Sukhoi PAK FA

[sorcerer]

Russia to Buy as Many T-50 PAK-FA Fighters as Manufacturers Can Produce

The testing is in full swing, and the aircraft shows excellent performance and is expected to surpass all rivals, the Russian Air Force Commander said.


POGONOVO RANGE, Astrakhan Region (Sputnik) — The purchase volume of Russia's fifth-generation T-50 PAK-FA fighter jets, to be produced in 2017, will be limited only by on the manufacturer's production capability, Russian Air Force Commander Col.Gen. Viktor Bondarev said Thursday.


Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said in March that the ministry could reduce the purchases of PAK-FA fighters, due to "new economic circumstances." The initial plan stipulated the acquisition of 10 fighters to be sent to the army for testing and subsequent acquisition, based on performance satisfaction, of another 60 T-50s.

"The aircraft will enter mass production in 2017. We will order as many [fighter jets] as the industry can provide," Bondarev told reporters.

He added that PAK-FA fighters are currently in the testing phase.

"The testing of the aircraft is in full swing, it shows excellent performance and its weapons system works great both on the land and in the air."

The Air Force commander suggested that the PAK-FA is the most advanced fighter jet in existence at the moment.

"It will be no worse than US analogues, F-22 and F-35 [fighters], and will exceed them in all parameters."

PAK-FA, designed by Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi, will become the first operational stealth aircraft for the Russian Air Force and will incorporate advanced avionics and all-digital flight systems.

US Air Force's F-22 Raptor is the only fifth-generation fighter in service currently.

http://sputniknews.com/military/20150528/1022644596.html

 

[Khagesh]

The prime thing that makes me salivate for PAKFA and even more for FGFA is the overload of sensors. I would love to have a small clutch of two-seater FGFAs coordinate a much larger bunch of LCAs on a Line of sight datalink.

Saala koi pagal hi panga lega.

 

[Anikastha]

The prime thing that makes me salivate for PAKFA and even more for FGFA is the overload of sensors. I would love to have a small clutch of two-seater FGFAs coordinate a much larger bunch of LCAs on a Line of sight datalink.

Saala koi pagal hi panga lega.

sir
do you have any idea that when IAF will get pakfa/fgfa..
recently I read on paki forum that their aitforce chief visited china for talks on j 10 and j31 ( stealth fighter)

 

[tejas warrior]

sir
do you have any idea that when IAF will get pakfa/fgfa..
recently I read on paki forum that their aitforce chief visited china for talks on j 10 and j31 ( stealth fighter)

Let Namo visit Russia coming month and it will be clear.

 

[Khagesh]

@SREEKAR

No bro. No info. Lets just wait till Modi and Putin meet. Both are the kind who do not get confused by the size of the issue.

But we cannot see FGFA in isolation. This may be the last aircraft, that India imports or jointly develops. At the same time FGFA being larger allows us to fail & fall without losing the chance to stand back again. In weapons development this is an esp. important requirement. Nothing succeeds in the first shot.

Considering the fact that the design workshare has been frozen we can expect a formal agreement on that part and additional points like timelines of production etc. Esp. because India is pushing for this bit, very hard and equally because the platform would be reasonably mature with lesser unknowns.

Since FGFA will be based on an already proven platform T-50 we can safely presume FGFA to be a T-50MKI but even more heavily customized then Su30MKI was. It is in this regard that we should be negotiating our position. Most of the Russian workshare in FGFA should simply be the baseline they provide in terms of T-50. Thus our people should ensure that the ideas they develop and the Russians help translate into reality should be the ones that find use in AMCA also.

Pertinent to note that AMCA will basically start out as a LO airframe with legacy items on board. Only later on picking up items that will be developed along the way - most likely from the FGFA learning curve. For example the TVC is already one good learning. I won't be surprised if the Indian TVC is ready by the time the first AMCA flies. TVC should not be a delaying factor. As a major spin off a decade down the line even an LCA Mk-4 can begin to sport one of the variants of the TVC that come out of this study on say an EPE version of F-414 engine. LCA currently does not require a TVC but in future it may. And all this because we start timely on one item.

Similarly we can start for other items too. For example we can discuss about the fan blades for the AL-31FP. Currently the hot section of AL-31FP is agreed to be a Russian reserved IPR. But if we start discussions about modifying the fan blades of AL-31FP then we can think of some really radical Indian designed upgrades for Su-30MKI, as a direct benefit. Equally at the same time the learning arranged from the design of these bigger fan blades will get downloaded straight into the smaller yet more challenging AMCA engine. If we fail to start these things early then we will be forced to import engines for AMCA too. Not good. The recent bump in budget may also be indicating at similar thought process within Indian establishment. Such a thought process should be allowed to benefit all the existing types that IAF flies. Russians can be counted on for holding hands in this regard.

