Some new pictures have gone up of the training mock up and the carrier itself:

http://china-defense.blogspot.com/2010/08/chinese-aircraft-carrier-photos-early.html

Notice the Top Plate copy isn’t on the mock up anymore but the fixed AESA arrays are installed.

Wow.:eek: Looks just about finished. It’s gonna be interesting to see which one enters service first: this or Vikramaditya.

The Top Plate is unnecessary anyway: The AESA serves the same role. Speaking of which, where’s the fourth(rear) antenna mounted?

Given the increasing cost of fuel wouldn’t it be uneconomical to fly sorties just to carry 8-9 tonnes of equipment at a time? And doesn’t the 8-9 tonne load overlap with large helos like the Mi-26 and Ch-47?

Russian 5G fighter to outstrip best analogs

Russian fifth-generation T-50 fighter, which is currently being developed by the Sukhoi aircraft manufacturer, will outstrip best world analogs, Air Force Commander Colonel General Alexander Zelin said on Saturday.

Currently, there are neither organizational no engineering obstacles to accomplishing this task, Zelin said.

The Russian Air Force plans to acquire over 60 T-50s, Zelin said.

“Everything is on schedule…The plane will be delivered to the Russian Air Force from 2015 onwards,” he said.

The T-50 will incorporate the latest developments in a military fighter, including low visibility, supersonic cruising speed, and highly integrated control systems.

Although T-50 specifications remain classified, fragmentary data on its engines imply that this heavy-duty fighter will have a take-off weight of more than 30 metric tons and will be close in dimension to the well-known Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker.

Russia has been developing its newest fighter since the 1990s. The current prototype was designed by the Sukhoi design bureau and built at a plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, in Russia’s Far East.

Russian officials have already hailed the fighter as “a unique warplane” that combines the capabilities of an air superiority fighter and attack aircraft.

MOSCOW, August 14 (RIA Novosti)

I’ve noticed that for the most part these articles on the PAK-FA only advertise aspects like engine and aerodynamic performance: not much mention is made of its stealth features. Not too seem like Kapedani, but this may an indication that the Russians don’t expect the T-50 to beat the F-35 in stealth.

I’m pretty sure the Ka-52 hasn’t been ‘navalised'(i.e. rebuilt with corrosion-resistant materials for maritime use). They’d be better off using the Ka-29 assault version; the Ka-52’s lifespan may be shortened on a Mistral.

Meh it seems to be priced about right the JSF is a $150M ++ fighter its really up there in cost and shooting higher due to cuts. A moderate export F15 now is already in the $100M dollar range.

The latest MKI were reported to have the latest Russian radar (Irbis-E? Zhuk-AESA? …), avionics and electronic warfare equipment, performance enhancement up there to similar to a Su-35 this latest Block model should be the best.

I could be paranoid but prices of defence systems these days seem to be double or triple per unit of what they used to be as little as 5-6 years ago. It may just be inflation, but I can’t help suspecting that a lot of those deals have massive ‘commissions’ involved in the payments.

^Nope. Israel’s got multiple hostile nations with strong militaries to deal with. Pakistan has one.

Hard to say what the ground realities would be in 10 years from now. But even if it is only one front, one can assume that India is likely to enjoy a good deal of qualitative advantage (if not quantitative as well)…assuming Indian forces are equally distributed on two fronts.

Actually it seems likely that the greater half will be deployed on the Chinese side, so Pakistan may actually have a numerical advantage.

I think PAF plans to maintain around 400 fighters of 3 types-JF-17, F-16, FC-20. But its worth remembering that these plans are not engraved in stone. As for the STEALTHY version, its unlikely. Though one should expect certain measures to reduce RCS in future variants.

400 fighters seems over-militarised when you consider the size of Pakistan and the fact that they only need to be used on one front. Unless some of them will be deployed on the Iran border as well?

From what I’ve read the IL-76 is better off in that department than most contemporaries. It has titanium flooring for carrying loads like tanks.