On Jul 11, 1:28 pm, Mike wrote:
Russian Air Force may receive fifth-generation fighter in 2013
ZHUKOVSKY (Moscow Region), July 7 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is expecting
a new fifth-generation fighter to enter service in 2013, the Air Force
commander said on Monday.

"We will begin test flights [of the new fighter] in 2009, and hope to
receive the aircraft in 2013," Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said.

The new fighter aircraft, tentatively designated as the Sukhoi PAK FA
or T-50, will be built at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur aircraft
manufacturing plant in Russia's Far East.

The T-50 fighter, equipped with two powerful engines with thrust
vectoring, will feature high maneuverability and stealth to ensure air
superiority and precision in destroying ground and sea targets.

Some experts believe the PAK FA fighter has been designed to be
comparable to both the American F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II.

It will eventually replace the MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-27 Flanker
fighters in the Russian Air Force and will be exported to other
countries.

Interesting, it hasn't even flown yet and is at least two years late.
Typical Russian

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20071206/91196743.html

Russia to test fifth-generation fighter in 2009
16:52 | 06/ 12/ 2007



LANGKAWI, December 6 (RIA Novosti) - Flight tests of a fifth-
generation Russian-Indian fighter will begin as early as 2009 and mass
production of the aircraft may start by 2015, the Sukhoi aircraft
maker said Wednesday.

A Russian-Indian advanced multirole fighter is being developed from a
Russian prototype by Sukhoi, which is part of Russia's United Aircraft
Corporation (UAC), and India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, under an
intergovernmental agreement signed in October.

"At present we are building prototypes of the fifth-generation fighter
and will soon start preparation for flight-testing, which is planned
for 2009," Sukhoi CEO Mikhail Pogosyan announced at the Langkawi
International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) 2007 exhibition in
Malaysia.

Pogosyan said mass production of the future fighter could begin by
2015.

The new fighter aircraft, which will feature high maneuverability and
stealth to ensure air superiority and precision in destroying ground
and sea targets, will be built at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur aircraft-
manufacturing plant in Russia's Far East.

Discussing the future implementation of the Russian-Indian project,
Pogosyan said joint efforts should be focused on three areas:
coordination of technical specifications, application of advanced
technologies, and preparation of a legal framework for future
cooperation.

"We have conducted preliminary discussions on these issues and now we
have to work out a detailed program for the implementation of the
[fifth-generation fighter] project," the official said.

India and Russia have a long history of military cooperation, going
back almost half a century. The existing Russian-Indian military-
technical cooperation program, which lasts until 2010, lists up to 200
projects worth about $18 billion in all, according to Russia's defense
ministry.