Russia Can't Deliver On Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft FGFA: IAF

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has done a stunning about-turn, sharply criticizing the showpiece Indian-Russian project to co-develop a futuristic Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA). Even as New Delhi and Moscow finalize a $6 billion deal to co-develop an FGFA with capabilities tailor-made for India, the IAF has alleged the Russians would be unable to meet their promises about its performance.

So vital is the FGFA considered for the IAF's future that Defence Minister A K Antony has publicly rejected any prospect of buying the American fifth generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, declaring the FGFA would suffice. In 2007, New Delhi and Moscow highlighted the fighter's critical by signing an Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) placing the project above MoD procurement rules. Moreover, Indian scientists say the expertise gained from the FGFA will provide crucial momentum for developing an all-Indian fifth generation fighter, designated the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).

Yet, with so much riding on the FGFA, the IAF has taken aback the MoD with its complaint that it would not be good enough. On December 24, in a meeting in New Delhi chaired by Gokul Chandra Pati, the secretary of defence production, top IAF officials argued the FGFA has "shortfalls… in terms of performance and other technical features."

 The IAF's three top objections to the FGFA were: (a) The Russians are reluctant to share critical design information with India; (b) The fighter's current AL-41F1 engines are inadequate, being mere upgrades of the Sukhoi-30MKI's AL-31 engines; and (c) It is too expensive. With India paying $6 billion to co-develop the FGFA, "a large percentage of IAF's capital budget will be locked up."

On January 15, the IAF renewed the attack in New Delhi, at a MoD meeting to review progress on the FGFA. The IAF's deputy chief of air staff (DCAS), its top procurement official, declared the FGFA's engine was unreliable, its radar inadequate, its stealth features badly engineered, India's work share too low, and that the fighter's price would be exorbitant by the time it enters service.

South Korean KFX Fighter Jet Revealed

South Korean KFX Fighter Jet

Qaher 313 Home-Made Fighter Jet to Protect Iranian Airspace

Qaher 313

On February 2, Iran unveiled an advanced home-made aircraft, named Qaher 313, in a ceremony attended by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. 

Addressing a group of Iranian soldiers on Tuesday, Deputy Defense Minister General Majid Bokayee pointed to the confused remarks made by the US military analysts about the features and specifications of the aircraft, and said that enemies claimed the aircraft is just a paper model but later they said that it is an aircraft designed by the Islamic Republic for anti-chopper missions. 

"That was the Americans' analysis, but we bravely declare that Qaher, (designed and developed) at a cost of $2 to 3 million, is a Basiji (volunteer) aircraft to protect the Persian Gulf," Bokayee noted. 

In February, the aircraft's project manager told FNA that Qaher 313 has a "unique" structure and will be armed with home-made weapons and equipments in the future, adding that it enjoys such capabilities which will stun the enemies in battlefield. 

"The new aircraft has a unique face in terms of shape and structure and its design is unique in the world," Managing-Director of Iran's Aviation Industries Company Hassan Parvaneh said at the time. 

He added that the aircraft's broken wing design has gifted it the ability to fly in different low, mid and high altitudes. 

"Of course, the specific capability of Qaher is its capability of flying at low altitudes and that is a capability seen in no other similar aircraft." 

Indian 5th-generation fighter plan hits air pocket as Russia hikes cost

Indo-Russian FGFA Fighter Jet

 India's biggest defence project in the making, the critical joint development of the fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) with Russia, has flown into some rough weather.

Indo-Russian FGFA Fighter Jet

Defence ministry sources said the inking of the final design and R&D contract for the stealth fighter has been hit by a huge delay, with Russia also jacking up costs for the futuristic project. "It's very unlikely the FGFA final design contract will be concluded in the 2013-2014 fiscal," said a source.

This contract was to be inked in 2012 as per the then revised timeline after completion of the preliminary design contract (PD C) phase. India will eventually end up spending close to $35 billion over the next two decades to induct over 200 such "swing-role" fighters.

The plan till last year was that India would begin inducting the FGFA from 2022 onwards, with IAF test pilots getting three prototypes in 2014, 2017 and 2019 for trials at the Hindustan Aeronautics manufacturing facility at Ozar.


"The timeframes will now have to be revised. MoD has established a committee of specialists and finance officials to verify the rise in costs. An internal contract negotiation committee is also in progress," said the source.

But India remains firm about rejecting the US offer for joining its Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) or the F-35 'Lightning-II' programme. "A lot of money and time has been invested in the FGFA with Russia. India simply cannot afford two FGFAs, both financially as well as logistically" he said.

The 18-month PDC worth $295 million for the FGFA with Russia was inked in December 2010, under which Indian designers and scientists have even been stationed in Russia to work out the blueprints and documentation for the fighter.

J-20 Stealth Fighter From Inside

J-20 Stealth Fighter From Inside

China's J-31 Stealth Fighter Jet

China's J-31 Stealth Fighter Jet

PAF Suspends Its Air Force Development Plan

PAF Mirage-III Rose-I With Refueling Probes

Due to financial constraints and non release of funds by the federal government, the Pakistan Air force (PAF) has suspended its up gradation and development plan called “Air Force Development Plan 2025,” says a report of the Senate’s standing committee on defence Thursday.

The committee quoted Air Chief marshal Tahir Rafique in its report, who, it said, told the committee members during its recent visit to the air headquarters that the AFDP 2025 programme was launched in 2003/04 by former president Pervez Musharraf aimed at making it at par with modern air forces of the world.

