Top-secret Russian 'Stealth' fighter test flight

Sukhoi T-50 Russian Stealth Fighter 5th Gen

 Russia's first stealth fighter intended to match the latest U.S. design made its maiden flight Friday, boosting the country's efforts to modernize its rusting Soviet-built arsenals and retain its lucrative export market.

The Sukhoi T-50's flight comes nearly two decades after the first prototype of the U.S. F-22 Raptor took to the air, and Russian officials said it will take another five years for the new jet to enter service. Still, the flight marked a major step in Russia's efforts to burnish the faded glory of its aviation industries and strengthen a beleaguered military.

The sleek twin-engined jet closely resembling the Raptor flew for 47-minutes from an airfield at Sukhoi's production plant in the Far Eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur on Friday. Development of the so-called fifth-generation fighter has been veiled in secrecy and no images of it had been released before the flight.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hailed the flight as a "big step forward," but admitted that "a lot remains to be done in terms of engines and armament."

Role	Stealth multirole fighter
National origin	Russia
Manufacturer	Sukhoi
First flight	29 January 2010 [1][2][3]
Introduction	2015 (planned)[4][5][6]
Status	Test flight / Pre-production
Primary user	Russian Air Force
Number built	3 total, only 1 made for flight[N 1]
Program cost	US$8-10 billion (est.)[9][10][11]
Unit cost	US$100 million (est.)[12]
Variants	Sukhoi/HAL FGFA

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 19.8 m (65.9 ft)
• Wingspan: 14 m (46.6 ft)
• Height: 6.05 m (19.8 ft)
• Wing area: 78.8 m² (848.1 ft²)
• Empty weight: 18,500 kg (40,785 lb)
• Loaded weight: 26,000 kg (57,320 lb)
• Useful load: 7,500 kg (combat load) (16,534 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 37,000 kg (81,570 lb)
• Powerplant: 2× New unnamed engine by NPO Saturn and FNPTS MMPP Salyut of 175 kN each. Prototype with AL-41F1 of 147 kN each,^[65]definitive version with new engine >157 kN^[65]
• Maximum Fuel weight: 10,300 kg (22,711 lb)^[63]

Performance

• Maximum speed: 2,100 - 2,500 km/h (Mach 2+) ^[63][66] (1,300 - 1,560 mph) ; at 17,000 m (45,000 ft) altitude
• Cruise speed: 1,850 - 2,100 km/h ^[66] (1,150 - 1,300 mph)
• Ferry range: 5,500 km^[67] (3417 miles)
• Service ceiling: 20,000 m (65,616 ft)
• Rate of climb: 350 m/sec (68,900 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 330(normal) - 470(maximum) kg/m² (67(normal) - 96(maximum) lb/ft²)
• Thrust/weight: 1.19 ^[63]
• Maximum g-load: 10-11 g^[63]

Armament

• Guns: None on prototype. Apparent provision for a cannon (most likely GSh-301).Possible two 30mm cannons^[26]
• Hardpoints: Two internal bays estimated at 4.6-4.7 metres by 1-1.1 metres.^[68] Other sources suggest two auxiliary internal bays for short range AAMS and six external hardpoints

F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), International

The F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter (JSF), is being developed by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company for the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps and the UK Royal Navy.

The stealthy, supersonic multirole fighter was designated the F-35 Lightning II in July 2006. The JSF is being built in three variants: a conventional take-off and landing aircraft (CTOL) for the US Air Force; a carrier variant (CV) for the US Navy; and a short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) aircraft for the US Marine Corps and the Royal Navy. A 70%-90% commonality is required for all variants.

F-22 Raptor 1st Fifth Generation Stealth Fighter

Mission
The F-22 Raptor is the Air Force's newest fighter aircraft. Its combination of stealth, supercruise, maneuverability, and integrated avionics, coupled with improved supportability, represents an exponential leap in warfighting capabilities. The Raptor performs both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions allowing full realization of operational concepts vital to the 21st century Air Force.

Features
A combination of sensor capability, integrated avionics, situational awareness, and weapons provides first-kill opportunity against threats. The F-22 possesses a sophisticated sensor suite allowing the pilot to track, identify, shoot and kill air-to-air threats before being detected.


General Characteristics
Primary Function: Air dominance, multi-role fighter
Contractor: Lockheed-Martin, Boeing
Power Plant: Two Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofan engines with afterburners and two-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzles.
Thrust: 35,000-pound class (each engine)
Wingspan: 44 feet, 6 inches (13.6 meters)
Length: 62 feet, 1 inch (18.9 meters)
Height: 16 feet, 8 inches (5.1 meters)
Weight: 43,340 pounds (19,700 kilograms)
Maximum Takeoff Weight: 83,500 pounds (38,000 kilograms)
Fuel Capacity: Internal: 18,000 pounds (8,200 kilograms); with 2 external wing fuel tanks: 26,000 pounds (11,900 kilograms)
Payload: Same as armament air-to-air or air-to-ground loadouts; with or without 2 external wing fuel tanks.
Speed:  Mach 2 class with supercruise capability
Range: More than 1,850 miles ferry range with 2 external wing fuel tanks (1,600 nautical miles)
Ceiling: Above 50,000 feet (15 kilometers)
Armament: One M61A2 20-millimeter cannon with 480 rounds, internal side weapon bays carriage of two AIM-9 infrared (heat seeking) air-to-air missiles and internal main weapon bays carriage of six AIM-120 radar-guided air-to-air missiles (air-to-air loadout) or two 1,000-pound GBU-32 JDAMs and two AIM-120 radar-guided air-to-air missiles (air-to-ground loadout)
Crew: One
Unit Cost: $143 million
Initial operating capability:  December 2005
Inventory: Total force, 137

B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber

Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the US Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. The B-2 is a low-observable, strategic, long-range, heavy bomber capable of penetrating sophisticated and dense air-defence shields. It is capable of all-altitude attack missions up to 50,000ft, with a range of more than 6,000nm unrefuelled and over 10,000nm with one refuelling, giving it the ability to fly to any point in the world within hours.


21 B-2s have been delivered to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, the first in December 1993. In the first three years of service, the operational B-2s achieved a sortie reliability rate of 90%. An assessment published by the USAF showed that two B-2s armed with precision weaponry can do the job of 75 conventional aircraft.

The aircraft carries all its weapons internally and is fitted with two separate weapons bays in the centre of the aircraft. The B-2 has the capacity to carry up to 40,000lb of weapons, including conventional and nuclear weapons, precision-guided munitions, gravity bombs and a range of maritime weapons.

F-117 Night Hawk

The F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter attack aircraft was developed by Lockheed Martin after work on stealth technology, and the predecessor test demonstrator aircraft, Have Blue, was carried out in secret from 1975.The Nighthawk is the world's first operational stealth aircraft. The first aircraft was delivered in 1982 and the last of the 59 Nighthawks procured by the US Air Force was received in 1990.The F-117A aircraft is also known as the Frisbee and the Wobblin' Goblin. The mission of the aircraft is to penetrate dense threat environments and attack high-value targets with high accuracy. Nighthawk has been in operational service in Panama, during Operation Desert Storm, in Kosovo, in Afghanistan and during Operation Iraqi Freedom.The aircraft can carry a range of tactical fighter ordnance in the weapons bay, including BLU-109B low-level laser-guided bomb, GBU-10 and GBU-27 laser-guided bomb units, Raytheon AGM-65 Maverick and Raytheon AGM-88 HARM air-to-surface missiles.