Russia unviels the T50 Raptor-ski (Read 2,552 times)

:scratch_head
However, on aircraft issues they seem to be very accurate.

There are two things of note in the Wikipedia article on the Sukhoi T-50.

One. The maiden flight was on 29 January 2010. That's to-day. Even in Russia.

So how does that fit in with Secretary Gates' prediction on the development of the T-50?

Two. The manufacture of the Sukhoi T-50 is a joint venture with India.

What does that say about the Indian Air Force?

Seems to me, from all I read, that India has one of the most modern air forces and is primarily equipped with Russian airplanes.
They are also modernizing their naval inventory with new submarines and surface ships.

What does that tell us about India?

They currently have the second largest military in Asia, after China.

Maybe we should be paying more attention to India than we have been.

Jim Too

:god_bless_usa

The Russians invented everything first, except the lie detector. India plans a manned space mission in the near future. The mig was categorized as a lead sled with no look-down capability.

The Soviet Union was always good at imitation.

During World War Two they took apart a Lend Lease C-47 and built a factory to build their version. Even made a DC-3 version.

They took a B-29 that landed in their territory and did the same thing.

For years the USSR had imitation C-47s and B-29s flying for their military.

They looked the same, and apparently flew the same. However, they didn't have the reliability of the American built planes.

Some of their WW2 planes were top drawer, like the Yak-3 and Yak-9.

The 3 was a very small plane that, according to some, would hold its own against the Mustang. I don't know, as it never happened.

The T-50 is clearly a knock-off of th F-22, with some Russian design elements. If it is like most Russian/USSR planes, it will be lacking in protection for the pilot and the electronics will not be as advanced.

I have to wonder where they got all the information.

You don't suppose that there were spies involved, do you ?

Nah!

Spying, espionage, and all that went out when the USSR collapsed.

It did, didn't it?

With India involved in the building of the T-50, that could all be changed, and the bird may have the latest of electronics, weapons and other things to make it equal to the Raptor.

Time will tell.

Now that it has had it's maiden flight, I don't think Russia or India will fool around for years of testing for noise and other environmental issues before they get to the field.

Maybe, just maybe, like in 1940, we got caught napping.

Jim Too

:god_bless_usa

Steve201 said:

That was a very interesting book. That section on all the store stops caught my eye also. The first section of the book was pretty good also where he talked about life of a your pilot and how the Soviet military "Air Force" operated. Not only did we get much information about that mig but vast information on how they operated.


Posted by Jim:

Agree, Russia has always been interested in numbers and not quality.

Recent update on the Raptorski.

www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2010/March%202010/0310issbf.aspx

[quote author=bullhunter board=otheraircraftinfo thread=1632
Why are we now showing off our secrets and advanced systems?[/quote]


Money.

I agree that the F-22 may be just a filler...

But, the Arabs will be the first in line to buy any export. What you are forgettiing is we export the basic airframe, not the avinoics packages. The F-15 is an example. I've worked the F-15I and J models. They are much different than our C and E models.

We definately benefit financialy from these foriegn countries exports. We gained 12 new F-15E's in 2000 because the Israelis paid to reopen the production line.

But keep writing, these conspiracy theories keep me amuzed.

It's just business. You seem to forget the cold war is over. The manufacturers and the US government need the export contracts to offest the costs. You could buy a squadron of deuces for the cost of one F-22.

So they sell the airframes. So what? The man in the seat makes all the difference. Our pilots are the best trained in the world.

Our men and woman in uniform deserve the absolute best, but our government can't afford to pay for it. so export substandard machines...

I wonder how many sins of history have been explained away by the phrase, "It's just business."

So they sell the airframes? Oh you mean the ones with the skins containing the high tech stealth composites? Or perhaps the thrust vectoring technology that the Raptorski has apparently not yet cracked? Hmmm...

I agree with you that there are some platforms designated for export, but that's done on the front end; a.k.a. F-35.

Offset what costs? We've already paid through the nose for development. And now when they're in position to reap the reward of that investment, they cut the numbers which drives up the unit price. Want to reduce the flyaway cost of a 22? Don't defer it to foreign sales. BUY MORE OF THEM FOR OUR AIR FORCE.

No in my book there has to be at least one technically advanced platform that we keep only for ourselves. :patriotic-flagwaver