Foreign and domestic media regularly make attempts to compare one or another military equipment. Based on the available information, they are trying to draw conclusions about the superiority of one sample over others. A few days ago, the American edition of Business Insider published an article with the loud title Russia's New T-50 Fighter Still Can't Compete With The F-35. The authors of the material E. Lee and R. Johnson tried to compare the two newest fighters and made conclusions that were disappointing for the Russian aircraft.
First of all, the authors of the article in Business Insider noted that the three newest fighter projects - the American F-35, the Russian T-50 and the Chinese J-20 - are the main driving force of progress in the field of aviation and they will pave the way for combat aircraft into the 21st century. Nevertheless, the Chinese plane is not taken into account in further comparisons; it was only an example to describe the current situation.
The Russian fifth-generation fighter T-50, in addition to the Russian Air Force, will be supplied to countries that have good relations with Russia. In addition, countries that are looking for alternatives to the American F-35 can become buyers of this aircraft. The wait for the American fighter has dragged on noticeably, which is why some countries are beginning to explore alternative proposals. Lee and Johnson recall 2011 estimates that more than 1,000 T-50 fighters could be built and delivered to customers.
The authors of the article, referring to foreign experts, argue that the countries that buy Russian aircraft should not train pilots yet, since the supply of equipment to foreign customers may take several decades. According to the Russian Center for the Analysis of the World Arms Trade, cited by E. Lee and R. Johnson, deliveries of T-50 aircraft may continue until the end of the thirties. For example, Malaysia, having signed a contract, will receive the first fifth-generation fighters no earlier than 2035.
The material touches upon issues of further development of front-line aviation. The authors of the article note that American experts who doubt the advisability of developing unmanned fighters are not alone in their opinion. Many experts from Russia also do not believe that the further development of aviation should go only along the path of creating unmanned systems. An alternative to this could be the development of the avionics of existing aircraft.
Turning to the comparison of aircraft, E. Lee and R. Johnson recalled that in recent years the world aviation industry has been working on the creation of fifth generation fighters. To date, only American F-22 aircraft have entered service, but the Russian T-50 should join the list of fifth-generation serial fighters in the coming years. The authors note that the use of two engines makes the Russian car somewhat similar to the American F-22.
The authors of the publication, as the name implies, compared the T-50 with the F-35. However, they did so with the appropriate caveat, noting that Russian aircraft manufacturers prefer to compare their new fighter with the older F-22 with which it must compete, although it is the F-35 that is the future of the US Air Force and its allies.
The first parameter by which the aircraft of the two countries were compared was radar visibility. E. Lee and R. Johnson note that Russian designers preferred maneuverability to stealth when developing the T-50. In this regard, the American F-35 fighter has more chances to quietly enter the area of the combat mission.
The Russian fifth-generation fighter T-50 has a speed advantage over the American F-35. According to the authors of Business Insider, the T-50 is capable of a top speed of up to 1300 miles per hour, the F-35 - up to 1200 miles per hour. At the same time, it is noted that an American aircraft carrying a payload in the internal fuselage compartments (the same compartments are available on the Russian T-50) is capable of dropping missiles and bombs even when flying at supersonic speeds.
Both compared aircraft will be able to hit not only air, but also ground targets. They will be able to approach targets at an attack distance, overcoming enemy air defenses. However, according to E. Lee and R. Johnson, the F-35 has a higher potential for attacking ground targets. The T-50, in turn, has the best capabilities to combat enemy aircraft.
The T-50 is considered a good platform for various weapons required to perform various combat missions. The authors of the F-35 project abandoned the idea of a universal aircraft and developed three modifications of the fighter, adapted to the conditions in which they would have to work in the future.
Russian aircraft manufacturers with the T-50 project intend to win back a significant share of the world market for fifth generation fighters. According to the authors of Business Insider, Sukhoi is going to occupy a third of the world market. However, the T-50 project is not yet ready for the construction of serial equipment, and American competitors represented by Lockheed Martin have already signed several contracts for the supply of their F-35 aircraft.
The Russian fifth generation fighter has high flight and takeoff and landing characteristics. For takeoff, he needs no more than 300 meters of the runway. As part of the F-35 project, the F-35B fighter was created, intended for the United States Marine Corps and the British Navy. This aircraft is equipped with an original power plant with a rotary engine nozzle and a lifting turbine, thanks to which it can make a short or even vertical (under certain restrictions) takeoff.
Finally, the authors of the publication "The new Russian T-50 fighter still cannot compete with the F-35" draws attention to the state of the two projects. The Russian T-50 fighter is currently being tested. This year the project will be included in the so-called. evaluation phase. Working in the framework of the F-35 project, American specialists are already training pilots who in the future will fly on the latest fighters of all three modifications.
On the basis of these comparisons, E. Lee and R. Johnson draw the conclusion made in the title of their article. Some of the comments of the authors of the publication are based on obvious facts, while others represent an attempt to analyze the available information. Nevertheless, American journalists come to a disappointing conclusion for Russian aircraft manufacturers: the T-50 cannot yet compete with the F-35. Whether or not to agree with such a conclusion, which emerged as a result of another comparison of military equipment, is a personal affair of the reader.
