Russia’s Sukhoi PAK FA, a fifth-generation fighter jet, will enter service with the Russian Aerospace Forces in 2017.
“Designing new kinds of weapons, military and special equipment for the Russian Armed Forces will continue in 2017 as well as their procurement for the Russian Land Force, Aerospace Forces and the Navy. Thus, the T-50 aircraft (the Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation — PAK FA) will enter service in the Russian Aerospace Forces,” Sputnik reports Thursday.
In October, Tass reported that the first batch delivery will contain five planes. Aerospace Force commander Viktor Bondarev was quoted as saying by Tass: “I believe that next year we will have the five planes in question”, and added the fighter jet would begin to be batch-produced shortly after that.
The T-50 is Russia’s response to the US F-22 fifth-generation fighter jet. It is currently powered by a pair of 33,000-pound thrust class Saturn AL-41F1 afterburning turbofans.