The ninth T-50, equipped with AESA radar and three-dimensional vector thrust control, returns to show itself in the latest photos from the Aircraft Association Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
The ninth demonstrator, in its final configuration, has been performing flight tests since last October: they will be completed by the week. The tenth and eleventh prototype of the Sukhoi T-50 will fly by next January. The twelfth and final aircraft of the T-50 squadron will be delivered to the Ministry of Defense in eight months. The twelve T-50 will continue to be subjected to various tests before committing the Kremlin with an order of several billion dollars.
Started the Low Rate Initial Production, the cost of the PAK-FA should be about the 100 million per specimen. The design is considered quite sophisticated if not similar in performance to that of the F-22 Raptor. If it can be even higher this is all to prove. The production facility in the Russian Far East will start mass production between the end of the 2017 and the 2018.
The Sukhoi T-50, of the program Pak-Fa, the 29 January of 2010 took off for the first time, lacking in avionics such as radar and arms management systems. The T-50 represents the first experience for the Russians with absorbing radar materials (Ram), compared to the thirty-year experience gained by the Americans with the F-117. Updates on the PAK-FA were then abruptly interrupted due to unspecified problems. Over the past six years, the six prototypes of the T-50 have only completed 700 test flights.
The last known incident of a T-50 dates back to the 10 June of the 2014, when one of the two engines of the fifth prototype caught fire. From Sukhoi they had to suspend the production of the sixth prototype and use the components already made to repair the damaged aircraft. The problems seem to have been overcome with the seventh and eighth T-50, the latter equipped with both AESA radar and three-dimensional vector thrust control. Three of the five PAK-FA prototypes of the second lot are operating in the Akhtubinsk test center, at the Ministry of Defense, which specializes in testing mission systems. The T-50-3, the T-50-4 and the T-50-5R are registered. The latter PAK-FA implements radar and sensors targeting. The T-50-1 and T-50-2 prototypes are located in Zhukovsky, near Moscow, to carry out various external load tests. The T-50 is currently powered by a pair of AL-41F1, developed for Su-35 Flanker-E. Although exceptional for the platforms pre-stealth, like the Su-35, the AL-41F1 engines were not designed for the particular profile of a fifth-generation fighter. The T-50 was designed for the Izdeliye 30, but the development of the propulsion system will only be completed between the 2025 and the 2027 (although this estimate could be revised).
In 2018, the year in which the serial production of the T-50 should begin, the Russians are counting on having completed the development of second-generation engines. It should not be the Izdeliye 30, but a new version of the AL-41F1 capable of enhancing the features of the fifth generation platform. Second generation engines should allow certification of Initial Operational Capacity. Propulsion is the most challenging and expensive aspect of developing any aerial platform. From the reliable F119 turbofans of the F-22, for example, comes the Pratt & Whitney F135 of the F-35. The transition for what seemed like a simple evolution, did not turn out to be so natural and free of technical difficulties, still partly unresolved today. The Russians confirm that i Pak-FA will be built in a number between 800 and exemplary 1000, including exports.
For the T-50, an operating cycle of forty years is expected, with an estimated cost of 100 million dollars per hunt. There are no data on development costs incurred. The only Western comparison term for the T-50 fighter is the F-22 Raptor. Despite this, many prefer to relate it to the F-35 tactical platform, not designed in any way for the combat handled and with very different specifications and mission parameters.
