What IF ? Sukhoi T-50 for the Pakistan Air Force

[Military Photoshops : News Desk] As tensions between Pakistan and US grow to a melting point, Pakistan has, in move which baffled the world politics moved away from its partnership from US in every aspect of IR from Trade to Military Co-operation. This moved has been welcomed by China and Russia alike. Pakistan is now looking to develop its trade relationships with its neighbouring countries, something which shouldve been done half a century ago. Russia in an unfathomable display of trust has permitted the release of its top most stealth fighter Sukhoi T-50 . Russia has also assured to play its part in resolving the Kashmir issue. Indian reservations have been buffed aside in part due to her recent honey moon with US and European nations and because Russians believe that if Kashmir Issue is resolved peacefully, India and Pakistan would have no reason to war any longer .

S7 Airlines takes delivery of new Sukhoi PAKFA

S7 Airlines has taken delivery of its first new Sukhoi Next Generation T-50 PAKFA. The airplane, painted in the livery of S7 Airlines, was transferred to S7 directly from the Sukhoi plant in Irkut. The airplane has been received by Globus Airlines, which operates flights under the S7 Airlines brand, under lease from Cramington Aviation Limited.

"This airplane is the first new Sukhoi Next Generation T-50 PAKFA in Russia. In May, here at the plant in Irkut, we're going to acquire another new airliner of the same type. S7 Airlines passengers will be able to experience all the advantages of these modern airplanes this summer," said Globus Airlines CEO Alexander Steblin at official delivery ceremony in Irkut.

The airlines of S7 Group (www.s7.ru) - Sibir and Globus—operate flights under the S7 Airlines brand and are participants in the oneworld® global airline alliance. S7 Airlines is Russia's leading airline in terms of the number of passengers carried within Russia (based on 2010 results).

S7 Airlines operates regular flights in Russia, the CIS, Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. S7 Airlines has the most modern and one of the youngest fleets in Russia.

Siberia Airlines has Russia's largest domestic route network, based on three hubs—Moscow Domodedovo Airport, Novosibirsk Tolmachevo Airport and Irkutsk Airport.

In 2007 the company became Russia's second airline to pass the IATA Operational Safety Audit.

S7 Airlines is one of Russia's most stable airlines, incorporating the latest achievements of the world industry in the servicing of passengers and actively expanding its service.

For the year 2010, S7 Airlines won the Wings of Russia Award for Best Business Project in Russian Civil Aviation. The airline has also won the annual People's Brand / Brand #1 in Russia award.

Globus Airlines operates regular flights in Russia, the CIS and Europe. In 2009 and 2010 the company was on more than one occasion awarded a Quality Certificate from Moscow Domodedovo Airport for on-time performance.

Hi-Res Pic of Sukhoi Pak-Fa in Thunderbirds color scheme

The original pic i had made is of 300 pixel/inch resolution, but that doesnt upload due to my slow internet. So until is get my DSL connection, i reduced this one to 100 pixel/inch resolution and uploaded.

I like how it turned out . Painting white with preserving the darker shades was a bit of a challenge, but it was fun doing it . I think i have painted enough detail on this model. though i have to thank the Anonymous Artist who made this Pak-Fa model in complete grey color-scheme, which opened a whole lot of possibilities for me and encouraged me to go forward.

Russian Sukhoi T-50 PAKFA now flies in USAF's Thunderbird team

Thunder...Thunder.....Thunderbirds :

From 1969 - 2012 , F-4 - to - T-50:

Thunderbirds cross paths.

Flying over home base. Thunderbird feel very happy !

Thunderbirds cross paths again.

The Thunderbirds started the 1969 training season still in the F-100Ds, but in the spring of 1969, received the first of the new McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom IIs and began the team’s conversion.
The F-4’s conversion was the most extensive in the team’s history.  Among several other modifications, the paint scheme changed due to the variations in chemicals, which allows paint used on the F-4 to resist heat and friction at Mach II speeds.  As a result, the white paint base was developed and remains a part of today’s Thunderbird aircraft design.
In 1974, a spreading fuel crisis inspired a new aircraft for the team, the T-38A Talon. Although the Talon did not fulfill the Thunderbirds tradition of flying front-line jet fighters, it did demonstrate the capabilities of a prominent Air Force aircraft.
Remaining true to its character to showcase the latest advancement in America’s fighter technology, the first red, white and blue F-16A assigned to the Thunderbirds was delivered to Nellis AFB on Jun. 22, 1982.  Due to the conversion to the new aircraft, there were no official shows flown in 1982. The team flew the F-16 during the 1983 show season; making it the team’s ninth aircraft and once again returning to flying a front-line fighter.
In 1997, the Thunderbirds performed 57 demonstrations for more than 12 million people in the spirit and theme of the Air Force’s 50th anniversary. The year was memorialized with the Thunderbirds Delta pictured on the official Air Force 50th Anniversary U.S. Postal stamp. On Sept. 18, 1997, the United States Postal Service had official unveilings of the stamp in both the Pentagon and the Thunderbird hangar.
The Thunderbirds made television history in 2003 while celebrating their 50th Anniversary. The commander/leader started the Coca-Cola 600 by broadcasting live from Thunderbirds No. 1 as he said, “Gentlemen, start your engines.”
In 2007, the Thunderbirds visited Europe for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001 with the European Goodwill Tour. The trip included shows in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, France, United Kingdom, and for the first time in Thunderbirds history, Ireland.
The team took its fifth Far East tour during the 2009 show season.  The team’s tour included visits to Hawaii, Australia, Thailand, Guam, Malaysia, Japan and Korea. The team performed more than 70 shows in 22 states and Puerto Rico in 2009.
The team’s 58th show season included a stop in Finland for the first time in 2011.  The Thunderbirds traveled across the United States and Europe, giving people a first-hand look at what their Airmen are accomplishing around the world every day.
During the 2012 season, the team will spend more than 200 days on the road representing Airmen during its 59th year.
Millions of people have witnessed the Thunderbirds demonstrations, and in turn, they’ve seen the pride, professionalism and dedication of hundreds of thousands of Airmen serving at home and abroad. Each year brings another opportunity for the team to represent those who deserve the most credit: the everyday, hard-working Airmen voluntarily serving America and defending freedom..

