PAK FA, T-50: News #1

TR1 wrote:He sure proved everyone wrong in the Pantsir thread, lmao!

sepheronx wrote:

Rpg type 7v wrote:i have proven many people here wrong already, i have nothing more to prove. there is lots of open information .look them up yourself.

So you are saying that you dont have a link, right? So you are just shooting from the hip?

Viktor wrote:Meaning PAK-FA will be able to fly at 23km altitude

Deep Throat wrote:

Viktor wrote:Meaning PAK-FA will be able to fly at 23km altitude

Then what's the need for a new aircraft to replace the MIG 31 ?

Hachimoto wrote:

Deep Throat wrote:

Viktor wrote:Meaning PAK-FA will be able to fly at 23km altitude

Then what's the need for a new aircraft to replace the MIG 31 ?

Speed & longue range at same time ?

GarryB wrote:Of course Mig-31s can operate together with Su-35s and it could certainly operate with PAK FAs too

TR1 wrote:However MiG-31 is on another level when it comes to Mach 2 + supersonic endurance

GarryB wrote:A Mig-31 replacement doesn't need to fly very high up...
(Note the Mig-31 is a huge 50 ton aircraft yet it has a gun magazine capacity of 260 rounds... these shells are the size of large HMG rounds with the nose expanded to accept 23mm shells with large heavy HE payloads)

According to United Aircraft Corporation CEO Mikhail Pogosyan, five T-50s are participating in the testing program, which has allowed Russian designers to speed up the process and close the gap with the United States.

The F-22 has been serving in the U.S. Air Force for a long time and, for good reason, is still considered to be the most advanced fighter. Far less is known about its Russian rival.

According to its designers, the T-50 is the embodiment of the latest in Russian aircraft technology.

A number of innovative solutions have been implemented in the machine, including stealth technology, new construction materials and coatings, artificial intelligence and the element base, which have brought Russia’s military aircraft building to a qualitatively new technological level.

A whole range of the latest polymer carbon plastics have made their debut on the T-50. They weigh 50 percent less than titanium or aluminum of comparable rigidity, and they are 20-25 percent lighter than steel.

New materials cover 70 percent of the fighter’s surface. Its weight has been reduced to just a quarter of that of a fighter made of conventional materials, allowing the designers to increase its combat load.

The Sukhoi Design Bureau has mentioned “the PAK FA’s unprecedentedly low level of radar, optical and infrared visibility.” The T-50’s effective reflective area will amount to 5.3 square feet (its predecessor, the Sukhoi-30MKI, has 215 square feet).

This means that the Sukhoi-30MKI appears on the radar screen as a large metal object, while the T-50’s reflection would only be one-fortieth of that, making it much more difficult to notice or aim weapons at it — especially since the machine benefits from the exceptional maneuverability that has been a hallmark of Sukhoi fighters.

In addition, the T-50 meets the main requirement of modern fighters—a high degree of intellectualization.

Its radar, complete with an active electronically-scanned array (AESA), can “see” everything that is going on in the air or on the ground at a distance of hundreds of miles.

It can track multiple airborne and surface targets simultaneously, while keeping them in the crosshairs of its weapons.

Several dozen sensors attached to different parts of its hull not only enable it to monitor the surroundings but also to exchange real-time data with ground control and within its airborne unit at the same time.

The T-50’s “e-pilot” functionality is constantly analyzing the situation, offering the pilot several options on which to act.

The pilot will receive the bulk of flight and combat data in the form of symbols and signs, making it easier to process and substantially easing the pressure on the pilot, while allowing him to focus on the tactical mission at hand.

The T-50 can take off and land from a runway that is only roughly 1,100 feet long. Going forward, it will serve as a basis for a navy variant. Weapons will be stored completely in internal compartments, to meet the stealth technology’s requirements.

According to certain reports, those compartments would be able to carry up to eight R-77 air-to-air missiles, or two 3,300-pound, guided aerial bombs.

Additionally, two long-range missiles could be suspended externally, to allow the fighter to engage targets located as far as 250 miles away.

The fact that India has joined in development of the fighter suggests that the program is promising and meets the highest standards. New Delhi has allocated almost $25 billion for this purpose and expects to obtain a proprietary version of the fifth-generation fighter by 2018.

It is this machine that will be exported, according to Russian specialists, while the Russian-made T-50 will remain an exclusively domestic model—like the American F-22. Russian airmen expect to take delivery of the first serially produced fighters as soon as 2013, and they plan to purchase at least 70 units.

GarryB wrote:There are going to be a few different variants of the PAK FA... a navalised version for one, but that will all be in the future.

I rather suspect that a model optimised for long range interception is certainly possible but would not need the level of stealth or the level of manouver performance of the PAK FA and would also benefit from having more than one crew and a much larger weapon capacity and much larger fuel capacity along with reduced drag design to allow for higher speeds.

At the end of the day a light bomber converted for speed and air to air payload actually makes more sense than a converted PAK FA because the bomber will already have lots of range and if it is a bomber like a Tu-22M3M then it will have speed as well already.

A belly covered in 20 R-37M launchers and the internal rotary launcher with 12 scramjet powered R-77Ms plus 6 or so Morfei short range highly manouverable IIR guided AAMs for defence against enemy AAMs and SAMs, plus a huge front mounted radar array and a reduction to two crew and an increase in internal fuel and an engine upgrade and we are talking about a serious heavy long range interceptor... a much more efficient use of old airframes and engines...

As a more direct answer... the reason why they should spend money on something to replace the Mig-31 instead of using a modified PAK FA is because the PAK FA was designed number one for manouver capability.... and number two for Stealth. Neither factor is important for a Mig-31 or its replacement.

For PAK FA flying high and fast for long periods is to allow longer range missile launches against enemy aircraft and to reduce the effective range of enemy missiles (SAM and AAM).

For Mig-31 speed means getting to launch positions faster and hitting enemy aircraft and cruise missiles at greater distances from their targets so they have more time to return to base... rearm and refuel and do it again.

High for speed is good but super high is no advantage, stealth means nothing as AB will be used a lot and so will radar. Manouver is not of great use as it is a long range missile carrier that strikes down from max range and then heads back to rearm and refuel.

High speed long range missiles and long range radar means it can cover more area, while doing so it will be generating a lot of engine and skin (friction) heat, and will be using datalinks and comms and radar so there will be little question of its location.

With high speed and a flight range of 300km the R-37M could cover a 600km diameter of a border area... carried in enormous numbers in an AN-70... released out the back like a pallet of cargo to fire up the engines and fly towards its target using data transmitted by high flying PAK FAs and ground and space based radars is of course another option to replace them perhaps...   

According to certain reports, those compartments would be able to carry up to eight R-77 air-to-air missiles

George1 wrote:

Cyberspec wrote:

On the MiG-31 vs Pak Fa

the MiG-31's will remain in service for at least another 10-15 years....no chance of Pak Fa replacing them in the near term. And unless the announced successor of the MiG-31 is a version of the Pak Fa (not likely IMO) it will never replace it.

Why?