Russia Tests 5th Generation Fighter

Several news reports announced that Russia has tested a fighter intended to be in the class of the F-22. A picture in the Associated Press article published by Fox News shows the Russian T-50 with what is a fairly common Sukhoi profile (elongated fuselage and “goose neck” raised cockpit).  The aircraft appears to be twin-engine and twin-tail.

Oddly, fielding an aircraft that is supposed to rival the F-22 is a poor goal, since the Raptor is more than 20 years old. Skeptics said the T-50 was a pretty airframe with no notable avionics or even significantly updated engines.  Even more ironically, the Russian government is facing the same criticism as the US Defense Department did over the F-22:

“There is no mission and no adversary for such plane,” [Alexander] Konovalov [of the Institute of Strategic Assessment] said.

It would seem the challenges of defense technology and acquisition know no political boundaries.