At the air show "Aero India-2013" in Bangalore for the first time the Indian version of the fifth-generation fighter, which is being developed jointly by the holding company "Sukhoi" and the Indian aircraft building corporation HAL, is shown. The interest in this project is great, which is completely natural.
For the first time in stories world military-technical relations, the country that owns the technology of the fifth generation, transmits them, if I may say so, in the free use of another state.
It is no secret that four promising aviation complex of the fifth generation - PAK FA or T-50. These are prototypes of the fifth generation heavy fighter. Perhaps the final appearance of the machine will be somewhat different from what we see now, since the very concept of a new generation fighter is being worked out. It is known that Russia proposed to India to start work on a joint project based on the aircraft known as the PAK FA.
The Indian side agreed. Work on a joint project will allow to master the most advanced technologies and build a machine that, quite possibly, will surpass what has already been done in the USA and is being done in the PRC. The fact that this is possible is evidenced by the experience of working on a joint project of the BrahMos cruise missile. Having received basic technologies from Russia in the nineties, the Indian side actually was able to create a whole range of surface-to-surface and sea missiles of the surface-to-surface class with its own forces, and now the work on the creation of an air-to-surface version is being completed. And the development work on the creation of a hypersonic rocket based on the BrahMos has already begun. It is worth emphasizing that no country in the region has anything comparable to BrahMos. Even in the USA there are no similar analogues. That is why Indian experts have high hopes for a joint project of the fifth generation fighter.
The third day of the salon was marked by just this project. Now the works are in the initial stage. All the documents necessary for the transition to the practical stage have been prepared. As the head of the Rostekhnologii delegation at the AERO INDIA-2013 salon, Viktor Komardin, told the RG correspondent, this year will be spent on clarifying these documents and working out a final version. In the spring of 2014, the election season in India begins, and, according to the tradition established here, no action is taken on large commercial projects. The real work will begin in 2015.
Now the approximate plan for the project, according to Indian terminology - a promising multifunctional fighter (PMF) is as follows: 2015-2017 years - determining the aircraft's appearance and issuing tasks for developing all the elements of the vehicle (airframe, cockpit, avionics, weapons and much more); 2018 year - the beginning of the design; 2019-2021 years - the beginning of the production process and the final assembly of the aircraft; 2022 year - the rise in the air of the first joint fighter of the fifth generation.
Of course, these terms are rather conditional, they can be significantly reduced, taking into account the results obtained when testing the PAK FA.
At the salon "Aero India-2013" on the stand of HAL Corporation a prototype of the PMF was put up, as Indian specialists see it. It is somewhat different from what the PAK FA is. And this only indicates that HAL engineers have already been very actively involved in the work.