He said under the plan, the PAF received money by the federal government till 2007.

“After 2007 PAF did not get a penny from federal government and had to shelve the plan,” the air chief was quoted as saying in the report by its Chairman Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed.

Iran Unveils Its Own Stealth Fighter Jet-Qaher F-313

Iran's Qaher F-313 Stealth  Fighter Jet 

Iran's Qaher F-313 Stealth  Fighter Jet 

Chinese Navalized J-31 Stealth Fighter Jet

Chinese Navalized J-31 Stealth Fighter Jet

Chinese Stealth Fighters J-20 And J-31

Chinese Stealth Fighters J-20 And J-31

China's Second Stealth Fighter J-31 Makes Its Maiden Flight

SAC J-31 china's second stealth fighter 

China’s second 5th generation stealth fighter has successfully makes its maiden flight from AVIC test flight base and completed its maiden flight along with one J-11 fighter Jet. The test pilot is Li Guoen reported by Chinese media who is also the test pilot of SAC J-15 and J-16 fighters.

SAC J-31 china's second stealth fighter 

The flight duration time is about 10 to 11 minutes according to different media reports. Chinese media also report some senior AVIC officials and People's Liberation Army Air Force officials attended the test demonstration.  

J-20 Black Eagle 3rd Prototype 2003 Emerges

J-20 Black Eagle 3rd Prototype 2003 Emerges

Cockpit of J-20 China's Stealth Fighter

J-20 Cockpit

J-20 Cockpit

Shenyang Unveils J-31 China's 2nd 5th Generation Stealth Fighter Jet

China's J-31 Stealth Fighter Jet

 China's Sheyang Aircraft Corporation(SAC) one of the leading aircraft 

design and manufacturing corporations of China’s aviation industry and 

a competitor of Chengdu Aircraft Corporation(CAC) Which is the maker 

of china's first low  observable or stealth Fighter J-20 Black Eagle 

has Unveils its J-31 or J-21 Stealth Fighter Through leaking the 

images of J-21 or J-31 on internet.

China's J-31 Stealth Fighter Jet

The numerous images of the J-31 or J-21 show that the aircraft is very 

different from the large, canard-delta J-20 Black Eagle. The Shenyang 

fighter appears to be much smaller than the J-20, with about two-

thirds as much installed power. It is a quad-tail design with a 

moderately swept clipped-delta wing and large canted vertical tails, 

with a similar overall layout to the Lockheed Martin F-22—but more 

like the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter in terms of overall size. Weapon 

bays occupy the entire lower body aft of the inlets and ahead of the 

engine bays. Flight controls are conventional, with separate rudders 

and single-piece flaperons.

As in the case of the J-20 Black Eagle, most of the stealth-shaping 

techniques are very similar to those on Lockheed Martin fighters, but 

the engine nozzles are conventional. The nozzle shape on the prototype 

is close to that of the Guizhou WS-13 or Klimov RD-93 engine which is  

install on the Chengdu JF-17 fighter, minus the tapered “collar” that 

fairs the latter's nozzle into the aft fuselage. Thrust vectoring has 

been studied in China but has not yet been demonstrated in flight.

China's J-20 Stealth Fighter Plane New Images

J-20 Stealth Fighter Plane

J-20 Stealth Fighter Plane

J-20 Stealth Fighter Plane

SAC 5th Generation Stealth Fighter F-60

SAC 5th Generation Stealth Fighter F-60

SAC 5th Generation Stealth Fighter F-60

PLAAF J-20 Stealth Fighter

PLAAF J-20 Stealth Fighter

PLAAF J-20 Stealth Fighter

PLAAF J-20 Stealth Fighter

PLAAF J-20 Stealth Fighter

Russian 4th T-50 Stealth Fighter To Fly

T-50

Russia's United Aircraft Corporation  is to introduce a 4th Sukhoi T-50 stealth fighter into its test and development program this year, the company's President Mikhail Pogosyan said on Thursday.

"We are now testing three aircraft. A 4th will be brought in this year," he said.

Pogosyan had said earlier this year that the firm would introduce a fourth aircraft into the test program but did not disclose when.

The first production standard T-50 is due to enter service with the Russian Air Force by 2015, and the first evaluation example by 2013. The service plans to acquire 60 of the fifth-generation fighters.

Indian Planers Interested In Stealth Technologies

Indo-Russian Stealth Fighter Jet Better Than Chinese, US Stealth Fighter Jet

T-50 PAK-FA

The Indo-Russian fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) is superior than the similar Chinese and American rival fighter jets which include the J 20 Black Eagle and the F-22 Raptor, a top Russian military commander has claimed.

India and Russia are jointly developing the Sukhoi T-50 PAK FA FGFA for their respective air forces and have plans of producing over 400 of these highly-advanced fighter jets.

Commander of the Russian Air Force Colonel General Alexander Zelin told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that his country's government has decided to give top priority to the development of the joint venture aircraft.

"While comparing Russia's T-50 PAK FA with the US F-22 Raptor and China's Chengdu J-20 Black Eagle, one concludes that the T-50 is superior to its foreign analogues in terms of its maximum speed in afterburner and standard modes, maximum range and thrust-to-weight ratio," he said.

The Russian Air Force Commander said that despite the comparable dimensions and weight of the Chinese J20 Black Eagle and the F-22 raptor, "the T-50 has much shorter take-off and landing runs. Moreover, its on-board equipment has better specifications than its foreign equivalents."