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MOSCOW – Russia's first stealth fighter intended to match the latest U.S. design made its maiden flight Friday, boosting the country's efforts to modernize its rusting Soviet-built arsenals and retain its lucrative export market. The Sukhoi T-50's flight comes nearly two decades after the first prototype of the U.S. F-22 Raptor took to the air, and Russian officials said it will take another five years for the new jet to enter service. Still, the flight marked a major step in Russia's efforts to burnish the faded glory of its aviation industries and strengthen a beleaguered military. The sleek twin-engined jet...

MOSCOW — Russia on Friday unveiled a new fighter aircraft touted as a rival of the US F-22 stealth jet and developed amid the highest secrecy as part of a plan to modernize the armed forces. 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...

The Defense Ministry has told the Pentagon that it will purchase the stealth-enabled Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) if it is allowed to replace 50 percent of the systems with Israeli-made technology, defense officials said Tuesday. According to the officials, the investment in purchasing the JSF - also known as the F-35 - would only be cost-effective if some of the money went back to Israeli defense industries. One example was the contract Israel Aerospace Industries won to produce wing boxes for F16s made by Lockheed Martin, also the primary contractor for the F-35. The F-35 will be one of the...

The U.S. Navy has been nervously watching as the costs of the new F-35C and F-35B carrier aircraft increase. It comes down to this. Currently, it costs the navy, on average, $19,000 an hour to operate its AV-8 vertical takeoff and F-18C fighter aircraft. It costs 63 percent more to operate the F-35C (which will replace the F-18C) and the F-35B (which will replace the AV-8). These costs include buying the aircraft, training and maintaining the pilots, the aircraft and purchasing expendable items (fuel, spare parts, munitions.) Like the F-22, which recently had production capped at less than 200 aircraft,...

The Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) stealth fighter engaged its STOVL propulsion system in flight for the first time today. The successful test is the first in a series of planned STOVL-mode flights that will include short takeoffs, hovers and vertical landings. "The joint F-35 industry and government team has already shown during extended ground tests that the STOVL propulsion system performs well, and thousands of hours of component testing has validated its durability. Now we are seeing early proof that the system operates in flight as our team predicted," said Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin executive...

The second Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) F-35B Lightning II short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) stealth fighter arrived today at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Joseph T. "O.D." Bachmann piloted the aircraft nonstop from Lockheed Martin's Fort Worth, Texas, plant to Patuxent River, successfully completing aerial refueling en route. Bachmann departed at 11:07 a.m. EST and arrived in Patuxent River at 2:26 p.m. EST. "Pax River is ready to begin the extensive four-year flight test campaign to help field the future of Marine Corps and Navy Aviation," said Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin executive vice president and F-35...

The United States is considering allowing Japan to take part in a multinational project to develop the F-35 next-generation stealth fighter, a press report said Tuesday. Washington may allow Tokyo to participate in the project even without assurances from Japan that it will procure the F-35, Kyodo News reported, quoting sources from both governments. The move is intended to clear the way for Japan to introduce the F-35 as its future mainstay fighter as countries not participating in the joint development would not be allowed to acquire it at an early date, Kyodo said. Tokyo's participation would be limited to...

NEW DELHI: India and Russia, after protracted negotiations and some glitches, are now going full steam ahead to finalise the joint project for the stealth fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA), which will have super-manoeuvrability and supersonic cruising ability. The FGFA, along with other R&D projects like the multi-role transport aircraft (MTA) as well as the BrahMos-2 `hypersonic' cruise missiles, will gain further momentum when PM Manmohan Singh holds a summit with President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow this December. India and Russia will then also ink the fresh inter-governmental agreement on military-technical cooperation to extend their "strategic partnership'' by another 10 years,...

