OtakuTu-160 story (in Russian, but has nice pics & schematics):
http://www.airforce.ru/aircraft/tupolev/tu-160/book/index.htm
OtakuMy point was, if the F-35 will succesful against high speed, high altitude, high maneouvering targets.
Are you asking if the F-35’s a good interceptor?
The RNAF selected the F-35 because it was the best available alternative to the F-22, Western 4G fighters would have had their hands full with the Su-35- let alone PAK-FA.
However, you don’t have to be a fan of Carlo ‘End of The World’ Kopp to realise F-35’s AA qualities are, let’s say, questionable.
OtakuHypotheticals all very well, but the Su-35s are likely to have a PAK-FA escort (especially given the sensitive strategic location) way ahead with X & L band AESAs to make things more interesting.
The Su-35s may be acting as nothing more than net-centric missile platforms, and you’ve discounted the jamming/EW environment.
The Su-35 may be sold to the RuAF as a stop-gap, but it will obviously develop co-ordinated tactics/weapons with it’s stealth stablemate.
OtakuRiiight. So Scoot does have a side kick I see.
No, he has a side-car.
OtakuKlub missile family:
OtakuSweet! MAKS-09 will be interesting for sure. Sukhoi better show uss at least a mock-up by then, or they´ll make the vice-premier look like a fool. And I got a creepy feeling thats not a good thing, even in todays semi-democratic Russia..
I get the feeling Sergei walked-in on a wild vodka & lapdancer fueled party @ KnAAPO’s top-secret hangar, where everyone was supposed to be ‘very-busy’- I guess he wasn’t amused.
OtakuPushing PAK-FA
Posted by Bill Sweetman at 1/22/2009 10:20 AM CSTMaxim Pyadushkin writes: It looks like Russian government and military officials are in a hurry with the development of the country’s fifth-generation fighter, officially dubbed PAK-FA (Russian acronym: Future Aircraft System of Front-line Aviation). On January 22, vice-premier Sergey Ivanov announced that the new aircraft should start testing as soon as this year and enter service in 2015. “We are already close to finishing the first prototype from the pre-production series” he added.
Last December, Russian Air Force commander Gen-Col Alexander Zelin was more precise, saying he hopes to see the first flying PAK-FA prototype ready by Air Force Day on August 12. He was also sure that the new aircraft would begin test flight this year. Such announcements can be also explained by the MAKS air show that will take place near Moscow this August. MAKS is where the national state-controlled defense industry demonstrates its achievements to the country’s leaders, lobbing for budget subsidies and procurement orders. If PAK-FA does not roll out of Sukhoi’s hangars before the air show, it is likely to cause serious criticism from the government side.
Bill Sweetman adds: Good luck on the 2015 bit – but if the RusAF and Sukhoi adopt a strategy of building an “A” model using engines, avionics and weapons being tested for the Su-35, which seems likely, development could be faster and less costly that one might expect. And at least today’s Russian leaders don’t use Joe Stalin’s performance-incentive plan…AW&ST
I guess the static model a Zhukovsky could be rolled-out for MAKS’09, but I was expecting a slick VIP ‘SuperJet 100’ style party at KnAAPO’s new hangars.
OtakuMaiden flight of fifth-generation fighter this year: Russia
Moscow (PTI): Russia has said the maiden flight of the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA), being developed by its Sukhoi design bureau in tie-up with Indian aerospace and defence major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), will be made by the end of the year.
“We expect the aircraft to take to the skies no later than the end of this year,” Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti on Wednesday.
Earlier the maiden flight of the new air superiority stealth multi-role fighter featuring high manoeuvrability and precision in destroying land and sea targets was expected in 2010.
Ivanov, a close Putin ally and former Defence Minister, made this announcement in the South Volga region of Astrakhan, where he is on a visit to supervise the construction of facilities for the trials of the next generation fighter.
Under the bilateral agreement signed in October 2007, FGFA is being developed by Sukhoi, which is now part of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), along with India’s HAL.
