A 5th generation jet fighter to be operational by 2025

The Sukhoi PAK FA is a 5th generation jet fighter that is said to be outfitted with the next generation of air-to-air, air-to-surface, and air-to-ship missiles.

The Sukhoi PAK FA will replace the Tupolev Tu-160 and Tupolev-95 strategic bombers. The Tupolev Tu-95, a large, four-engine turbodrop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform entered service in the former Soviet Union in 1956. The Tupolev Tu-160 is a supersonic heavy strategic bomber designed for hitting significant targets at a distance and deep in continental theatres of operation. It is equipped with both conventional and nuclear missiles. Some analysts believe that the Sukhoi PAK FA will be something in-between the two jet fighters. But Igor Korotchenko, editor-in-chief of the Nationalnaya Oborona (National Defense) magazine, doubts it.

"The Tupolev Tu-160 and Tupolev-95 are strategic bombers of different types. The first was developed at the time of Joseph Stalin. It was later modernized, as nuclear bombs were replaced with cruise missiles. The second is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing heavy strategic bomber. They belong to different generations. So no hybrid can be possibly envisioned here."

Although most of information related to PAK FA is classified, it can be surmised from interviews with various employees involved with the Russian Air Force and Defense Ministry that it will be stealthy, have the ability to supercruise, will incorporate a fix-mounted AESA radar with a 1,500-element array and have an "artificial intellect”.

PAK FA was expected to use 5th generation engine custom-built for Russia’s fifth-generation T-50 jet fighters. But it is unlikely, Igor Korotchenko says:

"The engine used by the jet fighters will not meet the needs of the Sukhoi PAK FA. These are the engines of completely different types. A new engine should be developed from scratch, possibly, using technological advantages of the Tupolev Tu-160. The engine generates a larger thrust and has a complex automation system, to facilitate a number of flight modes such as maneuverability. It is expected that each engine will be able to independently vector its thrust upwards, downward or side to side. Vectoring one engine up with the other one down can produce a twisting force."

The new jet fighter will combine the advantages of the Tupolev-160 and of modern stealth technologies, including the 5th generation radio electronic systems, airborne radar facilities, and the arrangement of the flight deck.


Source: Oleg Nekhai, 23 December 2011 - Voice of Russia News (www.english.ruvr.ru)

Photo: By 2025, Russia is planning to put into service the Sukhoi PAK FA (so-called Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation), a twin-engine jet fighter developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau for the Russian Air Force. The PAK FA is one of only a handful of stealth jet programs  that exist in the world. (Photo by RIA Novosti)

(23.12.2011)