29 January 2010

Russia Unveils Top Secret New Fighter


Meet the Sukhoi Pak FA...


Russia unveiled a new fighter aircraft today- one touted as a rival of the US F-22 stealth fighter and developed amid the highest secrecy as part of an ongoing plan to modernize Russian military capabilities:
The fifth generation fighter, manufactured by the Sukhoi company and known as the Pak FA, made a maiden flight of just over 45 minutes at the firm's home base of Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Far East region.
"The flight lasted 47 minutes during which all the aircraft's systems were tested. It was successful," Sukhoi spokeswoman Olga Kayukova told AFP. "This is the first time it has been unveiled."
Pictures broadcast on state television showed the fighter jet -- which has been kept closely under wraps for years -- flying at altitude and then landing on a snow-surrounded runway...