Says New Airplane Is A Competitor To The F-22 Raptor

Russia says it plans to test fly a new fifth generation fighter by the end of the month, and that the new aircraft will challenge U.S.-made aircraft for technical superiority.

Reuters reports that the Russians hope to prove they can compete with the U.S. on stealth technology, and that Moscow can develop such technologies on its own. But even if the new airplane flies in the next few days, it would be five to sever years before the new aircraft would be in production.

The aircraft is considered by Moscow to be Russia's answer to the F-22 Raptor, which first flew over a decade ago. "The importance of this project is huge. This is the first and principally new plane built in Russia after the fall of communism," said Alexander Khramchikhin, chief analyst at the Moscow-based Institute of Military and Political Analysis. "This is good for Russia's defense capability, because so far only the United States has built such a jet."

The aircraft is being developed by the Sukhoi company in the far eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The Interfax news agency reported that a source there said the first flight could be any time, "depending on the actual weather."

The Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST) said in a report that "The fifth-generation plane could easily occupy a niche of at least one third of the world market for this type of output. Europe is not building such jets, and China's would-be copycat planes will not match the high standards." The U.S. is limiting its export of fifth-generation fighters for reasons of security.

FMI: www.cast.ru/eng