For the AMCA, I expect India may not need any help in items like Data fusion engine, airframe design, AESA, warloads, avionics, control laws, diagnostics, production, EW and Self Protection suite etc. Advanced IR/UV sensor heads, too should be doable by India on its own but some help may still be required esp. during production. There is one thing lovable about IAF - they will change requirements midway. I suspect IAF will ask for laser missile jamming features for AMCA, later on, once they see it on F-35 JSF. This is something that may not be there in FGFA and work like this may not be available to us for joint development either. This must be developed in house and it is something that we should be able to do given some resources. But to be able to do this we will have to ensure that we prepare for other more do-able stuff in a timely manner. The smaller AMCA may prove too challenging if our people do not cut their teeth at a more lenient FGFA workshare.

For AMCA engine I don't think we will require/get help outside of TVC. The hot section is something that nobody is ever going to give to anybody else. So either the engine has to be a joint development with the core being provided by the collaborator or ekla chalo re. Both cases it helps if you start early on the other parts of the engine. We should not presume that we will face lesser challenges than the chinese. In fact in that regard the Chinese are more mature. For both JF-17 and J-10 they worked on proven airframe type with a known engine and focused on other areas. That is why they are today able to work on J-31 and J-20 simultaneously.

A lot of these learning will get downloaded into the later Marks of LCA. And only the LCA will have any export potential from India. That counts. Moreover we may actually ourselves require many different variants of LCA.

Thus FGFA should not be looked at as a single item of trade.

One good thing our people have understood is that if they have to develop capability then they need to be able to re-invent the wheel. For last 20 years everybody wanted that the 'wheel not be reinvented'. Wrong path. There are no short cuts in learning.

 

[Khagesh]

This could be a datapoint for some here esp. the LCA Gang.

Comes from somebody who can be expected to be in the know about the WVR requirements expected.

http://aviationweek.com/awin/northrop-aims-fast-jet-laser-jammer-f-35

Spoken in the context of DIRCM for protection against WVR missiles, "he" in the following quote is, Jeff Palombo, Northrop senior vice president and general manager for land and self-protection systems:

Tests in the system-integration lab will look at challenges such as the high-speed hand off of targets between the upper and lower pointer/trackers as the F-35 rolls at rates of up to 17 deg./sec., he says.

Note this is one single sentence so my hunch is we can safely presume the whole to be an equivalent to a quote.

 

[abhi_the _gr8_maratha]

http://idrw.org/india-and-russia-to-press-on-with-fifth-generation-fighter-development/

 

[akshay m]

new pics

seems 054 is on heavy duty these days

 

[akshay m]

one of my journalist friends tell me that T50-5 has been rebuild and will fly again by the end of this month. but T50-6 was cannibalized for this
his name is Andrew and goes by the name Deino in many forums

he has ssually been accurate , i hope he will be right this time too.

T-50-1 - is being revised in OKB "Sukhoi", operating time 219 hours 197 landings.
T-50-2 - located in Zhukovsky, operating time of 123 hours, 141 landings.
T-50-3 - in LIiDB Akhtubinsk, operating time of 181 hours, 92 landings.
T-50-4 - in LIiDB Akhtubinsk, operating time of 74 hours, 49 landings.
T-50-5R - is in the final assembly shop KnAAZ. 5P - a project to restore the machine T-50-5 with elements of T-50-6, stopped in production.



Finally, so good clarity in future T-50's designations;
- T-50-5 became T-50-5R, will cannibalize T-50-6.
- T-50-6 is what we referred to as T-50-6-1 as before; IE a flying frame of "phase 1".
- T-50-6-1 is in fact a static frame of "phase 2", now known as T-50-7.
- T-50-6-2 is flying phase 2 frame, so we always had that right.
And for future frames;


50-6 was stopped, as it was decided to proceed with the construction of "2nd phase" aircraft. T50-6-1 - is a static testing frame, which turned into a T50-7 and now its fuselage [the most basic translation] is in Zhukovsky, wings (basically) and stabilizers are still here [at KnAAZ]. T50-6-2 - transitioning frame to the 2nd phase, has its fuselage now docket and handed over to the final assembly shop. Also this year will be put T50-8 (now there is a dock fuselage) and T50-9 (year-end). T-50-9 promise with the new engines [Izd 30 or whatever they are now testing on "710"?]. In 2016, the planned are 50-10, 50-11 and static testing frame 50-12.

 

[cobra commando]

Russian T-50 Fighter Ejection Seat, Survival Equipment Pass Test

Russian NPP Zvezda has successfully completed production and testing of survival equipment for the pilots of T-50 fifth generation Fighter PAK-FA. NPP Zvezda Director and General Designer, Sergey Pozdnyakov was quoted as saying by Russian Aviation on Monday, the testing of multi-purpose protective helmet ZSh-10, KM-36M oxygen mask, PPK-7 anti-G suit, VKK-17 pressurized suit and KS-50 oxygen system has also been successfully completed. Moreover, K-36D-5 ejection seat has also successfully passed the state tests. The new equipment allows saving the pilot’s life in case of cockpit depressurization at an altitude up to 20 km. The new protective helmet is 350 g lighter compared to the previous model thanks to using the new composite material - organoplastic. The helmet is synchronized with a number of instruments located in the cockpit in order to reduce the pilot’s workload. The T-50 fifth-generation fighter has 14 weapon stations and will replace the Su-27 heavy fighter. The primary objective of the new fighter is gaining air superiority. It will be armed with efficient short-, medium- and long-range air-to-air missiles.

