Russian Defense Ministry officials have said that six Sukhoi PAK FA (T-50) aircraft are currently undergoing testing. The aircraft is Russia’s first fifth generation fighter aircraft, and will most likely join the Russian Aerospace Forces in 2017.
The PAK FA project uses already established technologies from the MiG 1.44 and Su-47. The fifth generation fighter aircraft got its engine from the former, and acquired technology for the manufacturing of composite parts from the latter.
Many components of the new fighter were created during the course of the modernization of the Su-27, which in its latest modifications – the Su-30SM and Su-35S – approached fifth generation capabilities.
In the early 2020s, the PAK FA could get a photonics-based radar system using active radio-optical phased array technology (ROFAR). It should be able to view stealth aircraft at distances beyond the range of air-to-air missiles.
September 23, 2016
