MOSCOW. March 2 (Interfax-AVN) - The Sukhoi design bureau has started working on the development of a sixth-generation fighter, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told journalists on Wednesday.
"The Sukhoi design bureau very briefly presented some new groundwork today. The matter concerns ideas regarding the development of a sixth-generation fighter, although the fifth-generation fighter is still undergoing state trials today," Rogozin said following a conference dealing with combat planes at the Sukhoi design bureau.
It was said at the conference that the Sukhoi company, in collaboration with other aircraft building companies, is pursuing an ambitious project of the prospective airborne complex of frontline aviation (PAK FA), also known as the 5th generation T-50 fighter.
The plane's tests should be completed this year, and first serial aircraft of this type should join the Russian Air Force in 2017.
The PAK FA is a Russian 5th generation multirole fighter. The composite materials and innovative technology used in building the aircraft, as well as its special airframe configuration and engine performance, provides it with an unusually low level of radar, optical, and infrared visibility, which should significantly improve its combat efficiency in attacking both aerial and ground-based targets at any time of day and in any weather, according to its designers.