Forum: Modern Military Aircraft

henshao wrote:

Yes, this is blasphemy and will get me banned, but...

People have been using the word "Foxbat" in this thread. Didn't the "Foxbat" live at and love supersonic speeds?

In all seriousness, the Raptor and my favorite jet do have a wee bit in common. Fast as hell from the blueprints onwards.

Foxbat did/do love speed - in a straight line. Turning at flat out speeds in a Foxbat was akin to turning an oil tanker.

F-16.net Sponsor

henshao wrote:

Yes, this is blasphemy and will get me banned, but...

People have been using the word "Foxbat" in this thread. Didn't the "Foxbat" live at and love supersonic speeds?

In all seriousness, the Raptor and my favorite jet do have a wee bit in common. Fast as hell from the blueprints onwards.

Foxbat did/do love speed - in a straight line. Turning at flat out speeds in a Foxbat was akin to turning an oil tanker.[/quote]

The Foxbat also went through motors almost as fast as fuel... esp at MACH 3. (Where Raptor motors will live years longer.) Doh

TEG

It crossed my mind that T-50 is overestimated in order to get more money from India
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100215/157889612.html . Is it just me?

From an older news: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story ... plane.html , at the very end, the figure state is $10 billion.

And a second one. What happened with the Russians? They never give/sell the best weapon they have - not that a/c is ready - ...

I actuall think the Russians have struck a nice balance here between the following (assuming production variant is refined ala Flanker models):

- LO vs. VLO design
- Competitive price point
- Agility w/respect to WVR combat

If you look at it closely, they seem to have blended the best elements of the YF-23A, F-22 and Flanker. The big unknowns of course are whether or not the avionics, engines and monster fins on those AAM's can be accomodated for internal carriage.

Until NATO comes up with a codename I'll offer mine: The Sukhoi SU-50 "Flanktor"

It looks like somebody stepped on a Flanker Smile

mixelflick wrote:

I actuall think the Russians have struck a nice balance here between the following (assuming production variant is refined ala Flanker models):

- LO vs. VLO design
- Competitive price point
- Agility w/respect to WVR combat

If you look at it closely, they seem to have blended the best elements of the YF-23A, F-22 and Flanker. The big unknowns of course are whether or not the avionics, engines and monster fins on those AAM's can be accomodated for internal carriage.

Until NATO comes up with a codename I'll offer mine: The Sukhoi SU-50 "Flanktor"

It looks like somebody stepped on a Flanker Smile

I do want to pick up on something now that i've seen banded about alot that isn't making to much sense. That thing is the price of the PAK-FA. Everyone assumes it will be a terrific bargain for peanuts cost yet I have doubts. How can an aircraft manufactured to extremely high tolerances, with an AESA radar, newly developed engines, RAM coatings, suppossedly extra L-band radars, internal weapons bays, complex LERX arangements, full 5th gen level of avionics and sensor fusion AND 3d TVC be cheap to produce?
I know manufaturing wages costs are cheaper in Russia but I have the sneaking feeling this is not going to be any sort of a bargain.Quite the opposite infact.
I guess the trouble is no-one in Russia has true access to the proce anyway, we can;t expect them to tell us the true price and with no govermental transparency they can pretty much sling us any figure we want to hear.
I do fully expect BS figures such as 60 million dollars unit cost to be banded about by Sukhoi and the Russian government and we'd have no way of proving such nonsense.

Agree with this, although wouldn't the foreign sales expose it to a greater degree?

Even late model Flankers and Fulcrums are in the $60-70million range these days, so there's no way this is going to be an inexpensive aircraft.

Just a nice PAK-FA photo...

Over-hyped? Never....

I see what looks like lots of rivets in that picture...not a good thing for a stealth a/c...

shep1978

Quote:

I do fully expect BS figures such as 60 million dollars unit cost to be banded about by Sukhoi and the Russian government and we'd have no way of proving such nonsense.

Official figures for PAK-FA were ~100 million dollar cost per unit.

singularity

Quote:

I see what looks like lots of rivets in that picture...not a good thing for a stealth a/c...

1. It's prototype without radar absorbent coatings

2. Unpainted F-35 also has a lot of rivets:

If I'm not to mistaken you can see the Fanblades inside the intake, which i thought was very counter-productive for a VLO/LO A/C?

jnt11593 wrote:

If I'm not to mistaken you can see the Fanblades inside the intake, which i thought was very counter-productive for a VLO/LO A/C?

You see well.

Looks like the curved intake theory went out the window with that picture.

I suppose the final PAK-FA could change from the prototype though.

Really? I would say that the prototype is in final colors right there. The F-35 is clearly not, but the Pak-fa looks like it. Ok even if they both are not in final dressings, look at how flush the F35's panels and rivets are compared to the paks.

jnt11593 wrote:

If I'm not to mistaken you can see the Fanblades inside the intake, which i thought was very counter-productive for a VLO/LO A/C?

PLASMA STEALTH! U Stoopid Merikans don't no about Russian advansted PLASMA STEALTH! If you don't beleeve me, youtube it!

Forum: Modern Military Aircraft

Overstatement of PAK-FA capabilities?