And it is about... F-35! After 8 years production its carrier based variant can't still land on carrier (after 14 frames produced)!
We are going to be the only operators of the F35C. It was always going to be the last version rolled out and tested because of its design differences needed for carrier Ops.
And now you are laughing on the plane that that had flown 4 years ago, it is first stealthy Russian aircraft design, unlike US F-117, B-2, F-22. And yet its program cost is still a fraction of JSF program.
Yeah I am, and Im laughing at this bloody idiot, the Aussie expert that flew in a fighter once in his life
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/11/russia-stealth/ And who has been talking up this Russian crap at the expense of their decision to stay with western aircraft. And what good is saving money when it loses you the war?
So something tells me that laughing and criticizing Russian developers is probably not that justified in face of amazing and high quality US programs...
The T-50 was never even scheduled to begin production until 2015, which was very doubtful like all their claims. And then, like the Russians do so well, they pirouette around the sky at air shows in fighters that even they probably wont want, or want many of, touting the new super planes which all turn out to be far less then expected. I doubt the T-50 will sell to ANYONE and even under the best of circumstances it was decades away from being delivered to most who showed interest. India was to be the major buyer and for sure they are the major investor/developer. For years the world has been told, by the real experts, that the F-35 is going to be a remarkable airplane. Instead to many Internet Heros have listened to the Carlo Kopps of the world. The truth is, tho yes there have been cost over runs "imagine that" the F-35 program has gone pretty smoothly for such a revolutionary airplane.
Recall: for some reason Indians major air superiority fighters are Sukhoi Su-30MKI, their next carrier fighters are MiG-29K and still India buys the fighters from Russia. So they are probably not that bad
Many of their procurement decisions are based more on price and GeoPolitics then actually buying the best airplane. Much has changed since the Cold War ended. The world has realigned and we have had wars which have shown there is no substitute for technology and Low RCS in fighter aircraft. I think India will be buying one of the very fine 4.5 Gen Euro consortium fighters instead of this thing. More costly yes but they have to contend with the Chinese and they need a techno edge for that.
The Russians to not make junk but as aircraft have evolved it has become more and more difficult to fuze all the technologically advanced components into one effective fighting machine. This is where they fail. Its one thing to roll out a demonstrator, slap some engines on it, fly it around, and then release all kinds of silly specs on it. Its another thing to actually produce one that really works.
