Trials of Sukhoi's 5G fighter aircraft soon: Official

Vinay Shukla

Moscow, Nov 22 (PTI) The trials of second prototype of
Sukhoi's fifth-generation fighter aircraft, to be developed by
Russia jointly with India, will commence by the end of this
year, according to a top official.

"Flight trials of the second prototype of Sukhoi's
fifth-generation fighter aircraft (T-50 FGFA) are due before
the end of the year," Sukhoi CEO Mikhail Pogosyan said.
The first prototype of the fighter developed under
PAK-FA (Prospective Aviation Complex-Frontline Aircraft)
secret project under T-50 codename made its maiden flight in
January last.
"The flight trial programme is moving ahead faster
than we expected," Pogosyan was quoted as saying by the
state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
So far the first prototype has undergone 40 trials at
the Gromov Flight Research Institute in Zhukovski town near
Moscow.
Pogosyan hoped that the talks with Indian partner in
the joint project - Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) - are
expected to be concluded by the end of this year.
Earlier this month in New Delhi, Russian Deputy Prime
Minister Sergei Ivanov had said there was a high probability
of signing the fifth-generation fighter design contract during
President Dmitry Medvedev's December visit.
"If all procedures are completed by the time of our
president's visit in December, the contract will be ready for
signing," Ivanov said.
The Indo-Russian fighter, equivalent of US F-22 Raptor
and its export version F-35, is expected to enter service
around 2015 and its lighter twin seater version tailor made
for India is expected to be inducted by the IAF by 2020. PTI
VS