PAK FA, T-50: News #1

Interesting read thanks.

Very interesting that the KAB-500S Satellite guided bomb has entered production now, and these new weapons... KAB-500M and UAB-250 sound interesting too.

Hey guys

I was wondering,a lot of you are russian, hence have access to a lot of info the rest of us don't

Have there been any comments on the favourite topic of most people slandering the T-50, the alleged exposed engine blades ?

I mean anything at all, or if you can point us out to any russian site and then we can try google for a translation

it be great if we could have some info on what the russians are actually saying about it..

I don't speak or read Russian but even I know that the Su-27 and later models of the Mig-29 have ramp like screens that were designed to protect the engines for FOD during landings and takeoffs, so both companies have experience in putting things in the engine intakes to protect the engine blades... I very much doubt they would have any problems at all doing the same for radar waves.

This is a prototype and while the basic layout is stealthy I can guarantee it is not in its final stealthy form yet and can point to the IRST ball as pretty clear evidence of this, not to mention the rear end of the aircraft.

Especially the exposed engine metal at the rear of the aircraft... now look at the Su-34 which unlike the other Flankers has most of the engines covered up for low level penetrations they don't want large metal surfaces giving distinctive emissions of IR and radar waves to interceptors above.

as per the GARRY talks


Su-27:











MiG-29:

Now compare above with western designs

Typhoon:





Rafale:



F-16:

Thank you for your valuable photos,

I am still interested in finding out pure russian comments though.

I thought they said that the second prototype going to fly at the beginning
of 2011. It is already february and no news on the pak fa.

Ogannisyan8887, if you look at Austins post and read the article he uploaded that is the best and most up to date info I have see on on the PAK-FA in a while and includes prototype development plans.

Aegean, not sure what a Russian would tell you... except possibly what I said... what we have seen in an early prototype. They know enough about stealth to realise that they need to do something about the engine intake regarding the front fan of the engine as a source of radar returns.
The rear of the aircraft still needs some work with regard to RCS reduction and IR reduction so I am surprised anyone is making judgements about the final production aircraft based on this early flying prototype.
The guy in charge has already said that each new prototype will be significantly different from the previous one as new things are added and proven tested design features are added based on testing of the previous model.

Thanks for the explanation Garry.

NIIP AESA Ready for Test Flight ( via TakeOff Magazine )

link

http://lenta.ru/news/2011/02/23/pakfa/

The second T-50 prototype made its first flight in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

It seems the 2nd prototype flew yesterday for an hour more information awaited.

I am from India and very happy to see the Russians-Indians get the T-50 in the Air -Force .At least the Americans will behave properly.The export prospects of this FP are very high as well.

A picture of T-50-2. It seems to have real IRST and MAWS behind the cockpit.

With a real IRST it is clear that this will be a component tested on this aircraft.

It is clearly not a stealthy implementation of an IRST so they are not testing stealth characteristics with this aircraft yet, ...here is a close up view:

High Res 1st Flight second prototype

http://www.sukhoi.org/eng/img/gallery/wallpapers/pak-fa-2/2011-03-03_02sm.jpg
http://www.sukhoi.org/img/gallery/wallpaper/pak-fa-2/2011-03-03_03sm.jpg
http://www.sukhoi.org/img/gallery/wallpaper/pak-fa-2/2011-03-03_01sm.jpg

GarryB wrote:With a real IRST it is clear that this will be a component tested on this aircraft.

It is clearly not a stealthy implementation of an IRST so they are not testing stealth characteristics with this aircraft yet, ...here is a close up view:

it's somewhat different than the OLS-35 in appearance.. well i wish it's a new design

utilizing today's QWIP technology ..like PIRATE

Stealthflanker wrote:

GarryB wrote:With a real IRST it is clear that this will be a component tested on this aircraft.

It is clearly not a stealthy implementation of an IRST so they are not testing stealth characteristics with this aircraft yet, ...here is a close up view:

it's somewhat different than the OLS-35 in appearance.. well i wish it's a new design

utilizing today's QWIP technology ..like PIRATE

Interesting !

@ Stealthflanker glad your still with us, I was getting worried!

Glad to see testing speeding up .. but Im waiting PAK-FA No3 with AESA radar and possibly some more modifications

This issue has good article on PAK-FA , PAK-FA Weapons ,Mi-35M

Take Off Magaazine

Regarding the IRST, this is basically the Russian aircraft built and funded with Russian funds only, so even if it is not a QWIP IRST that doesn't mean that the joint Russian Indian aircraft with the extra Indian funding wont have a QWIP IRST developed for it.

I am sure both countries would find that sort of technology worth while for a wide range of purposes.

hi guys just wanted to post this cool T-50 pic. cheers

More photos here:

http://www.knaapo.ru/rus/gallery/events/combat/t-50/t-50-2.wbp

But the one that caught my attention was this one:



Not the large rectangular area on the aircrafts back?

A little strange?

Perhaps they have avionics in there that is modular that can be removed in one block? Or perhaps it is an attempt to reduce RCS by using large panels to reduce joints/fasteners etc.
It could even be a back launcher for AAMs???

Remember missiles like R-77 are loaded on pylons with built in pneumatic arms that throw them clear of the aircraft before they start their rocket motors. There was plenty of early speculation that this would allow internal launchers on the back and sides of aircraft, but the problems of rearming were said to be the reason this wasn't pursued.

BTW when posting photos the box that appears to allow you to upload your pics is huge and obscures the text box you write the text into. I have found if you click the button above that opens the dialog box to upload photos it closes the dialog box again so you can continue to type your message.

To me its an F-117 feature being incorporated in T-50. I said this because looking at F-22/35 & even the J-20 T-50 seems least stealthy or may be because its yet not developed. Well its just a guess..

Keep in mind this is a prototype... Mk 1, and Mk 2.

If you think about the Mig 1.42... it didn't look very stealthy either, but that was because it was based on the 1.44 model which was stealthy. They revealed the 1.42 and did the aerodynamic testing with that.

The overall shape of the PAK FA that we have seen so far is basically stealthy, though there are some areas that do appear to need some work like the engine exhaust area.

The fact is that there are tens of thousands of different components that need to work together in this aircraft and need to be tested separately AND together. They can be tested on other aircraft (engines radars IRSTs... even the navigation system needs to be checked in the air) while some components can be checked in a wind tunnel or on a bench you have to check all these things in the aircraft before you can be sure everything is OK.

Let me just say ask the Americans... there is nothing more embarrassing than finding that spending enormous amounts of money and effort to create the best ESM suite you could fit into an aircraft that you ESM suite jammed your navigation system. That is what happened with the B-1B.
The reason the Russians are making 10 prototypes is so that all the testing flights can be performed quickly... the first prototype has already flown quite a few times but for all the scheduled flights needed they will need all 10 flying prototypes.
Some of these tests will require stealth for testing and those aircraft might have full stealth configuration from a specific aspect for that test, but it is a game of measure and countermeasure... you don't show your hand till you need to. The only likely export of PAK FA will likely be to India and that sale has already been made.

I rather suspect that with Indian money added to the pot that a more capable aircraft will likely be developed, but that will only further benefit the Russian PAK FA during regular upgrades.