Martian
Senior Member
Majority opinion vs. minority view
You have only two choices. There is one group that says the Russian T-50 is not stealthy. There is a much smaller group, which is extremely biased, that claims otherwise. Let's take a look at the two widely disparate views.
Majority view:
American/NATO four-star general Roger Brady said that he doesn't believe the Russian T-50 qualifies as a fifth-generation fighter. No such comment by the American military has been made about China's J-20. Bottom line: American military gives you an unbiased opinion regarding its military competitors in China and Russia.
Your eyes see the exposed gigantic engine fan blades on the Russian T-50. From the American F-18E engine fan blocker, you know that the exposed fan blades cannot be fully covered from view without a complete redesign of the T-50. Changing the T-50's straight air-inlets into serpentine air-inlets will also require design changes to the fuselage, which affect the space available for the weapon bays. In other words, a complete redesign is necessary.
Physics informs you that radar will reflect off exposed metal parts. There are plenty of exposed metal parts on the Russian T-50. By far, the exposed engine fan blades are the largest radar reflectors. There are other radar reflectors in the metal-framed cockpit canopy and lack of serrated edges on the Russian T-50's wheel-bay doors and engine nozzle-fuselage interface.
In a videotaped inspection tour and interview, Putin was very careful to claim that the T-50 would have more maneuverability, armament, and range than the F-22, but he avoided discussing the topic of stealth.
The Russian T-50 is an upgraded Su-27 or Su-30. Physics and logic dictate that the Russian T-50 is not stealthy.
Minority view:
The director of Sukhoi is damaging his credibility in claiming that the Russian T-50's problems can be solved. The reason that the United States designed and built a fifth-generation aircraft was to circumvent all of the problems with a non-stealthy fourth-generation aircraft.
It is not possible to upgrade an American F-18E Super Hornet into a fifth-generation fighter. America has tried with the engine fan blocker, but it still falls far short.
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Finally, some people say let's trust the Sukhoi aircraft designers; don't worry they know what they're doing. That is a silly position for two reasons. Firstly, most of us prefer to trust our eyes and an American four-star general; instead of letting Sukhoi claim whatever they want: Don't worry, all these problems will be fixed!
Excuse me, but why are these glaring problems on the Russian T-50 technology demonstrator? I have no choice, but to give Sukhoi low marks for its effort. Also, I cannot see how the Russian T-50 non-stealth problems can be solved without a complete re-design.
It is my opinion that the French Rafale is far stealthier than the current Russian T-50. The French did a much better job of hiding their engine fan blades. Though the Rafale does not rise to the level of stealthiness of the F-22 or J-20, your eyes can see the obvious difference between the Rafale and the T-50.
French Rafale air intake. The designers did a good job in hiding most of the engine fan blades, but I can still see a portion of the exposed fan blades.
Russian T-50 air intake with fully-exposed engine fan blades
You have only two choices. There is one group that says the Russian T-50 is not stealthy. There is a much smaller group, which is extremely biased, that claims otherwise. Let's take a look at the two widely disparate views.
Majority view:
American/NATO four-star general Roger Brady said that he doesn't believe the Russian T-50 qualifies as a fifth-generation fighter. No such comment by the American military has been made about China's J-20. Bottom line: American military gives you an unbiased opinion regarding its military competitors in China and Russia.
Your eyes see the exposed gigantic engine fan blades on the Russian T-50. From the American F-18E engine fan blocker, you know that the exposed fan blades cannot be fully covered from view without a complete redesign of the T-50. Changing the T-50's straight air-inlets into serpentine air-inlets will also require design changes to the fuselage, which affect the space available for the weapon bays. In other words, a complete redesign is necessary.
Physics informs you that radar will reflect off exposed metal parts. There are plenty of exposed metal parts on the Russian T-50. By far, the exposed engine fan blades are the largest radar reflectors. There are other radar reflectors in the metal-framed cockpit canopy and lack of serrated edges on the Russian T-50's wheel-bay doors and engine nozzle-fuselage interface.
In a videotaped inspection tour and interview, Putin was very careful to claim that the T-50 would have more maneuverability, armament, and range than the F-22, but he avoided discussing the topic of stealth.
The Russian T-50 is an upgraded Su-27 or Su-30. Physics and logic dictate that the Russian T-50 is not stealthy.
Minority view:
The director of Sukhoi is damaging his credibility in claiming that the Russian T-50's problems can be solved. The reason that the United States designed and built a fifth-generation aircraft was to circumvent all of the problems with a non-stealthy fourth-generation aircraft.
It is not possible to upgrade an American F-18E Super Hornet into a fifth-generation fighter. America has tried with the engine fan blocker, but it still falls far short.
----------
Finally, some people say let's trust the Sukhoi aircraft designers; don't worry they know what they're doing. That is a silly position for two reasons. Firstly, most of us prefer to trust our eyes and an American four-star general; instead of letting Sukhoi claim whatever they want: Don't worry, all these problems will be fixed!
Excuse me, but why are these glaring problems on the Russian T-50 technology demonstrator? I have no choice, but to give Sukhoi low marks for its effort. Also, I cannot see how the Russian T-50 non-stealth problems can be solved without a complete re-design.
It is my opinion that the French Rafale is far stealthier than the current Russian T-50. The French did a much better job of hiding their engine fan blades. Though the Rafale does not rise to the level of stealthiness of the F-22 or J-20, your eyes can see the obvious difference between the Rafale and the T-50.
French Rafale air intake. The designers did a good job in hiding most of the engine fan blades, but I can still see a portion of the exposed fan blades.
Russian T-50 air intake with fully-exposed engine fan blades
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