Russia launches new stealth fighters

The Russian military has launched the Sukhoi T-50 for the first time, a fighter capable of stealthing in front of an enemy radar at a much cheaper price than the US equivalent of the F-22 Raptor.

The Sukhoi T-50, a joint development between Russia and India, was first flew in public at the 2011 MAKS Air Show taking place near Moscow. This super-speed fighter was designed to catch up with new American technologies and be able to perform missions that old Russian planes could not.

New Sukhoi T-50 stealth fighter at the 2011 MAKS.

Russia is planning to produce up to 1,000 Sukhoi T-50s in the coming decades, and its Indian partner will purchase about 200 of these aircraft. However, the production of the Sukhoi T-50 will not begin until 2015.

Mikhail Pogosyan, director of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation, in charge of the Sukhoi T-50 development project, emphasized: "The T-50 will not only play the backbone of the Russian air force, Indian troops. " The Russian military is also expected to purchase 200 fighter jets to replace the Su-27s .

India, Russia's largest arms dealer, agreed to develop a Sukhoi T-50 production project in December 2010 during President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to New Delhi. The project was launched long ago with the Sukhoi T-50's first test flight in 2007 but was delayed due to technical issues.

Finally, the Sukhoi T-50 was first flew secretly in January last year. Sukhoi said the T-50s are capable of operating in all weather conditions, taking off from only 300 to 400 meters on short runways, which can maintain supersonic speeds through the supply. Continuous and simultaneous attack of air and ground targets.

Some analysts have previously claimed that the T-50 has no technological leaps and bounds over older generations. But one of the undisputed strengths of this new line of fighter jets is that it's cheaper than the US equivalent.

According to AFP, Russian media said the country last year poured $ 10 billion into the project of Sukhoi T-50 and each while the oven will not be too expensive for $ 100 million. Meanwhile, each US F-22 Raptor announced the model 20 years ago and now priced at $ 140 million each.