India and Russia will simultaneously develop a two-seater version of the war-bird to meet the requirements of India’s air superiority doctrine, and a single-seater version for the Russian Air Force.
The Hindu News Update Service
Latest:
Prototype #01 (completed airframe) to commence structural/static testing @ Gromov, Zhukovsky imminently
Prototype #02 (final assembly) scheduled for first-flight by year-end (’09).
OtakuUh, does this sudden visit by a high government official mean the Rus. leadership have run out of patience with Sukhoi? ..
Sergei Ivanov has closely monitored the PAK-FA programme for some years now (in fact he’s probably the only politician who has seen the aircraft).
Last month some reports surfaced that first-flight had been delayed to 2010, but reporting to a Government Military Commission today puts 2009 back in the frame. But if Sukhoi won’t be rushed on their first all-out stealth fighter- then they won’t be rushed.
http://www.zinio.com/express3?issue=341110656 (pgs 58-59)
OtakuUS arm-twisting ? Its a thing of the past with regards to India. You may as well wake up and smell the coffee, This is the Partnership of the new century. 😎
I think you’re right. The P-8I deal seems to signal an end to Indian concerns about sanctions as a geo-political stick. Imho, P-8I deal makes SH victory almost a foregone conclusion (and rightly so on merit/capability) with an offset tie-in for both.
With Pres. Obama declaring pakistan the “most dangerous nation on Earth”, and the US (and Russia) seeking a democratic stalwart vis-a-vis the PRC- leaves India sitting pretty.
IAF 2020: F-18E/F(/G?), Su-30MKI (‘block’ IV+) & PAK-FA-MKI, what a combination!!:cool:
OtakuHey guess what, after checking a recent Andrei Formin article on the Su-35/117C, it claims the 117C entered flight testing aboard Su-27M (710) in March’04- the same time as the scaled-down AL-41F (41F-1A), sooooo…I wager the AL-41F-1A is the 117C redesignated (maybe co-developers weren’t happy with the AL-41 label being used).
OtakuSomewhat dated but informative:
Russia & CIS Observer / Archive / № 3 (14) July 2006 / DEFENSE / Engine for Sukhoi’s Su-35 Fighter is Selected /
Maxim Pyadushkin
Russia’s Sukhoi Design Bureau has made the final choice of engines for its new Su-35 fighter. This so-called transitional combat aircraft is expected to meet operational requirements of the Russian Air Force in 2009-2015 before the Russian version of a fifth-generation combat aircraft – the PAK FA, also being developed by Sukhoi – enters service.
In its selection, Sukhoi opted for 117C engines to power Su-35, joining the engine’s development made by a team of Rybinsk-based NPO Saturn and UMPO from Ufa. In June, the Sukhoi Design Bureau and two engine manufacturers signed an agreement to share the costs needed to complete the 117C engine’s development. Under the agreement, Sukhoi will bear 40% of the expenses while the NPO Saturn and UMPO shares will be 30% each. The participants plan to spend about $110 million to finish the engine’s design and put it into series production.117C engine is considered to be a first step to creation of new powerplant for Russia’s next-generation fighter
The 117C turbojet is a further modernization of the Al-31F engine being installed on various versions of the Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-30 aircraft. The new turbofan combines Al-31F experience with new technologies gained from the development of Al-41F engine during the last two decades. While Al-41F was being developed for a fifth-generation Soviet fighter, the 117C is considered to be as a first step to creation of the engine that will power Russian PAC FA fighter.
Compared to the Al-31F, the 117C has its thrust increased by 2 tons to 14.5 tons, and incorporated a larger inlet diameter, a vectoring nozzle and digital flight control system. At the Moscow MAKS air show in August 2005, NPO Saturn unveiled the engine’s prototype – called the 117A. To date, the manufacturers have produced five prototypes, which have been successfully tested on Su-27LL and Su-30 fighters. Based on the test results, the designers have improved the engine’s fan and flight control system.
