Sixth-generation fighter jet to exist in two versions: manned, unmanned - Aerospace Forces Commander
MOSCOW. Aug 12 (Interfax-AVN) - Both unmanned and manned versions of the sixth-generation fighter jet are being created in parallel, the Commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces and a Hero of Russia, Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said.
"Of course, simultaneously," he told reporters on Friday when asked about the way the work is being carried out.
"Efforts in this area are ongoing both here and abroad. We have excellent design bureaus and aircraft industry. I think the sixth generation is not far away," Bondarev said.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said earlier that Sukhoi Design Bureau presented first developments of a sixth-generation fighter jet. In 2014, United Aircraft-building Corporation said the first such aircraft would be created in the second half of the 2020s.
Currently, Russia is testing its fifth-generation fighter called Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation (or PAK FA, also known as T-50). It took off for the first time in 2010. The aircraft is expected to complete the final state tests in 2016 before its serial deliveries begin in 2017.