4 of Top 5 Russia’s Most feared Military Planes (Sukhoi T-50/PAK FA)

Sukhoi T-50/PAK FA

“Sukhoi’s PAK FA multirole stealth fighter flies in a league of its own as Russia’s only direct answer to US fifth generation designs like the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II,” the magazine is writing now.

However in November 2014 the rhetoric was somehow different.

“The analysis that I have seen on the PAK-FA indicates a pretty sophisticated design that is at least equal to, and some have said even superior to US fifth-generation aircraft,” the magazine quoted former US Air Force intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula as saying.

“It certainly has greater agility with its combination of thrust vectoring, all moving tail surfaces, and excellent aerodynamic design, than does the F-35.”

“The Chinese Chengdu J-20 and the Russian Sukhoi T-50 PAK-FA are becoming a real threat to the US Air Force and Navy,” the magazine wrote already in April.

“When you see these next-generation fighters, the PAK-FA out of Russia and the J-20 out of China, and some of their new missile technology, our advantage is dwindling,” the magazine quoted one senior industry official as saying, without disclosing his name.

“Indeed, the PAK-FA appears to be optimized for the air-superiority role like the F-22 more so than the multirole, strike-optimized F-35,” it said last year.