It's the most advanced stealth fighter ever developed, capable of defeating any radar
ever invented, and it can kill ten American F-22 Raptors with just one missile- at least
if you listen to the Russian Ministry of Defense. But why is an aircraft the
Russians claim is more advanced than the American F-22 and F-35 conspicuously absent
over the skies of Ukraine, exactly where it is needed the most by Russian forces?
The Su-57 is a Russian multi-role fighter that's Russia's first attempt
at a fifth generation aircraft. It was conceived in 1999 after its predecessor,
the Mikoyal Project 1.44 proved to be entirely too expensive to actually put
into production. The Project 1.44 was meant to be an answer to America's own F-22,
which was at the time nearly completion and initial operational capability. However, the
collapse of the Soviet Union lead to an economic crisis and the project struggled to find adequate
funding. The Mig 1.44 would have its maiden flight in February 2000 and be canceled shortly after.
2 The SU-57, NATO codename Felon, was meant to build upon the successes of the 1.44 and field
a true 5th generation fighter. By now the United States was starting to churn out the F-22 Raptor,
and Russia had no answer to this critical threat. But almost inevitably the Felon
ran into its own financial difficulties, and a program that was meant to produce a
fleet of fighters by the mid 2000s would only deliver its first operational aircraft in 2020.
Russia couldn't afford to produce the Su-57 on its own though, and troubles began early
when Russia and India signed an agreement to co-develop the aircraft in September of 2010.
As the project evolved however, Indian engineers voiced serious concerns about
the aircraft's capabilities and survivability against American 5th generation fighters. By
2014 India had lost faith in the Su-57 and formally abandoned the program,
leaving Russia to finance it on its own. This immediately put a massive
financial strain on Russia further compounded by sanctions of high technology goods from the
west after its annexation of Crimea. The Su-57 struggled through development, and a fleet once
envisioned to consist of over a hundred aircraft ended up producing only a dozen or so test models.
3 In 2018 Russia claimed that the Su-57 took part in combat operations in Syria. However,
there's no real proof that the jet performed any combat duties in the country. It's very
likely then that Russia merely deployed the plane there to fly a few non-combat sorties
so as to attempt to rouse interest from foreign investors- a very common tactic by the Russian
defense industry. With a poorly diversified economy under pressure from sanctions,
Russia relies heavily on foreign buyers to fund its weapons development programs.
Despite no verifiable proof of the plane's combat record, Russia claims that it partook in combat
operations both in Syria and now in Ukraine, where Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed
that Su-57s took part in operations to neutralize Ukrainian air defenses, eliminating multiple
Ukrainian surface to air missile batteries. Since we have all learned that Russia literally
never lies ever, this is an impressive feat for an airplane that is technically still in development.
4 What's more impressive about this claim however is the fact that the Su-57 is not even
believed by western observers to be a true stealth aircraft- merely one with stealth characteristics.
Observes point to difficulties by the Russians in joining panels of the body together tightly
enough to reduce radar return, as well as its glaringly non-stealthy engines. The body of the
aircraft is also significantly less stealthy than American counterparts, giving off far
larger radar returns from the sides and rear. This however is in line with Russian philosophy
of operation aircraft only within the safety of ground-based air defenses. The Russians simply
couldn't afford to field an all-aspect stealth aircraft and thus focused only on frontal stealth.
5 The aircraft also appears to lack another quality of a 5th generation fighter- data
link capabilities. While tests are underway to have the Su-57 'speak' with a drone companion,
this is far from the capabilites of the US F-35 which can operate as a sort of
mini air control platform in place of traditional AWACS, speaking with
a variety of friendly aircraft and helping guide weapons and planes to their targets.
6 However, the Su-57 does have some design advantages over real 5th generation aircraft
in America's arsenal. For one, it's far more maneuverable than any US aircraft-
and this is a big clue to the fact that the Russians know this is not a peer to American
5th generation fighters. That's because super maneuverability is not a design
feature of an traditional 5th gen aircraft which are designed to operate as assassins,
not knife-fighters. F-35s and F-22s are built to engage enemy targets from beyond visual range
with advanced AIM 120D missiles that have ranges in excess of 90 miles. Not only is this missile
range outside of the range of most other enemy missiles, but the stealth characteristics of
an F-22 or F-35 means that an enemy being fired on won't even be able to detect the
stealth fighter until it's much, much closer- estimated at about three dozen miles or so.
With limited internal payloads of six to eight missiles,
stealth aircraft should never be involved in a dogfight, thus super maneuverability
is only desired if you have reason to believe your aircraft will be forced into dog fights
because it's not stealthy enough or has the targeting capabilities to engage in a long
range fight. So while the Su-57 is capable of some truly impressive acrobatic feats, this
will be meaningless in over 90% of engagements against an adversary such as the US Air Force.
7 Further giving clues to the fact that the Su-57 is not a true stealth aircraft are its
cheek-mounted radars which allow it to guide missiles to target at far more extreme angles
than its American counterparts. This allows the Su-57 to turn further away from its target than
an American plane and still maintain good radar lock. But you only build this capability if you
expect your aircraft to have to fight at close ranges where extreme maneuvers are required,
or if you expect your aircraft to have to 'notch' or defend against enemy missiles
while guiding its own to target. It's likely the Russians knew from the start the Felon
would be detectable at far greater range than US aircraft and would need the ability
to manuever away from incoming missiles while maintaining a lock for its own.
Despite this the Russian Ministry of Defense claims that the Su-57 is not just a match,
but superior to the F-22 and F-35. If that's the case then where is Russia's
premier aircraft when its army needs it the most in the skies over Ukraine?
8 First, even if all claims about the Su-57 are true, Russia simply wouldn't be able to field
them in large enough numbers to make much of a difference. Currently there are only about a
dozen or so Su-57s in operation, and most of these are test aircraft not meant for combat duty. This
likely only leaves just over half a dozen that could carry weapons to targets successfully.
But there's no evidence outside of Russian claims that this has actually happened.
The best the world can manage is video of an aircraft with a similar shape to
the Su-57 captured on video early in the war carrying out an air to ground attack.
Most experts agree that if the Su-57 is truly engaged in combat with Ukraine,
then it's not seeing frontline duty. Rather, the plane is likely only firing stand-off
attack munitions at long ranges from the safety of Russian air space. Armed with the right weapons,
the Su-57 could potentially stay out of range of Ukrainian air defenses and destroy them,
as claimed by Russia. But there's practically no chance that Russia is willing to risk flying its
flagship aircraft over the front lines where it could potentially be shot down, causing Russia
heaps of international embarrasment. At least more than it's earned so far. This is doubly true when
you consider that Russia also fears western weapons employed by Ukraine, and knows for a
fact that western nations are feeding a steady diet of intelligence to Ukraine's armed forces.
9 хSo why is the Su-57 not in operation over ukraine? First, there's simply not enough of
them to be worth employing. Russia has goals of just under a hundred of the fighter by 2027,
something that is completely unrealistic given extreme western sanctions against
the nation. If your military is having to strip washers and microwaves for microchips,
you're not going to be fielding a hundred stealth fighters in five years.
Secondly, the plane is almost certainly not nearly as capable as Russia claims it is,
and the last thing Russia wants is the embarrassment of having one shot down
by Ukraine. Russia has lost an estimated 144 aircraft in the war, with two dozen of these
being front-line manned fighters or ground attack aircraft. The threat environment is too high for
Russia to risk the PR disaster that would ensue if a Felon was shot down by the Ukrainians.
Now go check out US F-35 vs Russian Su-57, which would win? Or click this other video instead!