Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has reportedly said the Russian T-50, sometimes dubbed the “F-22ski”

will be superior to our main competitor, the F-22, in terms of maneuverability, weaponry and range.

One would certainly hope an aircraft first flown in 2010 — with a planned employment date of 2015 — would at least claim to be superior to one developed more than 20 years ago; the YF-22 first flew in 1990.  Also, the news report, seeking to highlight something significant, quoted this from the Russian releases: 

According to the government website, the test pilot told Putin the controls of the T-50 allowed the pilot to operate most of the plane’s systems without taking his hands off the joystick, which he said would be very useful under high forces of gravity.

That’s called HOTAS, or “hands on throttle and stick.”  Virtually all controls that a pilot requires to employ his aircraft are accessible through switches on his throttle and control stick, on which he rests his hands the majority of the flight.  Russian aircraft have had notoriously poor ergonomics for decades.  The US has employed HOTAS since the late 1970s.

While its good to know the Russians can develop an aircraft that bests another 20 years its senior, and they have finally figured out what US defense firms developed in the 1970s, isn’t the comparison moot between “allies”?  Perhaps not.  Putin said the F-22 was their “main competitor.”  Since the F-22 isn’t marketed, the only place the Russians could “compete” would be the battlefield.  Since when is Russia planning on armed conflict with the US?