Nice pic, why do they keep PSing the bow?
It can’t be down to the torpedo tubes as this pic is already in the public domain, it must be something to do with the sonar (under the shroud).
They’re coy about the propeller too, but that’s an anti-sonar/signature measure.
only two per bay!! i was expecting al least 3. thanks paraley 🙂
It may yet be three. P. Butowskii’s report in this month’s AI claims none of the current missiles (RVV-MD, SD, BD), are intended for PAK-FA’s internal bays. Those that are, are in the early stages of development and are expected to enter flight tests 2014/15.
Ya see TooCool_12f, in the late 1990s there was this place called ‘Fairyland’ where some defence giants lobbied their govt. into believing that stealth technology was reaching an apogee of development and, given certain procurement levels, economies of scale would facilitate unit , life-cycle & operating costs being cheaper than your average 4G fighters. A decade went by and after much finger-tapping, (delayed) empty promises and the ritual of throwing large sums of money into a black hole-‘Fairyland’ endured a perfect storm where investment bankers ran the economy into the ground (ironically, also after making similar false promises and grandiose forecasts as their defence sector counterparts).
Suddenly, there came a realisation that the 5G fighters were prohibitively expensive and could only be procured in such numbers which would have to operate in conjunction with 4G fighters (where new incarnations of these fighters appeared and priced themselves back into the market, becoming technically viable well into the 2030s).
The IAF is lucky in many respects as it will get the latest iterations of the Eurocanards, as necessary replacements of those aircraft approaching the end of their service/airframe lives and the urgent need to sustain squadron levels.
Deep ToT for the Eurocanard and co-operation on the PAK-FA will be a steep and invaluable learning curve for the Indian aerospace industry. The MMRCA winner will remain viable platforms for many decades to come, especially when operating in conjunction with their own versions of this beauty a decade from now:
Else we could just buy F-35s like everyone else.;)
I’m sure committing anything up to $35bn for the PAK-FA/FGFA project in the long term, the IAF will get the 2nd stage engine or a very close derivative, either way it will be a successor to the 117/AL-41F1 in the 17+T class.
Given a non-captive, open market anyone opting for the F-35 over this beauty needs their head examining…
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