Tests of Russia's new fighter must start in 2009 - deputy PM

[tigershark]

Tests of Russia's new fighter must start in 2009 - deputy PM
AKHTUBINSK, January 21 (RIA Novosti) - The testing of Russia's fifth-generation fighter must begin in 2009 and the aircraft should be commissioned with the Russian Air Force in 2015, a deputy prime minister said on Wednesday.

"I insist that the testing start as early as 2009, and the fifth-generation fighter must enter service with the Russian Air Force in 2015," Sergei Ivanov said at a meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission.

Earlier plans set 2010 for the first tests of the new fighter.

Ivanov said Russia was "nearing the end of the development of the first prototype of the new fighter."

Russia's advanced multirole fighter is being developed by Sukhoi, which is part of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), along with India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), under a preliminary intergovernmental agreement signed in October 2007.

Russia and India will simultaneously develop two versions of the combat aircraft - a two-seat version to meet the requirements of India's air superiority doctrine, and a single-seat version for the Russian Air Force.

Russia's Sukhoi aircraft maker earlier said it had started to construct a prototype of the fifth-generation fighter, which will feature high maneuverability and stealth to ensure air superiority and precision in destroying ground and sea targets.

The Russian version will be built at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur aircraft-manufacturing plant in Russia's Far East.

Ivanov said on Wednesday that the aircraft manufacturing industry should review and adjust some testing programs and methods due to advanced nature of the new aircraft.

Source
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20090121/119733326.html

[F-111 C/C]

Yeah, I heard SukhoiLover put a call into the Deputy Prime Minister and "rattled his cage"!

[tigershark]

How much do you want to bet it looks like a Flanker? 

[Gripen]

How much do you want to bet it'll have the same capabilities as the Raptor (stealth, supercruise etc) but only half the price?

[SukhoiLover]

To F-111:
Yeah, i shouted at the deputy so loud that he decided to hurry things up

To tigershark:
I don´t believe so, i think it will be closer to the Su-47 or maybe a mix of the Su-47 withe the MiG-1.44 and maybe, just maybe, some touch of Yak Freestyle.

To Gripen:
Impossible, i think, it should be close to the Raptor, more than anything else, but i doubt it will be half the price. A F-22 costs 120 million,am i right? So, half of that is 60 million, well, Russian experts state that the price of a Su-35 BM should be around 65 million, a lot more than previous Flankers, so i don´t believe the PAK-FA will be so inexpensive.

[Webmaster]

If it will look better than any of those artist impressions / concepts, then I'd be happy. 

Final price tag, really too soon to say anything about it

[valkyrian]

I bet the Russians want the Americans to believe that the new fighter is ready, thus they will spent more money (and a lot more) on the F-22. With this economic crisis, spending money on expensive weapons is almost equivelant as to use them against yourself!!!

How much does 100 more F-22 cost? Even with the cost of 50 F-22, the US goverment would save a lot of money to reallocate them to more urgent needs.