Russia’s Fourth-Gen Fighter Could Be The Best Thing On The Market. | My Future America

April 28, 2013   ·   0 Comments

Robert Johnson|Apr. 22, 2013, 6:45 AM

Of the jets in production that promise to take military fighters deep into the 21st century and beyond, the U.S. F-35, the Chinese J-20, and the Russian Sukhoi T-50 PAK FA are at the top of the heap. 

Unfortunately, there are problems with all three fifth-generation planes and the F-35 in particular is having global buyers back away much faster than it would like.

Russia is looking to fill this gap with a known and dependable jet, the Su-35, to which it added cutting edge avionics and amenities for the 21st century.

Dewline reports that a pilot who took the Su-35 for a spin was blown away by the jet’s abilities and its low fuel consumption even at speeds faster than the speed of sound.

It’s not a fifth-generation plane like the F-35, with all the attendant problems. It is a 4++ generation plane with all the tried and true basics overlaid with cutting edge avionics and navigation equipment.

It’s hard to tell which is the better jet, but one of them has no problem flying and that’s an issue the F-35 can’t seem to shake.

While America uses the F-22 fifth-generation fighter and struggles to get the F-35 in the air, Russsia is beefing up the Su-35s into 4++ generation fighters.

The Su-35s employs the known technology of fourth-generation fighters with additions at the fifth-generation level that could in fact make them an all-around better jet.

 The Russian jet holds as much fuel as an older American F-14 but goes through it far more slowly.

The Su-35 tops out at Mach 2.5 with a range of 1,900 miles, compared to F-35’s 1200 mph and 1,380 mile range.

Russia hoped to capture a third of the fifth-generation stealth fighter market with its T-50, but it may be able to do that with its upgraded Su-35 and avionics packages.

http://www.businessinsider.com

By myfuamerica