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New Sukhoi fighter


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They do it just to annoy modellers! How the hell will one paint all those spots on a 72nd scale kit????

 

ECTvs3y.jpg

 

The official unveiling of the new Sukhoi single engine fighter will be tomorrow at the MAKS 2021 show in Moscow.

 

 Who will be the first to make a scale kit of it? I would say Zvezda but it could be one of the fast Chinese makers to make as much money as possible before the others.

 

 

Stay Safe!!!

 

Best regards

Gabor

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It will probably be like when the USAF released a purposely distorted photo of the F-117 and Hasegawa came out with a kit  that looked like the photo. The real A/C ... not so much! 🙂 

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Its such an hodge-podge of various aircraft bits. F-35, X-32, Sukhoi. I find it hard to appreciate what it will bring to the table. The die-hard Russian enthusiasts will no doubt love it. 

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The designers have used a lot of components from the Su-57 to save development and costs. This is simple common sense.  

From all the communication so far it is perfectly clear that this new single engine fighter is primarily aimed at the export market. After Afganistan there was a clear Russian decision to never use single engine aircraft in combat situation in future. Very simple: survivability. All single engine planes were scraped in the years after the Afgan conflict. I would say that since then a lot of things have changed and there is a need for a cheap (cheaper) fighter which can be acquired in bigger numbers in comparison with more (far more) expensive twin engined fighters.

 

Using off the shelf components from the Su-57 development, experience with the single engine Oxotnik UAV cleared the way for a single engine, smaller fighter like this.

 

Looking back to previous MAKS shows it is most likely that this airframe is a mock-up of some sort or a structural test vehicle and not really a flying prototype. Just as US, Russians too don’t like to show the "real metal" in this stage of development.

 

The official unveiling of the new Sukhoi single engine fighter will be tomorrow at the MAKS 2021 show in Moscow. Then we could know more.

 

 

 

Stay Safe!!!

 

Best regards

Gabor

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8 hours ago, ST0RM said:

Its such an hodge-podge of various aircraft bits. F-35, X-32, Sukhoi. I find it hard to appreciate what it will bring to the table. The die-hard Russian enthusiasts will no doubt love it. 

 

THIS! Absolutely. Maybe some design aspects of the Boeing X-32 JSF candidate, and YF-23 albeit single engine and certainly some F-35 in it. It will be interesting to find out the avionics and defensive systems.

Edited by Mr Matt Foley
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On 7/19/2021 at 6:23 PM, ya-gabor said:

They do it just to annoy modellers! How the hell will one paint all those spots on a 72nd scale kit????

 

ECTvs3y.jpg

 

The official unveiling of the new Sukhoi single engine fighter will be tomorrow at the MAKS 2021 show in Moscow.

 

 Who will be the first to make a scale kit of it? I would say Zvezda but it could be one of the fast Chinese makers to make as much money as possible before the others.

 

 

Stay Safe!!!

 

Best regards

Gabor

How the hell? What about AM masks or decals.....

Edited by flybywire
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Late yesterday the official presentation of the new Sukhoi fighter was held at MAKS 2021. It is LTS (Light Tactical Aircraft)  with commercial nickname of Checkmate. On board was number 75.

 

According to company representatives and designers:

-  The LTS presented is not a mock-up (like the Su-57 shown at last MAKS) but this actual airframe will be the first flight example in 2023. For the moment is it just a frame which will need a lot of work and equipment added to it.

 

-  It is a company founded project which started a year ago. Although the LTS program has been going on for several years in principle.  

 

-   A long research into the market preceded before a go ahead was granted. The main aim is to produce at acceptable price (25-30mill USD) a 5 generation fighter affordable for third parties outside Russia. At the same time they are not forgetting the Russian market and hope that at home there will also be a requirement for it.

 

-  Important operational cost factor is price/ flight hour which will be reduced significantly making it competitive.  

 

-  The plan is to produce in the region of 300 examples.

 

-  First flight 2023

 

-  First delivery 2026

 

-  The aircraft is a modular design where it can be changed in accordance with requirements of the buyer. There are several options including interceptor, ground attack, reconnaissance, two seater, carrier based and even unmanned version.

 

-  There is a plan (undecided for the moment) of using internal T-75 or later Su-75 name. Seventy five is of course the reverse of Su-57 and indicates both its origins and future side-by-side operational aims of the two version.

 

-  Most of the design is based on Su-57 research and can be interpreted as a single engine version of it using maximum of common parts. A lot of off-shelf parts are used.

 

-  There are three internal bays, one main in the middle housing 3 AA missiles or 2 air to ground ammunitions, and two small bays with one each air to air missile inside.

 

-  Underwing pylons are also available.

 

-  No internal gun at the moment only possible use with a container.

