Russia Announces its First Fifth Generation Fighter is Set to Enter Service in 2018

Russia's Sukhoi design bureau  has announced that the PAK-FA, also known as the T-50, will enter service in the armed forces in 2018. The PAK-FA represents Russia's first fifth generation platform, and its first new air superiority airframe since the induction of the fourth generation Su-27 Flanker in 1985. The fighter is in many ways expected to serve as a fifth generation equivalent to the renowned Flanker heavy platform, and is likely to undergo further upgrades in future as its predecessor did to develop possible strike and carrier based variants. The T-50 is expected to be given a Sukhoi designation closer to its final induction. With the designation Su-47 already taken by a prototype forward swept wing platform, Su-50 and Su-57 are likely names for the new fighter. 

PAK-FA will be the first Russian platform to integrate stealth technology. Stealth has been a critical concept underlying new aircraft developments across the world, and major programs to develop stealth fighters are currently underway in China and the United States as well as Russia. Russia and India also maintain a seperate joint stealth fighter program closely based on the T-50, the HAL FGFA program. Stealth relies on minimizing a fighter's radar cross-section to make it more difficult for radars to detect it. This low radar cross section is augmented by radar absorbent coatings, with fighters are also designed to minimise heat emissions and thereby reduce vulnerability to infrared tracking systems and missiles. Stealth gives fighters a distinct advantage both against anti-aircraft platforms and against enemy aircraft in beyond visual range combat. The United States Air Force unveiled the F-117, the world's first stealth platform, in the 1980s and the fighter entered service in 1983. They have since inducted the renowned F-22 raptor air superiority fighter in 2005, and are currently developing the less capable pseudo stealthy' F-35 for the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force to use jointly. While Russia's PAK-FA comes decades behind the United States' stealth fighter program, and a year after China inducted its own J-20 stealth air superiority fighter, it is expected to exceed both the F-22,and J-20 in capabilities. If Russia's Sukhoi design bureau can deliver on these specifications, it is likely to become a major export which will change the balance of power in any region to which it is deployed.