Great news, but the key issue is whether the next generation is firmly under development as well! Nothing stops in this game, our finest minds need to be at the task continually.

It's beautiful!

To "AG": We don't know what it looks like, the images shown are just artists's impressions, the second of which appears to be based based on the Joint Strike Fighter's air frame. To "Count Cash": No, the key issue is whether they manage to get the current design (PAK FA) out without any major hiccups. For various reasons, no military aircraft manufacturer is able to seriously work on more than one aircraft design of any type or for any given purpose at a time. The engineering resources just happen to be too limited. Also, only after putting a new model into production AND going through several years of actual service ("ideally" seeing action), the strenghts and weaknesses of the design would come to light. This experience provides feedback for the next generation's requirements gathering and conceptual/design stages. No country can afford to order more than one truly new model within a generation (25 years) anymore. Once I saw a military aircraft design engineer (from Western Europe) on TV saying that within their lifetime, they only get to work on two designs at most: one early on in their careers (at age 25-35 or so) as a kind of "apprentice" (i.e. being rather fresh out of university and having no real clue about the matter), and once more just before retirement when being the "seasoned pros" teaching the next generation of engineers how to design an aircraft :-). That's just how it happens to be these days...

Генри, Thanks for educating me about your view on aircraft design, oh I wish I could see those western programs with their authorative descriptions of aircraft engineering. I have been obviously missing something. For my part I only had an old designer called Reynold, previously to talk too, he was refered to me by a friend, who gave me his number. I was tod that if I ever wanted to know something about the behaiour of aircraft, I should just use Reynolds number and call him. So as time went by, when I needed to understand things, no matter how big or small, I always used Reynods number to find out the facts and the behaviour. It was a nice relationship over time, I even got to visit him in his garden, he lived near the town of Eigen, he said the values were excelent there, he felt he had everything under control, like a simple equation. He even had a sporting area where he had a running line, that he tried to stick to whenever he was accelerating or decelerating as he jogged. It was a nice garden, he controlled everything there, he had full authority over it. He kept fir trees, sometimes at Christmas he would dig one up, with a shovel, he would put the blade under it so I could see clearly the fir tree root. But his real passion was his work, he worked as a designer, but he was a little starnge, even though he was working to finsih one thing, he started other activities, he started with research into materials, control laws, shapes..... But now thanks to you I am to uderstand he was wrong and your western engineer was so right, how good those western engineers are, now we just need finish one thing before starting on another. To see things so simply, what a gift you have!

Those "damn" Americans! They stole the "Russian" design and called their fighter the F-22 Raptor! Those bastards!

THEY FLY FAST AND MAKE A LOT OF NOISE. Technology has really come a long ways. It would be good if the advances in technology were to improve the lives of average citizens.

Kudos to the great minds! In as much as it is used to destroy civilian lives, it looks beautiful and perfect.

Wow. Just wow. It looks beautiful! Russia may beat the US in design!

It's beautiful....but why pak-fa just like YF-23 and the other one why russia just stop the Mikoyan I-2000 program???

Just a cheap copy of the F22 which is ten years older. It should be named the F22-ski

Tito, you have to be joking. The F-22 and the PAK-FA are radically different aircraft. Don't bother commenting unless you have something sensible to say.

Whatever it's called "ski" or not,costly than F-22 or not,gen 4 or 5, Russian is too soon to unveil this fighter, it still didn't have proper radar or engine for described as stealth fighter how it can counter fighter like F-22.Russia just countered problem with brand new Bulava missile complex for sub, canceling T-95 just before it get publicized, BPMT IFV too.Russian looks not serious managing this kind of business, a lot delayed and what? cancel it? T-50 seem not entirely stealth,Russia made MFI, Berkut and later they only become technology demonstrator, what a waste of money.Also they abandoned LFI program in favor of T-50, although it said Russia now have poured more and more money to defend their pride in military build-up,they still don't have enough money to do it.I wonder why Sukhoi alone build such so important project like this, without participation of MiG (they experienced in handling design all of soviet era fighter), Yakovlev (JSF born from one of their brainchild),engine maker like Saturn-Lyulka, radar designer like Thikomirov,material maker, production plant all in handling T-50 project,much coordinated, more efficient and effective, no need delay anything if they solid,organized in managing they duty.

A beautiful fighter that's for sure, Russian aviation has long been the best, but I keep wondering if the engines have enough thrust for it, or maybe the avionics are not quite right. I was very impressed with the almost vertical takeoff and the aerobatics of Su-47 Berkut and this is not as impressive.