The Russian Air Force expects to have a fifth-generation fighter aircraft enter its inventory early next decade to challenge the supremacy of the F-22 and F-35, RIA Novosti, the Russian News and Information Agency, reported yesterday. “We will begin test flights in 2009 and hope to receive the aircraft in 2013,” Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin, commander of the Russian Air Force, said Monday, according to the news service. The new multirole fighter, tentatively designated as the Sukhoi PAK FA or T-50, will reportedly have a stealthy airframe and two powerful engines capable of thrust vectoring.
To Replace Lost MQ-9s, USAF Eyes Next-Gen Reaper
May 13, 2026
The Air Force is looking at ways to rapidly replace some of the roughly two dozen MQ-9A Reaper drones it has lost as part of operations against Iran, top service officials told lawmakers May 12.