The initial version of FGFA (Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft), being jointly developed by India and Russia and tipped to be one of the most-advanced in the world, will be unveiled in India in 2014. The FGFA with stealth features is slated to be inducted in the Indian Air Force by 2022.
"The first prototype of the FGFA is scheduled to arrive in India by 2014 after which it will undergo extensive trials at the Ojhar Air Base (Maharashtra). The second prototype will arrive in India in 2017 and the third prototype will arrive in 2019. Based on the experience of test-flights of the each prototype, the final version of the FGFA would be developed for operational service. We are hopeful that the aircraft would be ready for induction by 2022," IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne told a news agency.
First Flight of Sukhoi T-50, Russian variant of FGFA ( Image Coutesy - ausairpower.net )
India plans to acquire 214 of these fighter planes by the end of 2030 at an estimated cost of over USD 30 billion. Russia has already developed three prototypes of the aircraft which are being used for carrying out test-flights. FGFA with stealth features would be smaller than Indian Air Force frontline aircraft, Su-30 MKI.
The IAF is in the process of phasing-out Russian-origin MiG series fighters which are almost forty years old in operational service. The FGFA along with the Russian-origin Su-30 MKIs and the 126 MRCAs would be the mainstay of the Air Force for the next four decades.
News Courtesy - zeenews
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