Russia’s latest Sukhoi T-50 stealth fighter jet, of which India will license produce 200 units, is projected to sell 1000 units  over the next half of the century. Like the legendary MiG-21 fighter jet which has been around in one variant or another for the past half-century, the Sukhoi T-50 may very well be the next largest selling fighter of this century.

 

Interestingly, the Sukhoi stealth fighter, tentatively called the T-50 will be the most advanced 5^th generation fighter ever built when it touches Initial Operational Clearance by 2017.

 

“If you talk about warplanes of this type, there is definitely a market for it if we produce more than 1000 jets,” Mikhail Pogosyan, director of Sukhoi said. “We have all grounds to believe that there will not be tough competition on the world market.” he said.

 

The director of Sukhoi is right in saying so as America’s F-22 Raptor 5^th generation fighter, which is already in service, will be unavailable to the world market for a long time to come, giving Sukhoi a monopoly position.

 

Recently, the T-50 flew for the first time in an event that was covered by the media. The Sukhoi T-50 marks Russia’s entry into 5^th generation race which has only one other player, Russia’s cold-war rival, America.

In India, a two-seater variant of the fighter will be developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.