MOSCOW, August 12 (RIA Novosti) – The final version of the engine for Russia’s first fifth-generation T-50 fighter jet will be available by the end of the current decade, the United Engine Making Corporation said Monday.
T-50 prototypes are currently using a preliminary, “Stage 1” engine, while the “Stage 2” engine will make the jet’s capabilities “even more impressive,” a corporation spokesman told RIA Novosti, without providing any technical details.
The final version of the engine is now in development, which should be completed by mid-2015, he said.
The Russian Air Force will take delivery of its first T-50 fighter jet "in the third quarter of this year" for final test flights starting in the fourth quarter, the service's commander, Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev, said Tuesday.
In late April, President Vladimir Putin said the T-50 would enter service with the country’s armed forces in 2016, not 2015 as had been previously announced. United Aircraft Corporation's president, Mikhail Pogosyan, said T-50 test flights would begin in 2014.
The T-50, which will make up the core of Russia's future fighter fleet, is a multirole warplane featuring "stealth" technology," super-maneuverability, super-cruise capability, and advanced avionics including an active electronically scanned array radar, according to its designer Sukhoi.
India also plans to buy a fighter aircraft based on the T-50, known as the FGFA (fifth-generation fighter aircraft).
United Aircraft Corporation is the state holding company uniting Russia's aircraft-building industry including Sukhoi, a military and civil aircraft manufacturer.