Until now, NPO Saturn and UMPO had no government subsidies for this engine’s development. As NPO Saturn’s 117C program chief Evgeny Marchukov explained to the Russia & CIS Observer, both companies so far have spent almost $40 million for design and testing of the 117C.
According to NPO Saturn representatives, the agreement with Sukhoi covers the additional development needed to increase the engine’s service life up to 4,000 hours and the time between overhauls as high as 1,000 hours. Development work on 117C version should be completed in 2008-2009.
The Russian media quoted Vassily Danilov, NPO Saturn’s commercial director, as saying that Sukhoi’s participation in the program “put an end in the choice of powerplant for a new family of Sukhoi combat aircraft, defining the success of both the aircraft and the engine.”
In an informal competition to power the Su-35, the 117C beat another contender – the Al-31FM-1 engine, which was promoted by NPO Saturn’s rival, the Moscow-based Salyut. Salyut’s version also has a digital control and an option to install all-directional vectoring nozzle, but has a lower thrust – 13.3 tons. Nevertheless Salyut’s Al-31FM-1 has been chosen by the Russian Air Force to power another Sukhoi product – the Su-34 bomber that enters series production at the NAPO plant in Novosibirsk this year.
Sukhoi plans to start the sale of Su-35 fighters in 2009. In addition to its improved engines, the aircraft (which is based on Su-27 airframe) is expected to feature an Irbis radar with passive-phased array antenna and new avionics. The fighter’s manufacturer hopes that with Su-35, it will be able to give a boost to its export business. Sales of Sukhoi’s former best-sellers – the Su-27 and Su-30MK fighters – experienced as significant drop in the past two years as its major customer, China, suspended further aircraft purchases from Russia.
At the moment, Sukhoi has no orders for Su-35s from foreign clients. The company’s representative explained to the Russia & CIS Observer that the first customer could be Venezuela, which recently started large arms purchases from Russia. But the negotiations with this Latin American country are still at very early stages. The Russian Air Force, considered to be a major domestic customer, has shown no interest in the aircraft to date.
Also, regarding the dimensions for the AL-41F- I think we’re both wrong.
A derivative of the AL-41F, called the AL-41F-1A was flight tested on an Su-27M (710), in early 2004- and was deliberately designed to be the same size as the AL-31F.
The 41F-1A was a scaled down version developing 31-35,000lbs thrust (138-155kN) as compared to 44,000lbs of the original 41F.
So I guess the 117C is a AL-41F-1A derivative & PAK-FA’s definitive engine will be an upgraded 41F-1A.
OtakuThe engine they’ll be using for the first flight, the NPO Saturn 117S, is working just fine, as evidenced by the Su-35BMs that have made more than a few flawless test flights with a pair of them. AL-41F will be a bigger ask, and I think it was originally intended to be ready for first flight but has as you say run into problems, but it shouldn’t delay the program significantly if they can get a prototype flying efficiently to test out the rest of the systems while they wait for AL-41Fs to become available.
117S should suffice for early test-flights for a relatively mundane performance envelope- with PAK-FA’s TOW less than the Su-35.
Why do you guys refer to the definitive engine as AL-41F? I’ve not heard anything official from NPO Saturn on the designation. Also isn’t the 41F dimensionally different from the AL-31F/117C series- so how do you propose they shoe-horn it into the PAK-FA? I think you’re getting your wires crossed.
I wonder which engine will be incorporated onto the IAF’s FGFA? The AL-31FN was mentioned- but surely that must have been a reporting error.
OtakuEven the YF-23 prototype makes the production F-22 look dated.
Simply stunning aircraft, I like the PAK-FA air-intakes.
OtakuS-300PMU carries out ground attack missions deep into enemy territory?
I don’t understand your comment.
You are aware that the F-35 is not a VLO ‘broadband’ stealth aircraft, right? (unlike future UCAVs)…as for ‘deep into enemy territory’- not unless it’s carrying EFTs. S-300PMU should suffice, I mean why waste the S-400?
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