.
“It is a rather good looking aircraft, especially for a Russian one.”
I’ve always found Russian jet fighters fair-looking. Think about MiG-29 or Su-27 for istance. Or the MiG-21.
They can produce aircraft as fair as Western and TsAGI people are nice aerodynamicist.
That sure is purdy! Will look even nicer with a Stinger missile up its a$$.
> I’ve always found Russian jet fighters fair-looking.
Indeed. The only design “feature” that I associate with Russian aircraft is “large exposed bolt heads and rivets,” which is probably unfair.
they should put the f-22 in low-rate production, and upgrade existing f-15 airframes to the new “silent eagle” standard. this will give the US plenty of proven aircraft, with an existing experienced pilot base, at a lower cost than straight replacement with f-22’s, while leaving the f-22’s advantages intact and slowly adding to it’s operational ability (trained pilots/mechanics/ground crew).
Russian engineering is very utilitarian. Before stealth became a concern, the fit and finish was rather awful. Russian planes produced in the last 10 years are much smoother. eg. Flankers made for Malaysia. It’s good for marketing and good practice before building true stealth planes, where fit and finish is critical. BTW, everytime I look at F-22s photos, I keep thinking it’s CGI. The finish is unbelievable.
> Before stealth became a concern, the fit and finish was rather awful. Russian planes produced in the last 10 years are much smoother.
Closeup photos of *this* plane show a reversion to Really Bad Finish, in that exposed screw/bolt heads are all over the thing. It’s just a prototype, but still…
I think these aren’t rivets, but bolt heads flush with the surface.
http://pilot.strizhi.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/KOD-016-300112_s.jpg
F-35:
http://pics.livejournal.com/4_e/pic/000qg0ep
Whatever they are, they are RCS “noisy.” I imagine that sooner or later they’l get spackled over or something.
If they are bolt heads, there seem to be a gawdawful lot of them.
Although being a prototype, they may want to be able to pretty much disassemble the whole thing.
The intakes are sure big enough; is this thing supposed to be able to cruise at very high altitudes?
Maybe it uses pretty high bypass turbofans.
YF-23 – unbelievably good looking machine.
http://www.sukhoi.ru/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=106059&d=1264916241
One of the chief designers at the Yakovlev design bureau went to work for Lockheed-Martin at the end of the cold war, and you can see Yak-141 VTOL fighter influence in the F-35: http://www.yak.ru/PIC/HISTMOD/VIEWS/yak-141.gif
YF-23 looked really great in flight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGIjJbBVyOU
Awesome video, thanks. Work of art that happens to fly.
Sounds like it’s time to start working on that anti-stealth technology.
Cool design, although the beginning commentary is woefully uninformed. The biggest proponents against a lot of the more expensive weapons platforms (newer plane designs, naval programs, etc,) are the armed forces themselves. They’re retooling themselves for forecasted smaller, “dirty” wars with a heavier emphasis on light infantry, transport, drones, and so on. They have good number of these systems forced on them by pushy congressmen with defense contractors in their districts, not because they want them.
Well, I guess it’s good to know that the US will never again have to deal with major military opponents. [/sarc]
The US has long had the problem of preparing for the *last* war. Well, right nw the *last* war is the *current* war against a bunch of ill-equipped ignorant dirty savages. But the *next* war? Or the war after that, or the next three or four after that?
Prepare for *all* eventualities. China or Russia becomign a serious military threat to the US is a distinct possibility, especially when you think it terms of decades.