Hamburger,

I know the Fitter isn’t the prettiest of aircraft, but you’ve gotta learn to control your temper… :diablo:

DG of Sukhoi Aircraft Corp beaten and robbed
Press Trust of India July 12, 2005

The Director General of Sukhoi Aircraft Corporation was beaten and robbed by armed robbers in his cottage in Moscow region, media reports said on Tuesday.

Mikhail Pogasyan called police after four robbers armed with pistol entered his countryside home through an open window shortly after midnight yesterday, beat him up and gagged his wife and son, Itar Tass said.

The robbers decamped with his coin collection and jewellery worth about 70 thousand roubles (about $1500), the report said.

Specs are probably in JAWA, but here’s the basics:

Dimensions: similar to US-1A (length 109 ft, span 108 ft, height 32 ft)
MTOW: 125,000 lb (est.)
Max speed: 300 kts
Cruise altitude: 20,000 ft (max)
Powerplant: 4 X 4,590 shp Rolls-Royce Allison AE2100 (+ LHTEC T800 BLC blower)

Received the photos c/o ShinMaywa shortly after the Kai’s first flight in December ’03. Beautiful shots but not my handywork, unfortunately !

The only aircraft that makes the 2-seat Typhoon look well proportioned:

Yak-38U

And the competition…

(Would someone please PM me to explain how to use the thumbnail function for images – either my browser’s not letting me play, or I’m just too stupid. 😀 Thanks !)

Jacko,

Interesting question, though I can understand why you ask. Yes, to the best of my knowledge the two prototypes really are new ships. The redesign to the pressurized fuselage and wing probably would have made a rebuild just as expensive. Bear in mind also that the JMSDF only finished buying its 20th and final US-1A a couple of years ago anyway; the production rate has never been dramatic, which probably explains the price tag.

Here’s proof that, despite never being a ‘Top 10 coolest looking’ contender, the US-1AKai really can defy gravity…

Agreed, the F-106 was a looker (as were the Skyray and F-86), but you just lost any hope of respect by including the F3H 😀

Just kidding. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder (unless a reality show is involved).

Looks like the result of an illicit liaison between the Magister and Javelin…!

Typical of the IIAF’s evolutionary development path (similar to what’s being pursued with their fighters): first Dorna, then SF211-like Tazarv, then the v-tail M-346 lookalike. More of a focus on developing technology and design/build experience than actually pushing ships out the door.

Damn, that ain’t easy.

1. Su-27
2. Mirage 2000
3. F/A-22
4. YF-12
5. F-20G
7. Mirage F1
6. F-15A (no CFITs…!)
8. Typhoon
9. F-100
10. JA37

If this were production systems only (i.e. no Blackbird or Tigershark), I’d add the MiG-31 and F-11 Tiger.