5th Generation Fighters

[Prasanth_lal]

I heard that Russian govt selected Sukhoi's design.
But Mig and Tupolev will help Sukhoi in the project.
So I guess Mig 1.44 is out of race.
And Russian govt anounced that they will be collaberating with india in their 5th generation fighter project.
Eventhough Russians are few years behind their project to American F22 ,eventually they will come up with a better plane.And Right now the best fighter plane in the world in any Airforce is NOT an American plane.
It is in Indian Air force.Recently inducted
Sukhoi 30 MKI. Which is a 4+ generation fighter.Even Russian Airforce has not been inducted that in to their force.(may be due to budget cuts.) Sukhoi 30MKI is better than any F15s and F16s right now.It might change after US INDUCTED their F22s ,But not before that.

( Any different point of views??)

[OmegaIV]

Enough with the confusion. The S-37 became nothing but proof of an acomplished feat. It is the Mikoyan-Gurevich 35 that was selected. It has some characteristics as the Eurofighter Typhoon, but claims to be stealthier than the F-22 Raptor. The S-37 (now Su-47) can hardly reach mach 1.6. The Mikoyan however is much faster. The Ultra Maneuverability of the Su-47 is the only advantage it has, it is too big, therefore making stealth precautions much more difficult. It's speed is limited by the FSW (Forward Swept Wing) design, they will warp and be torn off if speed goes beyond mach 1.7 (estimate). The more affective delta wing design of the Mikoyan with the Winglets make it more effective. It's technology has the ability to track and engage up to 20 targets simultaniously, and share information with nearby all units. Unfortunately, its cost is very high and Russia doesnt expect to see the first production unit until the year 2009-2010.(year F-22 will enter service).

By the way, the Eurofighter deserves much more credit than given. yes the Mig-31 is faster, but Typhoons technological edge gives it the ability to take on any current fighter and immerge victorious.(Its the F-22 10 years earlier and Cheaper).

[iridium]

Although Sukhoi design was chosen for the 5th gen plane but if was not S37.Actually S37 was never supposed to go for commercial production.It was test bed for the technologies to be incorporated for the 5th gen plane.
A deal has been signed between india and russia.Both countries will jointly develop the plane now.Design specifications from india will come sometime in Dec and thus the final design will be out only in 2003

[Glupak]

It is a shame that funding is being cut for these fantastic Russian fighters. I have no doubt that if allowed the Russian manufacturers could produce planes of stunning capabilites in the area of manuverability and close range supremacy. The American military seems to be more focused on an overall package. The Raptor for instance sacrifices all out manuverability, payload capability, and top speed for it's stealthiness. It's relatively simple thrust vectoring also does not impress. On the other hand one has to wonder if the Russian manufacturers are perfecting a form of battle that is obsolete or going to be soon. If an army had the most impressive and stout horses in 1945 it wouldn't have made much of a difference because the age of tanks had arrived. In this age of cruise missles and spy drones is massive funding for close combat fighters futile?

[stan45]

Keep in mind that the F/A-22 is designed as a multi-role, air superiority fighter/attack plane to replace the F-15. It supposed to perform very well in many areas, and not necessarily best in one particular area. Aside from this, the U.S. also develops the versions of the Joint Strike Fighter F-35 to replace the F-16, F-18, and Harrier to fulfill other specific roles. As the F-16 is a more maneuverable dogfighter than the F-15, the F-35 would be a more maneuverable fighter than the F/A-22. The smaller F-35 even has underwing lateral-adjustable exhaust nozzles for exceptional maneuverability.

The F-22 would have a lead in stealth, supercruise, and long range kill capabilities over other fighter to come. As for the maneuverability comparison between the F/A-22 and say SU-37, I would say it is too early to draw a conclusion. Much of the performance capabilities of the F/A-22 are still classified and under further improvement and refinement. The F/A-22 also has several adjustable surface air flaps to further enhance maneuverability, deceleration, and flight performance. It also has two very powerful engines at 35,000 lb thrust each, giving it superior acceleration and climb rate to the say SU-37 in a dogfight. Maneuverability, acceleration, deceleration, and climb rate are all important features in a dogfight. The purpose of the simpler thrust vectoring mechanism of the F/A-22 is to incorporate stealth features and hide the hottest part of the exhausts. The exhausts are covered with triangular adjustable flaps for the combined thrust vectoring and stealth.

From the combined lighter weight of the F/A-22 and its 70,000 lbs thrust engines, it could carry significantly more payload than the say, SU-37. However, some of that would have to be carried externally. For stealth purposes, F/A-22 would have to carry weapons internally which would be less.

As for top speed, it is not relevant in a dogfight due to the excessive g-forces on the pilot. Supersonic speeds are useful in traveling long distances in less time, or in chasing or running away from an adversary. This would not be so practical since supersonic flight requires the use of afterburners, which very quickly consume fuel unless it has supercruise capability. F/A-22 can cruise at supersonic speed without afterburners. It’s the overall speed and range that are important, not top speed

As in the past, U.S. air dominance (fighters, strikes, bombers, and reconnaissance) will certainly be maintained for the foreseeable future, while other countries will be playing catch-up, much with the help of previously developed/tested technologies and industrial espionage. The U.S. is not willing to spend huge amount of money unnecessarily until other nations come up with a worthy challenger and enough of them to pose a threat. It then replaces its military machinery with more effective and potent systems. F/A-22 was under development during the 80’s, and with the Cold War threat gone, its date of service was postpone further. With Russia’s lack of adequate funding for new projects, and very little training for its pilots, its airpowers would have a harder time to keep up with the other nations other than the U.S.

[The_bolshevik]

Hello,

I am certainly not a Russian chauvinist, but saying that they don´t have good pilots is just against the facts. For example last year Russian helicopter pilots won on the whole-European meeting.

cormadely,

[slavsya]

The fact is, our pilots get in excess of 500-600 hours of flight time each year, and the Russians wish they could fund that. We will always have superior hardware and pilots because we thrive economically and they don't. Their engines last about 1/20 as long as ours, see a trend here?