 

I would say next we hear anything important will be in years (many years) time, but I am sure that some kit companies will produce the 75 soon!

Sure Zvezda will make one soon, even if it will not be a 100% of what the eventual operational version will look like but it can be a sales success and a new toy for kids to play around with the latest fighter.

 

 

Best regards

Gabor

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4 hours ago, flybywire said:

How the hell? What about AM masks or decals.....

It was just a rhetorical question and a reason to add this news here.     : )     : )    : )

Of course it is possible to do it with decals and all. Actually there are many stencils already on the airframe, similar to that on the Su-57 which are big with walk ways and all. So I would do a combined camo and stencil decal.

 

Best regards

Gabor

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Looks like they copied the diamond shaped wing with ruddervators of the YF-23 Black Widow. Certainly the nose will have to be enlarged to accept a radar suite that would be effective. Looks like the early YF-16's slim nose. 

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The photo above is slightly distorted giving the aircraft a very sharp nose. In real life it is basically the same nose as the Su-57. The radar should be either the same or a smaller version of it so it will fit without problems.

 

There are now hundreds of photos on the net since yesterday presentation. 

 

Best regards

Gabor

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7 hours ago, ya-gabor said:

It was just a rhetorical question and a reason to add this news here.     : )     : )    : )

Of course it is possible to do it with decals and all. Actually there are many stencils already on the airframe, similar to that on the Su-57 which are big with walk ways and all. So I would do a combined camo and stencil decal.

 

Best regards

Gabor

👍

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11 hours ago, habu2 said:

It doesn’t look like it has much if any internal weapon carriage volume…

 

I did say before:

"There are three internal bays, one main in the middle housing 3 AA missiles or 2 air to ground ammunitions, and two small bays with one each air to air missile inside."

 

The side bays with the air to air missiles are the same capacity as that on US fighters. The main bay in the middle can carry side by side two big air to ground smart bombs / missiles.

A new generation of missiles and bombs has already been developed for the Su-57. They are more compact and efficient. They will be used in the 75 as standard. 

 

Lets not forget its name Light Tactical Fighter it has no need for a Tu-95 size internal bay! The 75 has a very different job to do.

 

Best regards

Gabor

 

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For what it´s worth, I think it is a relatively good looking aircraft. While looking a bit like all the other F-35/22-esqe stealth fighters under development it still manage to combine features in a way that creates individuality. It is in many ways a modern day Mig-21. I hope they sell a bunch of them and that we get a few good kits of it. I guess it´ll take a few years, but I have plenty to do before then anyway 😄

Sure, there are on paper, a lot of better aircraft already available and in development. But an aircraft you can buy is better than an aircraft you can´t. And most of all, a combat aircraft is a part of a greater system, which, together with tactics, is adapted to the strengths and weaknesses of the aircraft in question.
As an aircraft nerd I am excited for all new fighter aircraft that see the light of day. A nightmare would be future airshows featuring 12 similar F-35 display routines.

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The idea behind it is quite logical, but developing it to a finished product will be tricky, given that RuAF will not procure it themselves. On the other hand, if most of its tech and equipment is based or reused from the tech developed and ironed out on the T-50/Su-57 project, it might alleviate some of the concerns the potential customers might have.

Edited by ijozic
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14 minutes ago, ijozic said:

The idea behind it is quite logical, but developing it to a finished product will be tricky, given that RuAF will not procure it themselves. On the other hand, if most of its tech and equipment is based or reused from the tech developed and ironed out on the T-50/Su-57 project, it might alleviate some of the concerns the potential customers might have.

It is mostly aimed for export, true, but nobody is saying RuAF wont be buying it or are interested. On the contrary. There was a news article that i saw yesterday where an official said they will of course be buying it. Dont remember where i read it now, will try to find if you want the source.

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On 7/22/2021 at 3:36 PM, Berkut said:

It is mostly aimed for export, true, but nobody is saying RuAF wont be buying it or are interested. On the contrary. There was a news article that i saw yesterday where an official said they will of course be buying it. Dont remember where i read it now, will try to find if you want the source.

 

I can find such statements in the articles, thanks, but come to think of it, they are also expected to provide such support for the project. Thus, at this early project stage, I think it's a bit too early to take those statements as a given.

 

Don't get me wrong, with their budget troubles, a mix of light and heavy stealth fighters would certainly be much easier to swallow financially. I just kind of presumed they won't be too interested since they were avoiding the single engine aircraft in the last few decades.

Edited by ijozic
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Sukhoi seems to be on a winning streak with Flankers, the Su-57 and now the "Checkmate", while Mikoyan-Gurevich seem to have lost the plot or fallen out of favour...The MiG-1.44 even looked like "yesterdays news".

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