Amazing facts about the Sukhoi PAK FA T-50: Russia’s first 5th generation Stealth Jet Fighter

The aircraft we present today is the Sukhoi PAK FA T-50which is better known by its name Sukhoi Su-57. The Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 is the internal name of the aircraft. The words “PAK FA” in its name represent the company behind its creation whose full name is Perspektivny Aviatsionny Kompleks Frontovoy Aviatsii. The Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 is the fifth-generation multirole stealth fighter for the Russian Air Force under Russia’s 5^th Generation Fighter Program. The Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 happens to be the first-ever aircraft in the service of Russian Air Force which has the stealth capability and it took to the skies for the first time back on January 29^th, 2010 with the first fleet of the aircraft being provided to the RAF in 2019 with the second delivery being made in 2020.

The Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 was developed with a view to surpassing the previous generation fighter jets in terms of speed, Supercruise, stealth and super maneuverability along with providing the armed forces of Navy and air force with increased defense. The purpose of the Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 is to replace the aging fleet of the MiG-29 and the Su-27 already in the Russian Air Force.

The first batch of the Sukhoi PAK FA T-50s which are to be delivered in 2019 are to have the Saturn Al-41F1 engine while the ones that will be delivered in 2020 will have the Saturn Izdeliye 30 engine. The expected service life of this aircraft is estimated to be about 35 years. The aircraft is the same size as the US Air Force’s very own 5^th generation fighter F-35 Lightning II but in terms of control, it is considered to be far better than the 5^th generation fighter F-22 Raptor.

For our readers today, we present to you a few of the interesting facts about the Sukhoi PAK FA T-50.

Performance

The Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 is able to have a takeoff weight capacity of nearly 20 tins along with utilizing an active electronically scanning radar system AESA which aids it in its stealth capabilities. The stealth system employed by the Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 is quite similar to the one that is being used in the new generation F-16s and is much closer to its full functioning with the US Air Force’s own 5^th generation stealth fighters like F0-35 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor. There is not a confirm information but it says that the Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 is able to withstand the force of nearly 9 G’s which is 9 times the force of the earth’s gravity and in that regards it is identical with the F-16 Fighting Flacon.

Competitors

Since the Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 was released for its first public flight back in January of 2010, many of the world air forces are keeping an eye on this aircraft that has the capability to fly with a cruise missile. One other aircraft that has the same capability of carrying this much heavy ordinance is US Air Force’s F-16 Fighting Falcon but the similarities between the two aircraft only end here.

Speed

The top speed reported to be sustained by this 5^th generation fighter jet is about Mach 2 while covering a range of nearly 3240 miles. It is also being said that coupled with this much speed and range, the aircraft also has the capability to be an all-weather fighter and can perform well in any war theater.

As for one other unique feature in this aircraft is that it has the short take-off flight distance which is about 1080 feet which sim de possible by its Hybrid wing-body design that is named as Centroplane.

Unique Design

Due to the Russian being very secretive about the whole program of creating this state of the art first-ever Russian stealth jet fighter, no information about its schematics and designs has been released. The aviation experts, based on the cursory review of the videos from its first flight were able to deduce that eh Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 is able to able the capacity to hold 6 missiles for an air-to-air attack which makes this one of the deadliest aerial forces, especially during the aircraft’s interdiction missions.

Maneuverability

As for the engine design of the Sukhoi PAK FA T-50, it seems to have been borrowed from not only the previous generation Sukhoi fighters but also from the US made F0-22 Raptor. To prove it, consider this, the TVC (Thrust Vector Control) of the Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 is similar in design and functioning to the F-22 Raptor but it also has the notable feature of the recovery in case of a stall.

As for the Thrust-to-air ratio of the Sukhoi PAK FA T-50, it is about 10:1 which makes it able to have the tight maneuvering capabilities for its air-to-air missions. As for the actual combat test, it is still to be performed but the results of the initial flight tests revealed that the aircraft is very well versed in its ability to take on a competitor like the F-22 Raptor.

Aerodynamics

Due to the Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 being able to have the characteristics of the fighter jets from the US as well as the Sukhoi fighters, it is presented to be an aircraft with very unique capabilities for its mission planners.

The aircraft is able to meet the requirements of not only a stealth fighter jet but also is able to handle the short take-off runways and has long flight range. Based on these features alone, the aviation experts made the claim that the Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 is able to outperform the F-22 Raptor.

Powerplant

There are two deliveries of the Sukhoi PAK FA T-50 to be made to the Russian Air Force with one being made in 2019 and the other in 2020. According to the information, the aircraft in the 2019 delivery are to have the Saturn AL-41F1 engine. As for the later delivery, that will have the Saturn Izdeliye 30 engine which will be able to create a thrust of 21000 pounds each.