Russia to start receiving 5th generation fighter jets in 2013: Putin

Moscow, Jan 29 : Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin today said the first batch of fifth-generation'' stealth fighters will be inducted into service in 2013.

A prototype of the future fighter made a successful 47-minute maiden flight today in Russia's Far East.

''The first Russian fifth-generation fighters will be put into service with the Air Force in 2013, and regular deliveries will start in 2015,'' Mr Putin said.

He added the development of the aircraft was still underway and the flight tests would continue.

''A lot still has to be done to make the fighter operational, both in terms of the engines and weaponry,'' he said.

Russia has been developing its newest fighter since the 1990s.

The current prototype, dubbed T-50, was designed by the Sukhoi design bureau and built at a plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

The current prototype was designed to compete with the US F-22 Raptor, so far the world's only fifth-generation fighter, and the F-35 Lightning II.

''We started flight tests of the fifth-generation aircraft today. These planes, together with the modernized fourth generation aircraft will constitute the backbone of the Russian Air Force for the next few decades,'' said Mikhail Pogosyan, the head of the Sukhoi aircraft maker.

Russian officials have already hailed the fighter as ''a unique combat plane'' which combines the capabilities of a heavy air superiority fighter and a strike aircraft.

The aircraft is also expected to have a high cost-performance ratio and could become a new key item in Russia's arms exports in the future.

Source: New Kerala.
Link: http://www.newkerala.com/news/fullnews-41026.html.