Russia’s new fifth generation fighter expected to participate in military drills next year

DONGUZ RANGE/Orenburg region/, September 18. /TASS/. Russia’s T-50 (PAK FA) fifth-generation fighter will be tested in military drills as soon as it enters service next year, Russian Air and Space Forces Commander-in-Chief Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev has said.

"The first T-50s should enter service in 2016," Bondarev said, adding that the plane will be "immediately tested in all its capabilities in all the exercises like Su-30 and Su-35 jets."

The pilots are now testing the aircraft’s capabilities at the Akhtubinsk range in southern Russia.

"The aircraft is excellent, it has huge capabilities, and moreover the aircraft computer will do the maximum itself, while the pilot will only control its actions. We lay great hopes on this plane and I think, it will justify them," Bondarev said.

Earlier, Bondarev said that the PAK FA (Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation) fighter jet would enter service in 2016 and its serial supplies would start from 2017.

The PAK FA fighter jet showed high flight characteristics at the recent MAKS-2015 air show in Zhukovsky near Moscow. The aircraft performed several most difficult aerobatic maneuvers for the first time, including a flat spin and a tailslide.