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That said, Sukhoi has enjoyed strong export success in recent years, and it would be wrong to bet against them at this point. The high cost of the plane, it's unproven technology, and limited Russian productive capacity make it a bad bet compared to the Flanker family, or (for those countries lucky enough to have a Club Membership) the F-35. With respect to other buyers, the Russians may eventually find export customers, but few seem interested at this point. The absence of the PAK FA (HAL FGFA in Indian terminology) will leave a major hole in the Indian Air Force for quite a long time. It remains unclear whether India will ever acquire a version of the PAK FA, or instead focus on indigenously developed aircraft (the distant AMCA project, which may result in a usable combat aircraft by 2030). For its part, we can expect that Pakistan will likely acquire J-31 stealth fighters from China, whether off the shelf or as part of some kind of joint production scheme. China has pushed the J-20 stealth fighter project to a stage competitive with the PAK FA, although we know less of the former’s capabilities than of the latter. The PAK FA plays a major role in India’s competition with China and Pakistan, its two major regional rivals. Theoretically, India is on the hook for roughly 150 fighters, and could purchase a hundred more on top of that. After months of haggling and disagreement, Russia agreed to cut development costs for the Indian version of the PAK FA. The PAK FA is nearly as important (conceptually, at least) to India’s aerospace future as to Russia, making the production issues particularly problematic. In part because of this, and in part because of Russia’s economic difficulties, the initial order has dropped to twelve (with more expected after the resolution of engine problems). In particular, the engines adopted for early aircraft do not provide sufficient thrust for the airframe, leaving the aircraft at a significant disadvantage compared to American fighters.

However, the fighter continues to struggle with questions over cost and engine performance.

( Recommended: 5 Russian Weapons of War America Should Fear) Initial expectations projected the acquisition of 200 PAK FAs for Russia, 200 for India, and an unknown number for other countries. Since then, Sukhoi has produced six prototypes, which have amassed considerable hours in flight testing. After several years of development delays, the first T-50 (prototype designation) test flight happened in 2011.