Russian T-50 Fighter Ejection Seat, Survival Equipment Pass Test

 

[prashant chaudhary]

why we opted rafale instead pak fa?

 

[akshay m]

one of my journalist friends tell me that T50-5 has been rebuild and will fly again by the end of this month. but T50-6 was cannibalized for this
his name is Andrew and goes by the name Deino in many forums

he has ssually been accurate , i hope he will be right this time too.

T-50-1 - is being revised in OKB "Sukhoi", operating time 219 hours 197 landings.
T-50-2 - located in Zhukovsky, operating time of 123 hours, 141 landings.
T-50-3 - in LIiDB Akhtubinsk, operating time of 181 hours, 92 landings.
T-50-4 - in LIiDB Akhtubinsk, operating time of 74 hours, 49 landings.
T-50-5R - is in the final assembly shop KnAAZ. 5P - a project to restore the machine T-50-5 with elements of T-50-6, stopped in production.



Finally, so good clarity in future T-50's designations;
- T-50-5 became T-50-5R, will cannibalize T-50-6.
- T-50-6 is what we referred to as T-50-6-1 as before; IE a flying frame of "phase 1".
- T-50-6-1 is in fact a static frame of "phase 2", now known as T-50-7.
- T-50-6-2 is flying phase 2 frame, so we always had that right.
And for future frames;


50-6 was stopped, as it was decided to proceed with the construction of "2nd phase" aircraft. T50-6-1 - is a static testing frame, which turned into a T50-7 and now its fuselage [the most basic translation] is in Zhukovsky, wings (basically) and stabilizers are still here [at KnAAZ]. T50-6-2 - transitioning frame to the 2nd phase, has its fuselage now docket and handed over to the final assembly shop. Also this year will be put T50-8 (now there is a dock fuselage) and T50-9 (year-end). T-50-9 promise with the new engines [Izd 30 or whatever they are now testing on "710"?]. In 2016, the planned are 50-10, 50-11 and static testing frame 50-12.

first flight of T50 -5R has been postponed to 22 august 2015

my source says

According to the latest schedule, T-50-5R should make the first flight of 22.08., Transfer EDO 06.09.SUNGLASSES T-50-7 should be transferred to Zhukovsky to 30.09. Meanwhile, on the basis of ran- fuselage T-50-7 identified the need to strengthen the frame №23. Thus the timing of construction of T-2.6.50 significantly shifted. Now, the first flight will take place on October 5 and the transfer of OKB - 28 January. Such a large gap between these dates is due to the fact that the first plane will be fully applied RPP. T-50-8, respectively, for 2016 moves down.

 

[akshay m]

pics from MAKS 2015 by Flanker man and martinez

 

[The enlightened]

China is going to copy American designs to make their way into 5th generation fleet. While Russians go on sacrificing stealth for kinematics.
Ughhh I hate this.

 

[SajeevJino]

.

Hi-re Image

Spoiler

 

[akshay m]

Pic taken May 2014, published 27/07/15:

the release of this pic now is probably a herald , as she will soon be back in the skies.(next month 22)

they should call her
frankenstein ,because the russians cannibalized the T50-06 to repar 05
the plane that will take to the skies will have body parts of both 05 and 06

wish they would use the 05's paint scheme for all prototypes

 

[akshay m]

China is going to copy American designs to make their way into 5th generation fleet. While Russians go on sacrificing stealth for kinematics.
Ughhh I hate this.

word from an insider is that 07 is being redesigned as part of phase 2 programme
see..http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/...n-fighter-aircraft.8276/page-184#post-1060496
hope he is correct

so we will see what will be the changes ,
hopefully the IAF will have a better say in phase 2 than in phase 1



this is the phase 1 design

phase 1 patent
http://www.freepatent.ru/images/patents/22/2462395/patent-2462395.pdf


phase 2 hopefully comes with Izd30 and flat nozzles
a redesign of the nose is possible.
and hopefully they will adopt the inlet position similar to the Berkut whch is similar to the F22

 

[Yumdoot]

That poster above is some fine piece of advertisement. Normally KAB Ord is some of the ugliest munition around but they have made it look like some western bombs.

@akshay m why do you think there should be a change in the inlet. I have heard of difficulty in pressure recovery in some cases for such shielded inlets as the T-50 currently has. But then would that disability still be as damning with 3-axis-post-stall-maneuvering capability that T-50 and PAKFA bring to the table. OTOH what if putting those inlets up front, on T-50 kind of plane with so much skin, throws up some drag issues. Unless off course you are ok to let that happen for some other reasonable trade-off.

 

[The enlightened]

word from an insider is that 07 is being redesigned as part of phase 2 programme

Deino is an insider? I thought he was a watcher.

 

[akshay m]

Deino is an insider? I thought he was a watcher.

he has insiders .

Berkut seems to be the insider.

point is he has been correct until now ,

so lets wait and watch if he is correct

and hope


@Austin will know