Friday, January 29, 2010

DTN News: Russian 5th-Generation Fighter To Perform Maiden Flight Jan 29.

DTN News: Russian 5th-Generation Fighter To Perform Maiden Flight Jan 29. *Source: DTN News / RIA Novosti (NSI News Source Info) - January 29, 2010: Russia is expected to hold the first test of its fifth-generation fighter on Friday, a source at Russia's largest aircraft building enterprise said on Thursday. "The [test] flight was initially scheduled for Thursday, but has been postponed," the source at the Gagarin KNAAPO company, a subsidiary of Russia's major aircraft holding Sukhoi, said. Russia's only known fifth-generation project is Sukhoi's PAK FA and the current prototype is the T-50. It is designed to compete with the U.S. F-22 Raptor (so far the world's only fifth-generation fighter aircraft) and the F-35 Lightning II, but has yet to take to the skies. The PAK FA is believed to possess advanced avionics, stealth capability, a ferry range of 4,000 to 5,500 km, and endurance of 3.3 hrs; it is armed with next-generation air-to-air, air-to-surface, and air-to-ship missiles, and has two 30-mm cannons. Russia has been developing its newest fighter since the 1990s. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin earlier said the combat aircraft would enter service with the Air Force in 2015.

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