Russia's New 5th Generation Fighter Jet Just Turned Into a Deadly 'Ship Slayer'
16:26 03.05.2017(updated 16:54 03.05.2017)
Russia's new Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA fighter jet
has just been given another ability – the means to destroy surface warships.
Sputnik spoke to military expert Andrei Golovatyuk to find out whether it's now
appropriate to add 'ship slayer' to the fifth-generation aircraft's list of
capabilities.
On Wednesday, Russia's Izvestia newspaper reported that
the Kh-35UE tactical cruise missile, an upgrade of the Kh-35 jet-launched
subsonic anti-ship missile, has been incorporated into the Sukhoi T-50's
array of potential armaments.
The weapon, capable of targeting
and destroying everything from landing craft to aircraft carriers,
as well as ground targets, including hard points, warehouses and even
mobile military equipment, is able to bypass missile defense interceptor
systems, as well as advanced electronic jamming, thanks to its
dual-band active/passing homing guidance system.
It is the ability to target an array
of ground-based targets, along with a shorter intake and folding
wings, which distinguish the Kh-35EU from its predecessor.
Experts speaking to Izvestia said that
the Kh-35UE's successful incorporation into the T-50's arsenal effectively
turns it into a 'multifunctional fighting machine' whose characteristics
go far beyond those of a mere fighter aircraft.
Nikolai Vasilyev, chief designer
of the Kh-35UE at the Korolev-based Tactical Missiles Corporation,
told Izvestia that testing of the cruise missile on the T-50 has
already been completed, with the weapon proving fully compatible
with the plane's onboard equipment. When deployed, the cruise missile will
be mounted underneath the T-50's wings.
Vasilyev also reminded the newspaper that the
Kh-35UE has demonstrated itself effectively on the carrier-based variants
of the MiG-29K and MiG-29KUBR fighter planes, and on the Ka-52 attack
helicopter.
Asked to comment on this
development, Andrei Golovatyuk, a retired colonel and respected Russian
military analyst, told Radio
Sputnik that he found it unsurprising that the Kh-35UE, a universal cruise
missile, has found its way into the T-50's arsenal.
The military analyst recalled that Russia's
fifth-generation fighter uses the latest stealth and avionics technology,
"and, accordingly, more modern armaments, both those that exist and those
being developed by our engineers." Overall, "this is an airplane
that's entering a new, fundamentally more advanced level," he said.
"As for the [Kh-35UE], it is
simply unique," Golovatyuk added. For one thing, "this is a universal
cruise missile, and can be placed on a variety of platforms –from
ships, to airplanes, to helicopters, to coastal defense missile
systems. In other words, the T-50 is considered as one of most
promising platforms for this missile."
"What is the special know-how
of this missile in combination with the T-50?" the analyst
asked. "They can enter the target's zone of destruction
without entering the perspective enemy's zone of air defense. The
missiles are used according to the principle that upon launch, the
missile instantly finds its target and independently directs itself
toward it."
"In other words, the methodology
here is 'launch it and forget about it'; the missile itself finds its
target. Therefore the name 'slayer of ships' is in this case fully
justified," Golovatyuk concluded.
Planned to be introduced
into service with the Aerospace Defense Forces next year, the T-50,
officially designated as a stealth air superiority fighter, is meant
to eventually replace the Sukhoi Su-27 fourth-generation multirole
fighter, in service with the Soviet and Russian militaries
since the mid-1980s.
Since its first flight in the early
2010s, the T-50, part of the Prospective Airborne Complex
of Frontline Aviation (PAK-FA) program, has receiving a vast series
of upgrades to its avionics, stealth and armaments. On Wednesday,
United Aircraft Corporation General Designer Sergei Korotkov confirmed that engineers are busy working on the
creation of a next-generation engine for the plane, one that boasts
increased thrust and fuel efficiency, lower cost, and improved reliability
compared to the existing engine.
With six machines expected to be delivered into the Russian
Aerospace Defense Forces by next year, the military plans to equip
the air force with about 55 T-50 fighters by 2020, with mass
production beginning after that.
Original post: sputniknews.com
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