MOSCOW. March 16 (Interfax-AVN) - The Future Tactical Aircraft, being developed in Russia, will be highly competitive in the arms market due to its cost-efficiency ratio.
"As far as the predicted cost of the fifth-generation combat aircraft is concerned, it is worth mentioning that given its flight characteristics the aircraft in question will be highly competitive in the international arms market," Air Force Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Mikhailov told Interfax-Military News Agency on Tuesday.
According to him, the fifth-generation aircraft development program has been worked out and endorsed.
"The flagship contractor and major sub-contractors have been selected on a competitive basis. Major performances of the Future Tactical Aircraft have been defined. The Air Force has worked out and sent to contractors specification requirements to be met by the future aircraft," he said.
"The new aircraft will feature a stealth capability and powerful long-range weapons," he said.
Mikhailov also said that a Future Tactical Aircraft prototype was expected to be manufactured in the near future. "This prototype will be comparable to NATO future developments as far as its flight characteristics are concerned," he emphasized.
Lieutenant General Alexander Zelin, Deputy Commander-in- Chief of the Air Force, earlier told Interfax-AVN that Russia will have a fifth-generation fighter in 2007-2010.
He said that in these years the aircraft will be tested and will become operational. According to the general, the head contractor for the program has been defined - Sukhoi Design Bureau - and the requirements specification has been issued.
The general said that the new aircraft will be in no way interior to Western analogs. He expressed hope that the defense industry would implement the Air Force order on time, and that the army will soon get the new aircraft which will have stealth, multirole, and all-weather day/night capabilities.