# Russia receives new T50 stealth fighter prototype



## CougarKing (24 Feb 2014)

My search function seems to be out of order, so I can't find the older thread on the T-50s...



> *Russian Air Force Receives New Stealth Fighter Prototype*
> 
> (ria.ru)
> 
> ...


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## CougarKing (31 May 2014)

The PAK-FA/T-50 in the news again:






  


> *Russia Claims To Have a Fifth-Generation Fighter That Might Surpass The F-35*
> 
> Russia is building its own fifth-generation fighter jet — a plane that might even have some advantages over the U.S.'s troubled F-35.
> 
> ...


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## a_majoor (11 Jun 2014)

While this is interesting, I wonder if it is all it is cracked up to be?

Russian fighters have been advertised as having extreme manoeuvrability since the late 1990's, yet I have yet to hear of any airforce actually using this capability in any effective way. (British Harrier jets used "VIFFing" [Vector In Forward Flight] during the Falklands War, but since their system is radically different from Russian or American jets, it isn't really comparable).

The Indian Air Force is reportedly unhappy with their part of the T-50 program, complaining of sub standard electronics and capabilities compared to Western fighters.

Finally, do Russian pilots have the same amount of flight hours and training as Western pilots?

All in all, the T-50 might be a fine platform, but without to notch electronics and highly skilled pilots it could still suffer compared to Western fighters.


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## Kilo_302 (2 Jul 2014)

It's interesting that they are comparing to the F-35 and not the F-22.  If the Flanker series was the rough equivalent of the F-15, and the MiG-29 the rough equivalent of the F-16 in terms of a "light-heavy mix," than this is an admission on the part of the Russians that the T-50 can't compete with the F-22. It really wouldn't be surprising if the T-50 was more effective in the air superiority role than the F-35, because the F-35 isn't really optimized for any one single role. Even the latest Flanker has numerous advantages over the F-35  in terms of legs, speed and payload.

That said, if the Russians can field 300 of things, they might pose problems for the comparatively tiny fleet of F-22s as well. The real question is how much more effective is the F-22? It's the BVR fight that matters here.


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