Russian Air Force to Get First T-50 Fighter Jet This Year, IAF Next Year.

The Russian Air Force will take delivery of its first fifth-generation T-50 fighter jet “in the third quarter of this year” for final state test flights starting in the fourth quarter, the service’s commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said Tuesday.

President Vladimir Putin had informed lately that T-50 would enter service with the country’s air force in 2016 , while Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) with stealth features based on the T-50 is slated to be inducted in the Indian Air Force by 2022. IAF will get first prototype of the FGFA which is scheduled to arrive in India by 2014 after which it will undergo extensive trials at the Ojhar air base in Maharashtra.

T-50, which will make up the core of Russia’s future fighter fleet, is a multirole warplane featuring “stealth” technology,” super-maneuverability, supercruise capability, and advanced avionics including an active electronically-scanned array radar, according to its designer Sukhoi.

India plans to acquire 214 of these fighter planes by the end of 2030 at an estimated cost of over USD 30 billion. Second prototype will arrive in India in 2017 and the third prototype will arrive in 2019. based on feedback from Indian air force final version of the FGFA will be developed for operational service in IAF which will enter service in 2022 .

FGFA is expected to have compatibility with various missile types, including missiles of Indian and European origins. Majority of the software in FGFA would be of Indian origin, along with Indian avionics.HAL will develop mission computer, navigation systems, cockpit displays, counter-measure dispensing (CMD) systems and will modify Sukhoi’s prototype delivered to India into fighter jets as per the requirement of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

T-50 prototypes delivered to IAF will also be tested in all weather conditions like hot weather, cold weather, Sea level and high altitude tests before inducted into IAF . HAL and IAF along with Russia are working on evolution of the FGFA engine as an upward derivative of the AL-37. Russian Air Force will get 200 single seated and 50 twin-seated PAK FAs while Indian Air Force will get 166 single seated and 48 twin-seated FGFAs.