MOSCOW. Oct 4 (Interfax-AVN) - In order to have good prospects on the global market and be affordable for the Russian Air Force, the Russian fifth-generation fighter must surpass the U.S. JSF aircraft as far as the cost-efficiency criterion is concerned, an aviation expert told Interfax-Military News Agency on Friday.
"We must have a fighter that is a part of the armament system sufficient for parrying various types of internal and external threats," Academician Rostislav Belyakov said. "However the construction and, to an even higher extent, procurement of a sufficient number of new-generation warplanes require a lot of money, and only very rich nations can afford it. Even the United States reviewed the plans of F-22 fighter procurement several times, reducing the planned number of procured planes from several hundreds to several dozens. Our aircraft designers are assigned the mission to create a fifth-generation fighter that would have a price acceptable for both the Russian Air Force and foreign customers," the academician noted.
As Russian design bureaus are capable of finding original technical and design solutions, Russia has prerequisites for creating a future fifth-generation fighter surpassing the JSF (F- 35) and F-22 fighters of the United States as far as the cost- efficiency criterion is concerned, he said.
"Russia must use the research and technical potential of all aircraft design bureaus, not only the Sukhoi company, in the development of a fifth-generation fighter. This is the only way to create the most rational and promising aircraft," Belyakov stressed.
The fifth-generation fighter must be distinguished for miltifunctional capacity, i.e. ability to hit both aerial and ground targets, extreme maneuverability, i.e. ability to perform a controlled fight at low speed and high attack angles, ability to take off from and land on short strips, and have a high stealth capability in the optic, infra-red and radar bands, the academician added.
Belyakov headed the Mikoyan design bureau from 1970 to 1998. A total of 200 projects of warplanes were designed under his supervision, including projects of the MIG-27 Flogger bomber, MIG- 29 Fulcrum fighter and MIG-31 Foxhound interceptor.