PAK-FA Tests Underway

...Maybe.

The prototype of Sukhoi’s fifth-generation fighter, known as PAK-FA or T-50, has started taxi trials with an aim to make first flight early in January, industry sources say.

Source

Source appears reasonably reputable and this follows along the timeline laid out by the Russians so far. Either it's the real deal, and pictures of the thing should be out in a few months, or it's fake and somebody's trying to convince us that everything's going swimmingly. Make your own conclusions, but I'm intruiged.

Pr0

good stuff, looking forward to seeing the first pictures of it so we call make the obvious comparisons.

Can I just request that people refrain from posting drawings and cgi fantasy art to illustrate this thread?

We've seen them all before and they are completely irrelevant, only a genuine photograph will do.

After that we can have great fun seeing how close or how wide of the mark they all were

If the CGI images are close to the real thing it looks comparable to the F22. Ill be interested in seeing what the Ruskees are up to.

UPDATE: PAKFA First Flight

The first prototype of the Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA is scheduled to make its first flight from Sukhoi's KNAPPO facility at Komsomolsk-on-Amur in Russian Far East. A Sukhoi spokesman told the RIA Novosti news agency that the flight was originally scheduled for Thursday but was postponed to Friday. The aircraft successfully completed two taxiing tests just before Christmas.

link

RiaNovosti

i hope we'll see some pics

They are there for at least two hours:

sukhoi.org...
sukhoi.org...
sukhoi.org...

The plane has 10 (!) internal hardpoints!

There's a link with what appear to be taxi/rotation test plcs on the ATS Weaponary forum. www.abovetopsecret.com...

I did a few interesting screenshots:

www.hitechweb.genezis.eu...

Originally posted by matej
I did a few interesting screenshots:

www.hitechweb.genezis.eu...

It is COOL!

a heavy fighter.

BBC Link

Nice video here of a test flight.

Approve.

Looks like the NPO Saturn render that came out I don't know how long ago had it dead on. Can definitely see the influence of the Berkut in the slightly upturned radome. And does anyone else get just a flash of the YF-23 in there?

Been waiting for today for a fair time. Can't wait to see it painted and put through its paces.

Berkut in the slightly upturned radome. And does anyone else get just a flash of the YF-23 in there?

Looks like a mix of the F-35 (nose), Su-27 (nose?), YF-23, & Su-47. Looks pretty cool although would prefer a single piece canopy of the F-22 and F-16. Have official performance figures been released?

[edit on 29/1/2010 by C0bzz]

F-22 will not be lonely in future.


now he has a new friend.

here's the vid:



i know many of you have seen it but i'm putting this here for those who can't be bothered to click on links to other sites.

[edit on 1.29.10 by toreishi]

Originally posted by C0bzz
Looks pretty cool

although would prefer a single piece canopy of the F-22 and F-16.

Serial production machines will have it. Only the prototypes have two pieces.

[edit on 29-1-2010 by matej]

1. I presume the large landing gear is for landing on unprepared runways?

2. Are those sideways looking radars to the sides of the engine intakes?

reply to post by C0bzz

2. Are those sideways looking radars to the sides of the engine intakes?

they could be the hydraulic controls for the movable LERX

[edit on 1.29.10 by toreishi]

And it finally arrives! (on TV) .

Ура товарищи!

Darkpro you must be overjoyed

Doesn't look like the exhausts are protected/covered by the vertical or horizontal tail fins to reduce the heat signature (as they are on the Raptor). These are not the proposed stead-state engines for the PAK-FA correct?

Update: One of the guys in a blog linked on a post here, thinks that larger 3D TVC engines in fact help reduce the size of the vertical and horizontal tail fins thus reducing signature..



[edit on 29-1-2010 by Daedalus3]

That song "Jizz in ma pants" comes to mind. It looks very Raptorsky from the top view though. The Sukhoi servers are dead from all the traffic, I would put some adds if I were them... make a little extra money. lol



Found these 2 vids somewhere else...

www.zshare.net...

www.zshare.net...

There you have it.


Found a pretty good "Preliminary Analysis" here..

Aviation Week


[edit on 1/29/2010 by 3vilscript]

[edit on 1/29/2010 by 3vilscript]

reply to post by Redhercules


That thing is about as stealth as an F-18. Raptor pilots are going to laugh so hard if they ever go into battle because the Russians will be shooting each other down thinking they are hitting Raptors. The Raptors will be very safe for along time, Especially with their new cloaking abilities.

Good job at thinking outside the box Mr.Sakoi.

reply to post by Sky watcher


took longer than i expected for this kind of post to come. Tell me, how exactly is this plane not stealthy at all?