The image on the pins suggests that it is going to be a monoplane with widely spaced engines and two outward-canted fins, says Vedomosti daily, adding that it seems the jet fighter has been designed using stealth technology.

A source in the Sukhoi construction bureau has dismissed the label pins as “cheap Chinese fakes”, but another source in the Russian aviation industry says the images they carry have a strong resemblance to the T-50 jet fighter.

The fifth-generation jet fighter project was started in Russia in the 90s and is currently being developed by the Sukhoi construction bureau and the scientific development and production center “Saturn”.

It was earlier said that the T-50 flight tests could start as soon as November this year.

That has been confirmed at MAKS 2009 by the Chief Commander of the Russian Air Force, Aleksandr Zelin, who said that three T-50s are being assembled at a plant in Russia’s Far East.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin who attended the MAKS 2009 Aviation & Space Salon on Tuesday said that the production of the fifth-generation jet fighter is one of the priorities of the Russian aircraft industry, and ordered the supply of necessary resources to assist the fighter’s development.