http://english.pravda.ru/russia/economics/12-02-2010/112189-fifth_generation_pak_fa-0
12.02.2010
Russia's T-50 Shows New Face and Human Intelligence
Russia's new T-50 PAK FA fifth generation aircraft performed its second flight
on February 12. The flight took place at the airbase in the city of
Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
"The flight continued for 57 minutes; all systems of the aircraft functioned
properly," a source at the Russian defense complex told Interfax. The new plane
has a new look now, the official added.
"Several days ago the plane was painted in gray and white camouflage colors of
the Russian Air Force. The new colors made the aircraft look more menacing in
the air," the official said.
The plane will perform several other test flights at the base of
Komsomolsk-on-Amur and will be thereafter sent to the Moscow region, where the
main part of test flights will be conducted. The combat capacity of the fighter
jet will later be tested in the Astrakhan region of Russia.
The first test flight was conducted on January 29. The general director of
Russia's legendary Sukhoi design bureau said that the first successful flight
of the fifth-generation jet marked great progress for the Russian aviation
technology. Test pilot Sergey Bogdan shared positive impressions of his
experience on board the T-50.
Prime Minister Putin stated that the program to train crews for the new jet
would be launched in 2013, whereas serial purchasing of the jet would commence
in 2015.
The main distinction of the aircraft is the computer analysis of all
information. A pilot receives the results of the analysis in the form of prompt
messages, GZT.ru wrote.
The exploitation of the new plane will be cheaper in comparison with its
predecessors. For example, the cost of one hour of exploitation of Su-27 (4th
generation) makes up $10,000. The price for the same time of exploitation of
T-50 is expected to be reduced to $1,500.
Nikolai Makarov, Russian armed forces chief of staff, said that Sukhoi's T-50
would have several advantages over its US rival - F-22 Raptor.
"First and foremost, it goes about high, nearly human intelligence," Makarov
said.
In addition, T-50 will be a lot cheaper than the US analogue, although the
price has not been exposed yet, Makarov said.
Russia started working on the fifth-generation aircraft during the 1980s, but
the works were suspended after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The US
prototype of the modern F-22 fighter jet took off for the first time in 1990.
Russia returned to the development of the domestic fifth-generation aircraft
only in 2002.
Russian specialists believe that it would be incorrect to compare Russia's T-50
and USA's Raptor: their concepts are different, Nezavisimaya Gazeta wrote. For
example, the Pentagon refused from the plans to make F-22 a highly maneuverable
aircraft. US specialists believed that self-guided all-aspect missiles relieve
a Raptor pilot of the need to attack an enemy from the back. In addition, the
US jet can reach the enemy at maximum operating range, which is unreachable for
missiles of other fighter jets.
PAK FA designers say that it is a multi-role jet. Therefore, the aircraft can
be used as an interceptor jet or a bomber plane.
Russian specialists also said that F-22 had never been used in many US-led
military operations, not even in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Raptor was originally developed as a heavy fighter jet to gain predominance in
the air. That is why it is referred to as a multi-functional, rather than a
multi-role plane. Most likely, the aircraft will be used in connection with
unmanned combat planes and will then become a prologue to the construction of
the sixth-generation aircraft in the United States.
The Americans are concerned about the preservation of their technologies,
experience and knowledge in the field of aircraft-making. In Russia, such an
approach to long-term planning in the development of new military hardware
either does not exist or is kept secret, like it happened with the PAK FA
program.
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