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RUSSIAN STEALTH At 22.7m long the T-50 is a big aircraft, with a reported internal weapons load of six to eight missiles in four weapons bays, a huge internal fuel capacity, a big radar aperture, and a deep and wide fuselage. (Sukhoi)
T-50 – what’s the fuss?
Russia’s long-awaited answer to the F-22 Raptor, the Sukhoi T-50, made its first flight on January 29 from Sukhoi/KnAAPO’s Komsomolsk-on-Amur facility in Siberia’s far east.
The T-50 is the prototype of the next generation PAK-FA (Perspektivnyi Aviatsionnyi Kompleks Frontovoi Aviatsy, or Future Frontline Aircraft System) under development for Russia to replace the Su-27/Su-30 Flanker series in service from late next decade. The aircraft has reportedly been developed from lessons learned on the S.37/Su-47 Berkut and the MiG 1.44 technology demonstration programs of the 1990s.
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