It has to do with the fact that in the winter the weather conditions are the best in Russia. Almost every new prototype flew in the winter first because of the needed perfect visibility, no wind and so on. It's like a tradition.
Nope, it has to do with the fact that the financial year in USSR ans Russia was, and still is ending on the 31st of December. So delaying deliveries to the last month of the year allowed for some enterprising accounting, for example, utilizing the unused funds that should be else returned back, to cover for some unexpected deficits.Originally Posted by medo
Or maybe it have something to do with St. Nicholas or Christmas Holidays.
Not news, but just hilarious.
"I love that T-50 design - so much more elegant than that Lockmart rubbish - I have a bunch of pix of it as screen savers."
Apparently from someone that worked on F-5E/F-18L/F-20/ATF/Tacit Rainbow. So, someone who a bit more qualified than certain armchair generals...
More qualified to pick pretty screen savers?
All Northrop products I see. Sounds like someone all butthurt that their YF-23 lost. Also, "elegant" is hardly an objective measure.
Hit the nail on the head!
Northrop associate, yes. Slightly biased. Sliiiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggghhhhhhhhhttttlllllyyyyyyyy. :P
Ok, here's a piece on FGFA with the regular Ajai 'F-35' Shukla twist
Delays and challenges for Indo-Russian fighter
Seven years before its scheduled completion, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has already announced a two-year delay in the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) India and Russia are to jointly develop.
Defence Minister A K Antony has been saying the FGFA would join the Indian Air Force by 2017. On Monday, his deputy, M M Pallam Raju, told Parliament, “The fifth generation aircraft is scheduled to be certified by 2019, following which the series production will start.”
The FGFA’s precursor has already flown. In January 2010, Russian company Sukhoi test-flew a prototype called the PAK-FA, the acronym for Perspektivnyi Aviatsionnyi Kompleks Frontovoi Aviatsy (literally prospective aircraft complex of frontline aviation). Now, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will partner Sukhoi to transform the bare-bones PAK-FA into an FGFA that meets the Indian Air Force (IAF)’s requirements of stealth (near-invisibility to radar), super-cruise (supersonic cruising speed), networking (real-time digital links with other battlefield systems) and world-beating airborne radar that outranges enemy fighters.
But Sukhoi insists the PAK-FA already meets Russia’s requirements, says N C Agarwal, HAL’s design chief, who spearheaded the FGFA negotiations until his recent retirement. HAL worries Russia might ask India to pay extra for further development, particularly the avionics that transform a mere flying machine into a lethal weapons platform. That would leave the $6-billion budget in tatters.
The IAF clearly wants a top-of-the-line FGFA. According to Ashok Nayak, who spoke to Business Standard as HAL’s chairman before retiring last October, the IAF has specified 40-45 improvements that must be made to the PAK-FA. These have been formalised into an agreed list between Russia and India, the Tactical Technical Assignment.
A key IAF requirement is a ‘360-degree’ AESA (airborne electronically scanned active) radar, rather than the AESA radar that Russia developed. Either way, India would pay Russia extra: either in licence fee for the Russian radar; or hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, for developing a world-beating, 360-degree AESA radar.
Nor is the IAF clear on whether the FGFA should be a single-seat fighter like the PAK-FA, or a twin-seat aircraft like the Sukhoi-30MKI. A section of the IAF backs a single-seat fighter, while another prefers two pilots for flying and fighting a complex, networked fighter. During the ongoing preliminary design phase (PDP), for which India paid $295 million, the two sides would determine whether developing the PAK-FA into a twin-seat aircraft (inevitably more bulky) would reduce the FGFA’s stealth and performance unacceptably.
2017 was never realistic. About that time PAK FA's should start slowly be "in service" in regular units. And that is one seater mind you. It is impossible to make one seater AND two seater operational at same time. lol360degreeAESA. Just get A-100 and STFU.
It might be possible to put a Zhuk-A in the tail. Width wise, it fits (Tail = ~1.3 to ~1.4 meters wide. Zhuk-A FGA-35 array: 700mm.). Only uncertainly is the height of the tail but then again, the FGA-35 is supposedly installed in an angle, reducing vertical height.
I... I think i will leave no comment on that.
Probably not a 360 degree active array but more like recievers for passive reception all over the body.
Does it not already supposed to have warning sensors all over?
Russian AF to Get First T-50 Fighters in 2013The Russian Air Force will receive the first batch of prototypes of its fifth-generation T-50 fighter for performance testing in 2013, Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin said on Thursday.
The T-50, developed under the PAK FA program (Future Aviation System for Tactical Air Force) at the Sukhoi experimental design bureau, is Russia's first new major warplane designed since the fall of the Soviet Union.
“The work on the fifth-generation fighter is going according to schedule,” Zelin, a former Air Force commander, told a news conference in Voronezh (central Russia). “The third prototype has joined the testing program and the fourth is being built.”
The T-50 made its maiden flight in January 2010 and three prototypes have since been undergoing flight tests.
Zelin earlier said that the number of T-50 aircraft involved in testing would be increased to 14 by 2015.
The fighter was first shown to the public in August 2011, in Zhukovsky near Moscow, at the MAKS-2011 air show.
Good news for the Ruskis, seems earlier than what they expected too.
India’s Version of Sukhoi T-50 Delayed by Two Years
The joint Indo-Russian project to produce a fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) for the Indian Air Force is facing a two-year delay. It will now take nine years instead of the stipulated seven to develop. The Indian Air Force attributes the delay to Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), which has a workshare of 25 percent in the program.
The two-seat FGFA is based on the single-seat Sukhoi T-50 PAKFA. HAL is tasked with supplying designs for the tandem seating and cockpit displays, none of which have been provided on time, a senior air force official told AIN. HAL is also responsible for navigation and countermeasure dispensing. Indian junior defense minister MM Pallam Raju recently confirmed the delay to Parliament, commenting, “The fifth-generation aircraft is scheduled to be certified by 2019 [instead of 2017], following which series production will start.” India and Russia concluded the $295 million preliminary design contract for the FGFA project in December 2010, during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to India.
There are also concerns the FGFA will exceed its current estimated $6 billion development budget. The unit production price is predicted to be between $93- and $97 million. India will acquire 214 aircraft, making the total cost of the FGFA project at least $26 billion.
The 30-ton FGFA will be “a swing-role fighter with highly advanced avionics, giving 360-degree situational awareness, stealth to increase survivability and smart weapons,” said now-retired Indian Air Force Chief P.K. Naik. Capable of covering long ranges without refueling, it will feature supercruise along with advanced mission computers. The Indian Air Force has specified 43 improvements to the design following its observation of flying trials at the Zhukovsky airbase.
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