Vladimir Mikhailov—a former commander of the Russian Air Force—told the news agency that UAC has already completed the concept definition for the new warplane. Indeed, research on the new sixth-generation fighter—to include engineering design—is well underway according to Mikhailov. Mikhailov added that Russia plans to equip the prospective new warplane with long-range hypersonic missiles.
The Russians have not yet completed with fifth generation stealth fighter and they have funding issues for new military projects.
The Russians are not just aiming to equip the new fighter with hypersonic weapons; Moscow is designing its sixth-generation airframe to be capable of hypersonic speeds. “It will be hypersonic at several Mach, single-seat, invisible to the enemy, super-maneuverable, multifunctional and made of composite materials,” Mikhailov said. “The aircraft will have a cockpit, but will be able to fly with both a pilot and without a pilot. That is, it will combine a manned and unmanned variant.”
The first inklings that the Russians were attempting to develop a new sixth-generation aircraft came earlier this year in March when Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev, commander of the Russian Air Force, said that work on a sixth-generation fighter—that would be built in manned and unmanned variants—was already underway. At the same time, Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin said that Sukhoi had presented him with relatively mature design concepts for a new sixth-generation fighter.
SOURCES- Tass, National Interet
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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