Most people know the US fifth generation wonderplanes—the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II—but the Russians are working on their own stealth superfighter: The Sukhoi PAK-FA. These concepts—by industrial designer Aleksander Dultsev—are simply amazing:
Nobody knows if the real PAK-FA will look anything similar to any of these three models, but we will probably discover it sooner than later: The Sukhoi PAK-FA will replace the MiG-29 Fulcrum and the Su-27 Flanker in the Russian Air Force, with a first flight initially projected for this year.
What we know for sure is that new Sukhoi fighter will directly compete against the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II. I, for one, hope that they never have to engage in combat. [Duler via The Dew Line]
Joe
Monday, August 17, 2009 at 10:28 AMThe_Bronze does not know what he is talking about. The SU-27 is Not superior to the Tomcat, and this is not just fan talk here. What he probably saw was the an old decrepit “A” model cat. The Su-27 is an excellent airframe for sure. But, to suggest that the Flanker is superior is absurd when both aircraft are sitting on the ground. Russians, for the sake of economy, often copy and expand upon western designs. The Su-27 is no exception. I cannot even begin to innumerate the advantages of the F-14 basic airframe, particularly the “D” models, over the Su.
Tom
Friday, March 19, 2010 at 1:10 AMInterestingly, the Sukhoi PAK-FA came out looking more like the YF-23 (the F-22 Raptor’s failed but extremely impressive competitor). Maybe the Russians saw the benefit of that design over the F-22? It’ll be interesting to follow the progress of this plane… But there still look to be quite a few “non stealthy” elements to it, such as the pretty standard looking engine nozzles etc???