Oh, Russia! You so silly! Russians claim to be working on 6th and *7th* gen fighters

Form follows function..Any decent designer can draw up a 3D model of a kewl futuristic jet in 3D Max or Blender.Problem is getting all the millions of bits inside it to work together and be an efficient machine..

a reply to: Sammamishman

Atleast China is moving forward with development and presumably large block buys in the future. Russia is just playing to their power base, and the uninformed masses.

a reply to: Bfirez

As I have said before, the Chinese are being very (for them) open about their issues for the J-20. They've outright said they have problems with their engines. The folks hyping their stuff are NOT the Chinese (mostly).

There's a niche in western journalism that is very anti head of the class and they will hype anyone OTHER than the head.

Right now, that's America. In times past, it was other nations.

The alts being hyped are Russia and China. In the past we had the Soviets and even America at one time.

Anyways, back to aircraft. The Russians are doing what they often do: overhyping for nada. You know how many times in the past ten years they've announced they're going to walk on the Moon by the end of the decade? Or going to beat America in xyz tech or in space? yeah.

a reply to: anzha

Russian’s sixth-generation fighter jet — still a decade away from reality — will operate in conjunction with drone swarms armed with electromagnetic cannons, an official said.

Vladimir Mikheev, an adviser to the deputy head of Radioelectronic Technologies Concern — part of the Moscow-based state corporation Rostec — this week said the aircraft will be unveiled in 2025, fly a speeds of up to March 4 or 5 and reach near space, according to an article on RT, citing another Russian news agency TASS.

It will also allow a pilot to command between five and 10 nearby drone aircraft — interestingly, with their number and task dependent on the operator’s rank, the article states.

www.defensetech.org...

I think they left out the rainbows out of afterburners.

a reply to: anzha

So they don't feel confident enough with just the 6th gen fighter that they have to use drone swarms to help cover the inadequacies of the fighter...gotta love them Russians.

a reply to: tsurfer2000h

They supposedly have a 5th gen fighter (PAK-FA/T-50). However, some have doubts.

They are supposedly testing an advanced EW suite and possibly high powered microwave weapons on the PAK-FA, but called them as dangerous to the user as the target.

a reply to: tsurfer2000h

Why not? The US is planning to test drone swarms in the coming months, and a semi-autonomous Loyal Wingman within 10 years.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Why not? The US is planning to test drone swarms in the coming months, and a semi-autonomous Loyal Wingman within 10 years.

I was being a bit of a smart ass with that comment.

It is actually a good idea as it should offer a little more security for the plane, and firepower.

a reply to: tsurfer2000h

I don't know if it's a good idea or not...

Anything dependent upon "nets" for utilization, would be--no matter how secure the "net"-- in danger of being hacked, and turned against it's user. Seems an obvious danger to me.

I'm sure they've taken this into account in designing/building the things dependent upon "nets"-- I just don't see that lessening the danger.