Indian Military Aviation News and Discussion

[Arun_S]

Purpose of this thread is to discuss development that affect Indian Military Aviation (I.e. Not only IAF but IN, IN and other R&D/production organizations)



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[url="http://www.domain-b.com/defence/air_space/iaf/20091209_fighter_tests_oneView.html"]Russian 5th Gen stealth fighter tests commence 2010 news[/url]

09 December 2009



Nizhny Novgorod: Russia will begin testing its fifth-generation PAK-FA fighter in 2010, Russian deputy prime minister, Sergei Ivanov, said Tuesday. "The trials will begin in 2010," Ivanov said.



This is a change over earlier announcements that tests would commence before the end of this year. The prototype under development is the T-50.



The aircraft is intended to match the qualities of the US stealth F-22 Raptor and the JSF-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft. Currently the F-22 Raptor is the world's only fifth generation fighter.



The PAK-FA T-50 is scheduled to enter service with the Russian Air Force in 2015. The T-50's maiden test flight has been repeatedly postponed since early 2007. In August 2009, Russian Air Force chief Alexander Zelin had indicated that there were problems with the engines and research was ongoing.



Sukhoi PAK-FA and the HAL FGFA



In 2007, Russia and India agreed to jointly develop what the Indians dubbed as a Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) programme. At that time, Sukhoi director, Mikhail Pogosyan, was quoted as saying, "We [India and Russia] will share the funding, engineering and intellectual property in a 50-50 proportion."



The Indian version would be different from the Russian version in that it would be twin-seat configuration based on its operational doctrine which calls for greater radius of combat operations. The Russian version is a single-seater.



Given the specific needs of a two-seater aircraft, the wings and control surfaces of the Indian variant need to be redesigned.



The Russian side is optimistic that a test prototype of the two-seater version will be ready for its initial flight-testing by 2012, and eventual induction into service by 2015.



The PAK-FA will be stealthy, will have the ability to supercruise, will carry the next generation of air-to-air, air-to-surface, and air-to-ship missiles and carry an [color="#000080"]AESA radar with a 1,500-element array[/color].



It will initially carry two Saturn 117S engines (about 14.5 ton thrust each), which is an advanced version of the AL-31F.



Later versions of the PAK FA will use a completely new engine (17.5 ton thrust each), developed by NPO Saturn or FGUP MMPP Salyut.