US Eyeing Asian Arms Race?

The Diplomat ^ | 03/05/2010 | David Axe

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

It was dubbed by some defence analysts as a ‘game-changer.’ Earlier this year, Russia’s newest fighter aircraft rolled down a runway in the country’s Far East for its 47-minute debut flight.

The 72-foot-long, twin-engine T-50 fighter bears a striking resemblance to the US Air Force’s F-22 Raptor, widely considered the most lethal air-to-air fighter aircraft ever produced—so lethal that US law prohibits its export. Yet the United States is buying just 187 F-22s, in order to husband resources for buying larger numbers of the smaller and less powerful F-35 fighters.

The problem, according to two Australian defence analysts, is that in the absence of more F-22s, other US aircraft and ground and naval forces could be ‘slaughtered en-masse in a shooting war’ by enemy T-50s.

The result, suggest Peter Goon and Carlo Kopp writing for the think-tank Air Power Australia, would be no less than a fundamental shift in the strategic balance, as decades of US military superiority crumble—all due to the advent of single weapon systems.

The only solution, Goon and Kopp contend, is for the United States to cancel the F-35, develop a new version of the F-22, and sell the new ‘Raptor II’ to its closest allies, including Japan and Australia. In other words, initiate a regional arms race.

This assessment might seem alarmist, but it’s one shared by lawmakers, military officers and industry officials from the United States and its allies, especially in the Pacific.

High-tech planes, high-stakes posturing, high rhetoric. Welcome to the world of fighter-jet diplomacy. It’s a world where appearances matter as much as substance.

[freedumb2003]

My back-channel connections (read: FReepers who know these things) tell me the T-50 is a bad imitation of the F-22 and is burdened with a bad weight-to-thrust ratio.

Or so I have heard...

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

I agree with you. It does.

[Cheetahcat]

“My back-channel connections (read: FReepers who know these things) tell me the T-50 is a bad imitation of the F-22 and is burdened with a bad weight-to-thrust ratio.

Or so I have heard...”

I hope you guys are right this could be a game changer.

[RC one]

sure, just scrap the F35 over a plane that has logged less than an hour of flight time so Australia can buy the F22 instead of the F35 even though it has already had to scale back it’s plan to purchase 100 F35s over the recession. The more I think about it, I’ll be shocked if Russia ever produces the T50 let alone exports it to anyone. I think they saw the F22/F35 friction and are trying to exacerbate it.

[freedumb2003]

>>I think they saw the F22/F35 friction and are trying to exacerbate it.<<

Now THAT is an interesting observation... Certainly worth contemplation and analysis.

[Constantine XI Palaeologus]

I’d at least check some forums with a more specific military orientation before dismissing the PAK FA totally out of hand. First off, it’s really not close to an imitation of the F-22—unless you’re going to claim that seeking a low RCS is a sign of F-22 imitation. Additionally, I really doubt that that anyone has the foggiest idea of it’s thrust-to-weight ratio. After all, the prototype isn’t even fitted with the engines that are going to be used in the production version.

[Constantine XI Palaeologus]

Russia has to produce a 5th-generation fighter sooner or later. Might as well be the PAK FA. Their defense industry comprises a much larger share of their overall economy than ours does to us. As a result, even for reasons other than national defense, they have to try and keep up. Also, India’s an investor in the program (via the related FGFA), so I think this has a lower chance of turning out to be vaporware than it would otherwise.

[freedumb2003]

Have some links?

I would like to think we are ahead, but hard data (or pointers to hard data) are a lot more satisfying...

I look to milcraft experts here at FR to help me. I am an affectionado of milcraft and study them judiciously. But many here actually have flown or have studied harder than I.

But I do think I can reason to logical conclusions...

[Constantine XI Palaeologus]

Sure, here's a link to the forum I was following in the heady days leading up to the first flight. The thread's pretty much degenerated into a picture/rambling fest by now, but pages 170-220 or so contain some decent stuff that sounds valid to me. I'm simply a casual aficionado, however.

However, the PAK FA has a great deal of differences from the F-22 among which are 3d TVC and movable LERX. Additionally, both the horizontal and vertical stabilizers are movable. While the airframe, as it stands, is very unstealthy from the rear (not unlike the F-35), from the frontal aspect, the spherical OLS is the only incongruous part, and that can probably be fixed.

[Constantine XI Palaeologus]

Whoops, forgot the link.http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?149828-Sukhoi-T-50-PAK-FA/page170

[Constantine XI Palaeologus]

Also, here’s the APA article I think is being referenced.
http://www.ausairpower.net/APA-2010-01.html

[Constantine XI Palaeologus]

I should mention that people seem to have differing opinions of APA’s work, but I figure it’s best to hear more sides to any story. Now I have to get to bed...I keep forgetting to contain things in the same post(s).

[Dundee]

APA are to military analysis what DU is to journalism.

[The Duke]

I say we greatly scale back our nation’s monthly welfare extortion payments and use those savings to produce PLENTY of F-22’s *AND* F-35’s - along with the ordinance to go with them.