Now they Fly the Russian Sukhoi T-50 PAKFA. Sources within the US airforce remain tight lipped about the supplier of the 5th gen fighter jet .

Sukhoi Pak-Fa under-carriage photos

The PAK FA, when fully developed, is intended to be the successor to the MiG-29and Su-27 in the Russian inventory and serve as the basis of the Sukhoi/HAL FGFAbeing developed with India.^[14][15] A fifth generation jet fighter, the T-50 performed its first flight 29 January 2010.^[3][16] Its second flight was on 6 February and its third on 12 February 2010. As of 31 August 2010, it had made 17 flights and by mid-November, 40 in total. The second prototype was to start its flight test by the end of 2010, but this was delayed until March 2011.[

Pak-Fa Impact on future USAF

Solomon reminded me that I hadn't commented on reports of the USAF leadership's view of the Sukhoi T-50, the prototype for the Russian PAK-FA future tactical fighter. That's because at first sight I found the statements unremarkable - but then I realized that, in itself, that is worthy of comment.

In the Cold War, you could rely on the Pentagon and the USAF to play up the Soviet threat for all it was worth. The MiG-25? Not only Mach 3 but an agile dogfighter. The Tu-22M Backfire was a B-1 equivalent with the range for strategic attacks against the US. And if you disagreed with the USAF that the nation consequently needed lots of F-15s and B-1s, you were clearly some kind of fluoride-swilling crypto-Commie prevert.

There was actually a running fight between the military intelligence agencies and the CIA, which bypassed the Pentagon and took its data to black-program teams within industry. The most public rumpus was over Backfire, where the boss of USAF intelligence tried to force McDonnell Douglas to recant the conclusions of a CIA-contracted team within the company, whose estimates of the bomber's performance were lower and far more accurate than those of Air Force analysts and the Defense Intelligence Agency.

So it's ironic to see USAF leaders downplaying the potential of the T-50,as in this report from Air Force Times. “I didn’t see anything … that would cause me to rethink plans for the F-22 or F-35,” Air Force Secretary Michael Donley was quoted as saying.  Pacific Air Forces commander Gen. Gary North, added: “I guess the greatest flattery is how much they copy you.”

Donley's comment, of course, is a demonstration of the Mandy Rice-Davies principle in action: He would say that, wouldn't he? His immediate predecessor was canned for (among other things) expressing incorrect and counter-revolutionary sentiments regarding his boss's F-22/F-35 plan. 

Gen. North, meanwhile, is falling into the old technical intelligence trap called mirror-imaging:  we want the B-1, so the Soviets must want a B-1 as well. The PAK-FA's front end bears a superficial resemblance to the F-22, but its hindquarters could not be more different, and - just for starters - it's a reasonable assessment that the Russian concept of balancing stealth with other requirements is very different from that which informed the F-22 design. 

I'm not sure that anyone has an accurate assessment of the PAK-FA threat, in terms of timing, numbers and detailed capability - that will depend on how fast the Russia-India relationship can move things forward, which in turn depends on money, as well as on technical resources. But it is pretty clearly a supercruiser, probably a good one, with some unique features that are there to combine speed and high agility without counter-stealthy aerodynamic surfaces all over the place. 

And had you started thinking about this kind of design in the late 1990s, and if "eating F-35s for breakfast" was on the requirements list, you'd end up with something like T-50. So I'd suggest that writing it off as a me-too F-22 is a bit premature.




By Bill Sweetman 

Pak-Fa Stealth Fighter Gallery 1

The Sukhoi PAK FA (Russian: Перспективный авиационный комплекс фронтовой авиации, Perspektivny aviatsionny kompleks frontovoy aviatsii, literally "Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation") is a twin-engine jet fighter being developed by Sukhoi OKB for the Russian Air Force. The Sukhoi T-50 is the prototype for PAK FA.^[12] The PAK FA is one of only a handful of stealth jet programs globally.^[13]

The PAK FA, when fully developed, is intended to be the successor to the MiG-29and Su-27 in the Russian inventory and serve as the basis of the Sukhoi/HAL FGFAbeing developed with India.^[14][15] A fifth generation jet fighter, the T-50 performed its first flight 29 January 2010.^[3][16] Its second flight was on 6 February and its third on 12 February 2010. As of 31 August 2010, it had made 17 flights and by mid-November, 40 in total. The second prototype was to start its flight test by the end of 2010, but this was delayed until March 2011.^{[17][18][19][20][21]}

Sukhoi director Mikhail Pogosyan has projected a market for 1,000 aircraft over the next four decades, which will be produced in a joint venture with India, 200 each for Russia and India and 600 for other countries.^[22] He has also said that the Indian contribution would be in the form of joint work under the current agreement rather than as a joint venture.^[23] The Indian Air Force will "acquire 50 single-seater fighters of the Russian version" before the two seat FGFA is developed.^[24] The Russian Defense Ministry will purchase the first 10 aircraft after 2012 and then 60 after 2016.^[25][26] The first batch of fighters will be delivered with current technology engines.^[27] Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, has projected that Vietnam will be the second export customer for the fighter.^[28] The PAK-FA is expected to have a service life of about 30–35 years.