Maksim covers aerospace developments in Central Asia for Aviation Week. He has worked for Russia's Air Transport Observer magazine and was in charge of several ATO sister aerospace publications after working for the Moscow-based CAST defense think tank.
Maksim has a degree in international relations from MGIMO University, Moscow.
Maxim Pyadushkin (Moscow ), Douglas Barrie (London)
Russian fighter manufacturer Sukhoi plans a decade-long production overlap of its latest Flanker model with its fifth-generation fighter program for the Russian air force, apparently further undermining MiG’s ambitions for a next-generation fighter. Sukhoi management now says production of the Su-35 (Su-27 SM2) will run in parallel with that of the fifth-generation project, known as PAK FA, for around 10 years. This may well see the Su-35 remain in production until the middle of the 2020s, with the type becoming the long-term complement to the PAK FA.
Russia’s Phazotron is beginning the next stage of development testing of an active, electronically scanned array (AESA) fighter radar, and Indian air force pilots are slated to fly with the system this year.
Moscow has finally decided to buy an upgraded variant of the Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker, the Su-35/Su-27SM2, as an interim until the fifth-generation fighter enters service. The decision was confirmed by Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, during a visit to Sukhoi assembly facilities in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Putin was shown a Su-35 prototype — as well as the Sukhoi T-50 prototype to meet the air force’s next-generation fighter program, known as PAK FA.
