RUSSIA-FIGHTERS Russian 5th generation fighter makes its maiden flight

Vinay Shukla
Moscow, Jan 29 (PTI) Russia's fifth generation fighter
aircraft (FGFA), which is a joint project with India, Friday
made a "succesful" maiden flight in the country's far east,
boosting hopes that the stealth fighter may be ready for
induction in the next five years.
"The 5th generation fighter made its maiden
flight at Komsomolsk-on-Amur. The flight lasted about 45
minutes and was a success," Sukhoi Corporation's spokesperson
Olga Kayukova told state-run 'Rossiya 24' TV.
Describing the flight as a textbook, she said, "all
the expectations of the scientists were met".
With the aircraft getting airborne, Russia is the
second country in the world to produce a 5th generation
fighter, which is 90 per cent made up of composite fibre.
Sukhoi's KNAAPO aircraft plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur
is reported to have built three prototypes of FGFA with the
technical name T-50 under its PAK FA project to rival US
Lockheed F-22 Raptor and its newer version F-35.
Under an agreement signed in October 2007, India has
also joined the FGFA project by taking a 50 per cent
investment stake in the project. For the Indian Air Force, a
lighter, two-seater version is to be developed to meet its
specific requirements.
The Russian Air Force intends to begin the induction
of FGFA from 2015, India is also expected to induct at least
250 combat jets, which would be manufactured by HAL - the
nodal partner of Sukhoi in the project. (More) PTI