Finally! After three years of delays and platitudes from Sukhoi this day has been a long time coming. Personally I think it looks pretty good for the Russian's first stealth design (and the first one outside the US to boot).
Aside from the somewhat conservative design lineage, the wing geometry looks quite interesting, and given Sukhoi's historical ability in that field I really want to see what it can do.
My initial first impressions of the T-50 (and I really did mumble this to myself when I saw the first pic) were: "My god, it's the bastard love child of a three-way between an F-22, YF-23, and a Su-27!"
Good god. The resemblance is uncanny at best.
http://i48.tinypic.com/3306wy9.jpghttp://www.military.cz/usa/air/in_service/aircraft/yf23/images/YF23_PAV2_trysky01.jpgIt does look very beautiful though, lines are very sleek and that cockpit is practically hanging off the fuselage so the pilot is guaranteed to have a ridiculous visual/situational awareness. The semi-blended wing design is...rather ruthlessly practical, and extremely dangerous looking. I imagine it will be a more ferocious dogfighter, compared to the "ambush-predator" that the F-22 is.
Oh and nice touch with that IRST pod too, my hat is off to the Sukhoi engineers. They probably left some "design evolution space" in the airframe's avionics so they can upgrade to a full-scale HMD system once they catch up to the US' current tech level in the next few years.
.....With that said,
it's just not going to be as stealthy as the F-22 Raptor is. Sorry to bust the resident Russophile fanclub's bubbles.
Those big intakes and the rounded engine thrusters (yes, I know they aren't the final version, that's not the point) pretty much ensure that while this aircraft will have a very low RCS (Radar Cross-Section for the uninformed) than pretty much any 4th Gen aircraft bar none, it still won't enjoy the kind of full-aspect stealth that planes like the F-22 and F-35 have. I've heard from friends that it might have a RCS ratio of 0.5 M^2 or more, which is larger than the Raptor's, but that hasn't been confirmed yet.
Here's a great Blog entry from an AviationWeek engineer/commentator on the bird for those interested in the kind of buzz the T-50 is generating among Western analysts.Igor AutunovFor this role it has to look like that. Anyway, it's got a smaller and more streamlined delta wing configuration (plasma stealth implemented?)
Hell no, whatever gave you that idea.
This thing does not have Plasma Stealth.
and the wings are positioned further back from the cockpit, which implies greater maneuverability than the Raptor.
....also no.
It's just one of Sukhoi's trademark design preferences with regards to wing geometry. They tend to be pretty conservative in that department.
It's a beautiful aircraft, right there beside the raptor, however the PAK-FA looks more integrated and futuristic, as if it's carved from a single piece of material It will look and fly much sweeter when it's painted, and fitted with the intended engines designed for it.
Now you're just wanking about it.
Cute.
Looking directly at the specs, it seems to be an improvement on the F-22, no doubt they wanted to better it:
Same with this.
Until confirmed specs get released, you're just as ignorant as the rest of us are, and considering that this is just the prototype you really shouldn't be making such statements in haste.
Typhoonhe aircrafts exterior is clean and smooth
You didn't notice those nuts and bolts indentations?
I'll say it's very Russian-like.
Though considering how Russian aircraft in general have to endure much more strenuous operating conditions I can't say i'm real surprised.
Many have expressed the opinion that Russia's first true low obserable design would find it difficult to compete with western design experiance and expected features harking back to the F-117.
That's pretty much a given.
I don't see why you'd try to argue or dispute the obvious lead the US has in the stealth design department considering how early the US was toying with the technology with prototypes such as Project Rainbow, OXCART, and Tacit Blue.
overall the PAK-FA cedes little in its low observability features
I'd beg to differ, as I stated in my opening remarks.
In terms of avoinics the aircraft is still coming together but drawing upon the Su-35 for its development, one intersting feature is that the FLIR/IRST sensor retains pride of place afront the PAK-FA's nose and with a detection range of over 50 km in frontal aspect this could be a game changer in future air combat.
I'd agree, especially as it increases the aircraft's frontal aspect RCS.
It's obvious it's meant for close-range combat though, when in all likelihood most combat will occur at much further ranges.
In summary this has been an amazing first look at the PAK-FA which has certainly met 'all our expectations'. Russia appears to have developed a worthy competitor to the F-22, which amusingly could perhaps be the shock that restarts Raptor production because the F-35 is certainly looking like a rat dog now!
I was thinking the
exact same thing.
Boy do I wish I was a fly on the wall at the Pentagon's Air Staff office right now. The USAF brass are probably grinning about how they'll be able to fearmonger Congress into keeping the F-22 production lines opens for another decade or so.
""Look at what the Russians have! We need more F-22s from your districts or we'll DIE!!!11111"
I doubt it being the F-35's superior however, despite some of the hopes you guys may have. There's still a lot of catching up Russia needs to do in R&D before i'd lean towards this plane having an advantage over the Lightning's avionics suite.
EDIT: Apparently, word is coming through on the Grapevine that the USAF brass want this bird's Reporting Name to be the "Firefox"....
"For you, the day when I destroyed your village, killed your family and forced you into exile was the defining moment of your life, but for me...it was Tuesday."