Stealth Saga #70

Su-57:

The F-35 hater team is now hating on the Su-57.

The Su-57 will start production in 2018 (supposedly) with 12 'pre-production' aircraft delivered in 2019.

The Su-57 is making progress on the engine and other development milestones, but concerns remain.

"New" Russian VTOL Fighter:

Russia claims it is working on the replacement of the MiG-29 and Su-33 with a VTOL fighter.  That would mean the LMFS is definitely dead instead of almost certainly.

J-20 & J-31:

A report on the J-20 updates the capabilities.

A report states future Chinese aircraft carriers will have the two 5th gen fighters aboard.

TF-X:

Turkey has released the technical specifications on the TF-X.

MAGMA:

The Brits are testing out a drone without control surfaces.  Instead, it uses airflow to control direction.

Tornado Replacement:

The Luftwaffe might prefer the F-35, but the German MoD prefers the Eurofighter.

CF-18 Replacement:

Canada is starting its replacement procurement for the CF-18.  The F-35 might be a contender.

Sixth Generation Fighter:

Directed energy weapons are finally gearing up for deployment.

F-22:

The Russians are claiming an F-22 interfered with an attack run by Su-25s but was "chased away" by an Su-35.

Could the reason the Su-35s and F-22s be shadow boxing is because both sides are trying to gather intel on the other's capabilities?

An F-22 damaged during touch and goes six years ago will be fixed soon.

UTC received an almost seven billion dollar contract for maintaining the F119 engines on the F-22.

F-35:

The F-35 is going to get a deep dive review on its costs.

66 F-35s were delivered this year.

Is there a change coming for testing on the F-35s?

F-35 weapon accuracy testing is complete.

The USAF claims to no longer need its A-10 maintenance crews to work on the F-35A.

The 115th and 187th Air National Guard Fighter Wings are getting upgraded to the F-35A.

F-35C aviators qualified on the Lincoln.

Britain is not happy about the lack of transparency for the F-35 program.

More on Israel's declaration of the F-35I being operational.

Poland has launched its Harpia fighter procurement and the F-35 is a contender.

Russian military observers went to Norway's base where its first F-35s are.

South Korea is reportedly buying 20 more F-35s.

META:

F/A-18s spotted an unknown aircraft and tracked it on their FLIR.

Fictional Aircraft:

A real US Naval Academy professor did a presentation on the stealthiness of cinematic version of the fictional MiG-31 Firefox.