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter flew supersonic for the first time yesterday, achieving another milestone. The aircraft accelerated to Mach 1.05, or about 680 miles per hour. The test validated the F-35 Lightning II's capability to operate beyond the speed of sound and was accomplished with a full internal load of weapons on the one-hour flight. "The F-35 transitioned from subsonic to supersonic just as our engineers and our computer modeling had predicted," said Jon Beesley. "I continue to be impressed with the aircraft's power and strong acceleration, and I'm pleased that its precise handling qualities are retained in supersonic...

Stealth jet quietly slips into history F-117A fighter retired after 25 years Cutting-edge design cloaked in mystery Nov. 2, 2006. 12:54 PM BILL TAYLOR FEATURE WRITER Almost as furtively as it flew above war zones from Bosnia to Baghdad, America's F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter has retired from active duty. The years had snuck up on it. Though it remained cutting-edge contemporary in many people's minds, the Nighthawk had hit the quarter-century mark. At a discreet "Silver Stealth" ceremony at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico this week, some of the people who built, serviced and flew the plane marked...

Think the FA-22 Raptor is over priced and not worth it? Might want to read this below. I got this from an olf Army friend of mine, who corresponds with a Air Force pilot he's talked to for many years. He felt the same way about the FA-22 until he was involved with the testing and training involved with the FA-22 a couple years ago. The comments made by this guy are pretty striking. The more of these in the Air Force arsenal the better, especially with the looming threats from China, North Korea, Iran, and now Venezuela with their...

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- With the American flag emblazoned on its underbelly, the F-117 Nighthawk with tail number 782 flies past spectators at the 2005 Edwards Open House and Air Show. About 120,000 people attended the event Oct. 22. This stealth fighter, the oldest of five prototypes, was hand made before full production of the aircraft started. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Jet Fabara) Full Story

Holloman Again Sends Stealths To South Korea POSTED: 8:26 am MDT May 24, 2005 UPDATED: 8:44 am MDT May 24, 2005ALAMOGORDO, N.M. -- Fifteen F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighters are leaving Holloman Air Force Base this week for South Korea. The 49th Fighter Wing announced the deployment of about 250 airmen and the stealths Monday. About 24 stealths and 300 airmen were deployed from Holloman to Kunsan Air Base in South Korea last summer. Officials wouldn't disclose where in South Korea the new deployment would be going. The deployment comes as North Korea threatens a nuclear weapons test. The White House...

PALMDALE - Leaders of an Antelope Valley Float Association booster committee that is working to get a Valley aerospace-themed float into the Tournament of Roses Parade say they have reorganized the group and that a controversial committee officer has left the project. Mary Rainwater, president of the Float Association, and Bill Graham, a real estate sales agent, said Wednesday that the group's former vice president is no longer affiliated with the effort. Sandy Douglass has "absolutely no participation," Rainwater said. Antelope Valley Press reports disclosed Douglass had a number of criminal convictions for offenses that involved bad checks and other...

Ever wanted to know what happened to that Stealth Fighter that was shot down over Serbia in 1999? Well, here ya go... http://airliners.net/open.file?id=378442

Stealth fighters sent to SKorea By Shane GreenTokyo March 13 2003 The United States will boost its arsenal on the Korean peninsula with at least six stealth F-117A fighters, although Washington denies the deployment is part of an action designed to deter North Korean aggression. US officials maintain that the fighters will arrive in South Korea to take part in military exercises with South Korean forces. Described by the US as a "routine" deployment, the radar-avoiding fighters will be based at the Kun San air base in South Korea, taking part in the US-South Korean "Foal Eagle" exercises that end on...

Chinese stealth fighter plans revealed By Will Knight China has begun developing a stealth fighter aircraft, according to a defence industry report published on Wednesday. The stealth technology planned for the plane has not been revealed but one expert suggests the aircraft will be considerably less sophisticated than the latest US stealth aircraft. The plane is in early stages of development with engineers considering a number of different potential designs, according to the report in the Jane's Defence Weekly. The US Nighthawk's angular features help it evade radar detection Development of the fighter's engines and weapons systems has begun at...