Russia's new stealth fighter jet made its public debut Tuesday, according to state-run news source RIA Novosti.
The Sukhoi T-50, developed collaboratively by Russia and India, appeared at the MAKS 2011 air show in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow.
Gen. Alexander Zelin, head of the Russian air force, told RIA Novosti he expects the T-50 prototype to be ready in 2013, with "mass-produced aircraft" arriving in 2014 or 2015.
The aircraft is expected to become a staple of airborne defense for both Russia and India, Mikhail Pogosyan, head of Russia's United Aircraft Corp., told RIA Novosti.
"The T-50 will be the newest main plane both for the Russian and the Indian air force," Pogosyan said.
The article from the state-run media source says the Sukhoi T-50 cost the two governments about $6 billion to develop, with India shouldering about 35% of the cost. It is intended to match the U.S. F-22 raptor.
Actually it is not that the Sukhoi that comes cheaper, it is the F22 which was designed from the beginning to be an expensive toy. Lockheed has employed thousands of subcontractors all over the country, with political connections, to ensure the project lift-off. Their quality standards are bellow par, currently Lockheed struggles to fix the bugs and the F-22 comes ridiculously expensive. We are getting decadent. Period.
Im just glad the Russians are our allies now. I can still remember Nikita Kruschev pounding his shoe
in the general assembly of the United Nations building back in early sixties. As a child we had
air raid drills and companies selling fallout shelters as we were on the brink of Nuclear war with
the bay of pigs. Oh those were the scary days.
What our country is going through now is nothing compared to the sixties.
We are allies w/ Russia. I don't think so. You must be living in liberal rose colored glasses.
@Bob Boise: actually, yes, we are allies with Russia now, just as we were during WW II. No rose colored glasses here. Conservative Republican President George W. Bush entertained Vladimir Putin at his ranch in Texas, because we're such buddies with Russia. Conservative Bush said he could "see Putin's soul." Talk about rose colored glasses!!! Be that as it may, Russia is our partner in space exploration. US Space Shuttle missions often included Russian Cosmonauts. Americans and Russians have commanded the International Space Station. Until our next generation space craft are completed, Russia will be our ticket to manned space flight. The US are Russia are not enemies, even though we spy on each other. We will always be rivals, because we're both powerful nations with national interests. The US and Russia have a common other rival: China, whose economic and military power are rising. The up side is that China's rise will strengthen cooperation between the US and Russia.
@Laura: ah, yes, the 1960's! Flower power, landing on the moon, and all that Cold War stuff! Agree with you completely: our relationship with Russia is light years ahead of where we were in those days. Both nations learned a lot. Fortunately, we have many young Russians and young Americans who never lived through the Cold War. In their lifetime, Russia has always been a capitalist country, and the US and Russia have always had joint military exercises. They probably scratch their heads in bewilderment when they watch a movie like "Red Dawn"! 🙂
I'm trying to make my butt look like Kim Kardashian's. That's why I'm eating all these corn dogs.
...more like a mirror copy of the F-22. Thanks George Bush and DICK Cheney, for giving away our national secrets – while lying your way into a useless war in Iraq!
Just because the ruskies made a copy from pictures doesn't mean our leaders gave away anything. If they got secrets they stole them the old fashion way. Spies are not just last century people.
All I know is, china is screwed.
Hey Vic, it was that bumbkin Willie Clinton was giving away America's technology to the Red Chinese and God knows who else in exchange for campaign cash. Get your head out of your lib @ss.
hey Flyboy7588. That old bull about Clinton? Selling military secrets to the Chinese? LMAO! Looks to me that you're thinking with your KOCH again.
Here is the thing.
First the Raptor is old news.
Second if you can build something to fly fast enough, mach 5+, well u don't need stealth.
So what if you can see it, can you catch it????
Hypersonic is the wave is the future not stealth.
What's worse, not knowing its coming or knowing its coming but you can do nothing to stop it?????
There is a little Mig-29 in the nose.
OMG just google F-22 pics and compare. They look NOTHING alike.
The best fighter pilots in the world are probably some 17 year old gamers flying drones.. its all about the drones!
Yeah, a properly built and piloted fighter drone could kick this thing's afterburner into the dirt.
Yes childern, you buy all that techno crap. It still takes a human being to make a combat pilot. Drones are exteremely limited in that area. The russians have made a copy of an americn plane, based on technology purchased from china and stolen on their own courtesy of the head in the sand, one world of peace and love idiots who don't see anything wrong with giving away or selling secrets to people who DO NOT wish us well
The demorats want to dismantle the US military while Russia is preparing for a US takeover.
lol. U need a reality check. Paranoid much?
Idiot!!!
Must have heard Rush or Faux News say this...Russia wants to take over the US, what a crock
Russia is trying to keep the greedy dragon at bay.
Dude! This is not 1985. Have you been watching too much Rad Dawn? This is 2011, try to keep up fool!
Russia spend about $30billion per year on defense, The Dems want to reduce ours to $500 billions.
you need to tune that tin foil hat. Russia wants us just were we are. So they can steal and bootleg everything we make. They make a mint from that.
Doctor recommends drink plenty of water, take meds, go to bed. do not post on cnn.
Yesterday's technology on sale today.
Its just a matter of time before; Russia, China and the rest of the world copy what we have, they have been doing it since WWII, it may look like the Raptor, but its not.
Do you really know the secret of similar designs coming out from USA and USSR/Russia! After WW-2 both Americans and Russians grabbed the real genious behind aviation – German aviation engineers. In most cases they landed up with members of same design team and hence the similar designs!!!!!!!
The F-22 has been in development since the 80's. If this is the best they can do in that amount of time we have little to worry about. Look at the engines.
Who cares? Its for use against china. No one wants a cold war anymore.
and how much money US used on defense budget for the last decades?
Nathaniel – yah, lmao. Turbofan. Good luck with that infrared signature, bucko. You'd need a lead umbrella the size of the superdome to mask it from our satellites.
agreed, no vectored thrust there...not even close to the F22
F-22 2D vector thrust, T-50 3d vector thrust.
that picture looks an awful lot like the F22. i wonder how much of the tech is stolen. there is plenty of precedence for that from russia...
Hollywood certainly set the stage for the idea that the US steals it's technology. Just look at movies such as FireFox and The Hunt for Red October for starters. Thanks Hollywood.
I wonder if the Russian Air Force will have to field endless calls from India for tech support.
Oh I get it, because they have callcenters in india. Hah, youre so funny to say that. Are you the first one ever?
LOL.
actually the biggest consumer of these aircrafts would be india...Press 1 for Hindi Press 2 for russian..for any others press 9...if ure not sure stop messing around and eject
If you see and here about a American aircraft then that's what your aloud to know about.. It's the stuff you don't know about that scares the Russian's and the rest of the world and we have a lot of that all over the world that your not suppose to know about. Hammers don't cost $20,000.00 each and toilet seat's at $25,000.00 for nothing... Info from Inspector Generals Office Pentagon U.S. 1991 investigation of spending by DOD 1977-1988 ( No indictment or hearings on the matter ) We can't handle the truth you see..
looks bad ass
THETHINKER is drinking the coolaid our media is prviding....not the thinker anymore.......read between the lines, it's all about the bottom line.....
It only cost them 6 Billion because the stole most of the research from the US.