Russian “Innovation”
I read an article in RIA Novosti this week entitled Russia’s Future Fighter Conquers The Skies about Russia’s new fifth generation fighter. I had to smirk a bit at the hyperbole (at which the Russians are masters)…by “conquers the skies” they meant “the pilot managed to get the thing into the air and land before killing himself”.
Take a look at the Russian T-50 in flight:
Now look at this plane:
That bad boy is our fifth generation fighter, which made it’s maiden flight in 1990 and has been in service now for five years.
The flight of the Russian T-50 will no doubt be touted by some as yet more evidence that America is in decline and that the rest of the world is catching up. What those touts will choose to bury is that while this “new” Russian fighter looks a lot like the F-22, it’s engines, radar and the materials used to build the aircraft were state of the art twenty years ago.
Vladimir Putin…1988 called and they want their airplane back.
Oh yeah…the Russians lack the capacity to build this aircraft in great numbers, so manufacture will probably be outsourced to…India.
