The Sukhoi T-50 Perspektivny Aviatsionny Kompleks Frontovoy Aviatsii (PAK FA, Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation) has been handed over for state trials (gosudarstvennye sovmestnye ispytaniya). T-50-2 was flown by Sergey Chernyshev to the 929th Flight-Test Centre of the Ministry of Defence at Akhtubinsk in the Astrakhan Oblast from Zhukovsky outside Moscow on February 21. The arrival of the T-50 at Akhtubinsk signals the aircraft has completed its preliminary trials (predvaritelnye ispytaniya) since the first prototype made its maiden flight in January 2010. It first flew on March 3, 2011 (see Second Sukhoi T-50 Flown, April 2011, p30) and has undertaken tests of the aircraft's systems, including the weapons bay door actuating mechanism and aerial refuelling, making the first dry contact with an llyushin II-78 tanker on August 3, 2012. During 2013 it was strengthened and adapted to undertake high g-load and angle of attack tests. It has no mission systems installed and so can be used only in the initial phase of the state trials for performance and flight-handling testing. It will be joined at the base by subsequent aircraft fitted with complete mission suites and armament.
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