Sukhoi begins building fifth-gen fighters

MOSCOW Dec 26 (Reuters) - Russian military airplane producer Sukhoi has begun test production of its multipurpose fifth-generation fighter jets, the company said on Wednesday.

The aircraft, designated as part of Russia's prospective battlefield aviation complex, are being built by Sukhoi at the Gagarin assembly plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the far east. Test flights could begin in 2009.

In October Russia and India signed a deal to jointly modify the fifth-generation fighters for Indian use.

The new generation fighter will begin full-scale production in 2015, the company said.

The Sukhoi aircraft manufacturing holding develops and produces both military and civilian airplanes. In September the company unveiled its Superjet 100, a 90-passenger airliner with a 4,550 km (2,800 mile) range. (Reporting by Aleksandr Gelogaev; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)