Since 1982
Dry Su-57 will be the future serial fighter of gaining dominance in the air with a large range of action, while significantly improved in comparison with existing aircraft. Su-27 went to the series in 1982 and is still the main fighter aircraft of Russia. Su-37 was an experimental Su-27M with the number "711", released in 1994, and was equipped with engines with variable thrust vector. Su-47 Berkut was another experienced aircraft, created in 1997 and was the first attempt of the Sukhoi Design Bureau to create a fifth generation fighter with a swept wing. Previous aircraft - Su-7 (1958) and Su-17 (1970) did not belong to this line of development of Sukhoi Design Bureau aircraft.
During MAKS-2017, two T-50 fighters performed synchronous maneuvers, followed by a training air battle. As in previous years, the public could not see them on the ground, they were accessible to the eye only in the air. The two years that have elapsed since the end of MAKS-2015 have been spent on refining the fuselage of the aircraft after the problems encountered during prototype tests. Also, a possible configuration of the flight control system was tested. Production of serial aircraft will be carried out in the current configuration, although the work on finalizing the machine, including the installation of new engines, will continue.
Three other prototypes of PAK FA started the test program after MAKS-2015, bringing their total to eight. The sixth T-50-6-2 aircraft (on-board number "056") made its first flight on April 27, 2016, followed by T-50-8 (on-board number "058") on November 17, 2016, and the T-50- 9 took off on April 24, 2017. Two-and-a-half years passed between the sixth T-50-6-2 and the previous T-50-5 (the first flight - October 27, 2013), and significant improvements were made to the project. The prototype T-50-7 did not fly and is used for static tests of the modified fuselage.
Three new copies differ from the five preceding prototypes by internal fuselage enhancements. The panels that cover the fuselage are partially replaced by products made of composite materials. The rear part of the fuselage (in which the EW complex is located) was elongated, the shape of the lower fuselage in the tail section, the hatches and technological holes were also changed. The span of the wing increased from 14 meters to 14.1 meters, and the length of the fuselage increased from 19.7 meters to 20.1 meters. These data are just estimates, since the "official" numbers have never been voiced by the developer.
Changes in the design of the aircraft were caused by technical difficulties, among which cracks in the fuselage design, revealed during the tests of the first prototypes T-50. That is why the first flight prototype T-50-1 was for a long time on the completion, which lasted almost a year from August 2011 to September 2012 after the injuries were received during the MAKS 2011 airshow. On this plane, there were additional intensifications of the fuselage. Several times he had problems with the engines, and he had to make a landing with one engine running. During the same MAKS-2011 salon, the second flight prototype T-50-2 became a victim of surging in the engine compressor during take-off. Behind the plane stretched a dream flame several meters long, and the pilot stopped taking off. The fifth flight prototype T-50-5 caught fire on the runway June 10, 2014 after landing during a demonstration of the Indian delegation. Repair was carried out in Komsomolsk-on-Amur for 16 months. The aircraft, which received the T-50-5P index, began to fly after repairs on October 16, 2015.
Except for flights conducted by the developer in Zhukovsky, from February 2014, prototypes of the T-50 aircraft are tested in the testing center of the Ministry of Defense of Russia in Akhtubinsk under the command of military pilots. In March 2016, the former commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force Vladimir Mikhailov said on Russian television that the T-50 first used weapons from internal compartments.
Configuration after installation of electronic equipment
The last copy of T-50-9 has a set of on-board equipment, which will be installed on the serial Su-57. On previous prototypes, the kit was installed partially, so some cars carried only fake electronic equipment.
Su-57
Arrangement of elements of avionics of the Su-57 fighter (with) Piotr Butowski / Air & Cosmos
All systems and devices are interconnected and controlled by a central processor. Sukhoi Design Bureau is responsible for the integration of systems, which happens for the first time. In the past, the developers were responsible for integrating the fire control system and the navigation system. On Sukhoi fighters, this work was usually conducted by Ramenskoe Instrument Design Bureau JSC. Electronic systems include the radar complex of the weapons control system Ш121 and the optic-electronic integrated system 101KS. System Ш121 was developed by JSC "NIIP named after V.V. Tikhomirov "from Zhukovsky and includes the radar H036 and the system for setting up electronic interference L402. The H036 "Belka" radar includes five antennas with AFAR, three in the X-band and two in the L-band, which control the space at 270 degrees (135 degrees to the left and right of the aircraft axis). The use of the L-band in the operation of the radar in the air-to-air mode is the main means of detecting low-profile aircraft from the T-50. According to the director of the NIIP Yuri Belykh, the last radar H036, produced by the pilot production of the institute, is installed on the T-50-9 plane. Future aircraft will be equipped with a radar produced by JSC "State Ryazan Instrument Plant".
The onboard defense complex L402 "Himalayas" developed by the JSC "Kaluga Research Radio Engineering Institute" and the production of the Stavropol PAO "Signal" has its own antennas, but since it operates on the same wavelengths as the radar, it uses H036 antennas.
Optical-electronic complex 101KS "Atoll" developed by JSC "Production Association" Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant "(UOMZ) in Yekaterinburg allows you to control airspace in the optical range around the perimeter of the aircraft, as well as to protect the aircraft from attacking missiles. The "Atoll" consists of the IRST system 101KS-B, located in front of the engine nacelles, four sensors detecting missiles in the ultraviolet range, which have a 360-degree view, as well as two 101S-O sensors, which, according to UOMZ data, In the infrared range. Another sensor - 101KS-P consists of a small device for infrared vision, which helps the pilot during maneuvers at low altitude or when landing. In addition, the container of navigation and target designation of the navigation container 101KS-N is being developed.
Plans for production of small series
According to the official document "Action Program of the Ministry of Defense of Russia for the period 2013-2020", published in 2013, the achievement of the initial operational readiness and the start of mass production were planned for December 31, 2016. This period was not sustained, although the document did not say who is responsible for this. The head of UAC, Yury Slyusar, stated before the opening of MAKS-2017 that three more T-50 prototypes will be assembled in the framework of the contract for R & D, and that in 2019 the plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur will begin deliveries of the first batch of fighters.
According to the press release of the company "Sukhoi" in connection with MAKS-2017 air show, "the first stage of the State tests is coming to its end ... The stability and controllability at subsonic and supersonic speeds at high and low altitudes, as well as at supercritical angles of attack were confirmed" . The first stage of the State Test is very advanced in flight tests. But only passing the second stage of the tests, during which flight control and armament control systems are tested. Allows you to officially accept the aircraft for service in Russia.
The plans for the purchase of the Su-57 VKS of Russia were also revised downwards. On March 23, 2015, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov visited a plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, where he said that the Russian Air Force will be able to purchase a smaller number of T-50s, in comparison with the planned volume in the GPV 2020, and to purchase Su-30 fighters And Su-35, not so expensive. The Russian media cited a source in the Russian Defense Ministry, which said that until 2020 VCS will purchase only one T-50 squadron (12 vehicles), instead of 60 aircraft stipulated in the GPO-2020.
One of the reasons for the reduction in the number of Su-57s purchased is the internal competition between the 4+ fighters, primarily the Su-35, whose potential is comparable to the Su-57, with the exception of low-level indicators. In the development of the statement by Yuri Borisov, we can add that "Su-35 fighters of the 4+ generation, according to military pilots, demonstrated very good characteristics." The Ministry of Defense of Russia has ordered a total of 98 Su-35S and 116 Su-30SM.
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