Monday, January 27, 2014

Define "Stealth"

If India thought they were building a stealth plane with the Russians, the Indians weren't paying attention.

So the Russian "5th generation stealth" plane is rubbish?

Despite initial high expectations, the Indian Air Force appears to be souring on a joint development deal with Russia for a new fifth-generation fighter jet, according to the Business Standard, a major Indian business publication. The Russian prototype is "unreliable, its radar inadequate, its stealth features badly engineered,” said Indian Air Force Deputy Air Marshall S Sukumar at a Jan. 15 meeting, according to minutes obtained by the Business Standard.

Well, I only found out four months ago that the Russian and Chinese "5th generation stealth planes" are actually stealthy (with reduced radar signature) from the front only.

Russia and China can make some decent planes. But they still don't match us. My more immediate worry is that China will one day match us in aircraft crew quality.