Vladimir Putin praises Russian stealth fighter - by Andrew Osborn
Vladimir Putin praised the maiden flight of Russia’s new stealth plane as “a big step” towards giving the air force a fighter fit for the twenty first century.
The Russian prime minister told a cabinet meeting he wanted the first batch of T-50 stealth fighters to be in service by 2013, well ahead of earlier deadlines. The fighter will be the first all-new military aircraft Russia has built since the collapse of the Soviet Union nearly two decades ago. Russian aviation and air force officials lost little time in boasting that the plane would equal if not better America's
Experts believe the T-50s maiden test flight underlines the Kremlin's determination to overhaul its ageing Soviet-era military hardware even as it is locked in key nuclear arms reductions talks with the United States.
For more: Vladimir Putin praises Russian stealth fighter - TelegraphLabels: Aircraft Industry, Russia
