On December 29, 2010, a prototype Sukhoi T-50, the 5th-generation fighter took off on its maiden flight at 11.19 a.m. in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia’s Far East.

This is the first warplane completely designed and built in Russia since the break-up of the Soviet Union. Only the United States currently operates Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor Stealth air-superiority fighters. PopoutRussia’s been testing its new T-50 "Sukhhoi" stealth fighter jets and so far they’re a success.

T-50 Fighter

The latest test flight reaffirms Russia’s status as a leading aviation power. Only Russia and the United States currently have their own fifth-generation fighters, as well as aircraft industries capable of manufacturing all types of military and civilian aircraft ranging from light-weight aerobatic planes to strategic bombers. The video below shows the first test flight and is supposedly also the very first time the public is getting to see the bird.

With the T-50′s "basic specs" including "greater agility, sustained supersonic-flight capability in non-afterburning mod

e, low radar visibility, low heat signature, as well as enhanced take-off and landing performance," I wonder what the upgrade options are. Either way, this successful test flight makes Russia the only country aside from the United States to have fifth-generation fighters.    [via Gizmodo]