Russia's Sukhoi to produce Su-35 fighter up to 2020

MOSCOW, July 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's leading aircraft maker Sukhoi plans to produce its new state-of-the-art Su-35 Flanker-E multirole fighter plane over a period of 10 years up to 2020, the company's general director said. (VIDEO)

Russia's Su-35 fighter makes first demonstration flight

Deliveries of the new air superiority/strike fighter, billed as a "4++ generation using fifth-generation technology" aircraft, to foreign clients will start in 2011.

"I think we will continue producing Su-35s at least until 2020," Mikhail Pogosyan said in an interview with Expert, a Russian business publication. "According to our estimates, demand for this fighter is over 200 aircraft."

Su-35 successfully completed its first demonstration flight last Monday and may enter service with the Russian Air Force in two or three years. It is also slated for exports to Russia's traditional customers in Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

The Su-35, powered by two 117S engines with thrust vectoring, combines high maneuverability and the capability to effectively engage several air targets simultaneously using both guided and unguided missiles and weapon systems.

The aircraft features the new Irbis-E radar with a phased antenna array, which allows the pilot to detect and track up to 30 air targets, while simultaneously engaging up to eight targets.

It is equipped with a 30-mm cannon with 150 rounds and can carry up to eight tons of combat payload on 12 eternal mounts.

Pogosyan said the company would deliver 24-30 aircraft to its clients annually.

"We can expect orders for at least 25-30 aircraft annually," he said, adding that Sukhoi could successfully compete for at least 7% of the world's market of combat aircraft.

"If we want to become a leader on the global aircraft-manufacturing market, we must sharply increase production of civilian aircraft," Pogosyan said, referring to the Superjet 100 family of medium-range passenger aircraft, developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau in cooperation with major American and European aviation corporations.

Sukhoi earlier said it plans to equalize the share of civilian and military aircraft in its production portfolio by 2015.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080714/113907248.html