DATELINE: KOMSOMOLSK-ON-AMUR Jan 18
The prospective fighter jet will make its maiden flight soon, a source in Komsomolsk-on-Amur told Interfax-AVN on Monday.
“The date of the maiden flight of the fifth-generation fighter jet will be named this week. The flight will take place in January,” he said.
The Komsomolsk-on-Amur aviation plant is intensively testing the plane on the ground, he said.
“The jet has had a number of runway trials, which tested the engines, brakes and the control systems,” the source said.
“The runway trials were successful, which gave us hope for making the maiden flight on time,” he said.
The new jet of the Sukhoi company will be an intellectual product with multiple functions, capacity to destroy air-and land-based targets at anytime of the day and under any weather conditions, super- maneuverability, optical, infra-red and radar stealth and ability to take off and land from runways of 300-400 meters.
Experts claims the plane will make long flights at supersonic speeds with multiple refueling in the air. It will carry new electronic systems and have a highly automatic flight control network.
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