Now that’s what I call a beautiful finish (and may the person who leaked it RIP).

[ATTACH]173672[/ATTACH]

My first reaction was exactly the opposite: “gosh this is VERY different from a Flanker”.
At first glance I would say at least 10% of what I can see is either composite or composite-framed materials…The framing and wielding itself is also totally different as compared with your “normal” Flanker.

Fwiw, here’s the ’29KUB for comparison, I’d expect the ’35BM to exceed composite usage as %age by weight

The (intact) welded seams on ‘904’ denote electron-beam welding, as riveted joints would have buckled/cracked under the high temperatures.

Conclusion: India can either co-develop PAK-FA and adapt it for their purposes or they can pursuit MCA with European partners (Dassault, Aeritalia, CASA, EADS, BAe?).

The IPRs for the PAK-FA would be air-tight, so very little ‘cross-over’ tech could be incorporated for the MCA (unlike Su-30MKI).

However, international partners could probably be easily found to break the F-35’s supposedly affordable 5G monopoly on the market, outside Europe S.Korea, Japan perhaps?..

…and wind-tunnel testing @ TsAGI- irony of ironies 😉

Quite informative link:

http://www.globalaircraft.org/planes/mig-31_foxhound.pl

So, clearly my “thread” has merit………..:D

First brush-up on your basic numeracy, then I’ll decide whether your analogy of a refurbished/upgraded second-hand carrier to the most important Russian (& Indian) defence project ever, deserves any ‘merit’.

It works like this:

MMRCA to the US and FGFA/PAK-FA-MKI to Russia means everybody’s happy (except Scooter) and the winner is…………………..India -YAAAAAAY!! Jai Hind!!

Scooter, could you translate this through your ‘Good News Machine’ please, thanks.

JSF – Dutch Waffle Disease Spreads
Posted by Bill Sweetman at 5/27/2009 7:28 AM CDT

Following the Dutch decision to defer final selection of a new fighter until 2012 – the other side of the country’s next elections – Denmark appears to be following suit, and a political controversy appears to be building in Norway over the government’s damning dismissal of the rival Saab Gripen NG in November.

Denmark’s defense minister Soren Gade told parliamentary auditors last week that the country would not sign a contract for a new fighter until 2012, and then only at a fixed price, according to national news agency Ritzau. Denmark is still looking at the Gripen NG and the Boeing Super Hornet as well as the JSF.

Meanwhile, in Norway, the right-wing Progress Party is now criticizing its “red-green” coalition rivals for the November decision, saying that it was no more than a rubber stamp for a decision that had already been taken. “The government fooled the Swedes and the Norwegian people into believing that this was a real competition”, party founder Carl Hagen has said.

In upcoming hearings, the Progress Party faction hopes to send the JSF decision back to the government, calling for a “much better and more thoroughly worked out and more responsible decision”. The party may hope to form an alliance with the socialist SV party, which also favored a non-US solution but was steamrollered by its center-left coalition partners in November.

None of this means that the nations are likely to buy Gripens or Hornets any time soon, and the JSF remains the leading contender as long as it lives up to its promises. However, it should be remembered that none of these countries was even considered in play for potential rivals until 2007, and that all three were key targets for Lockheed Martin’s proposed multi-year, fixed-price procurement plan. [:D].

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/defense/index.jsp?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3a27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3a4e9cde90-24ee-4adc-ad8e-a0c3b56ca485