In the modern aerial combat theatre,as countries vie for total domination of the skies, innovation
and technology might just be our greatest weapons. In the unlikely event of all-out aerial warfare,
will Russia’s newest entry into the fighter jet history books be enough
to achieve total air superiority? Russian Su-57 versus Eurofighter Typhoon - which would win?
As the Second World War was winding down, the jet age was just taking off.
The first of jet-powered aircraft were developed for the war effort, and these first generation
planes were a far cry from the machines that dominate the air today - they closely
resembled the last generation of propeller-driven fighters, using the same aerodynamic principles
and construction materials, like wood and fabric. As jet engines improved significantly, future
generations of fighter aircraft saw improvements to the planes’ structure and avionics systems.
The most advanced 4th and 5th generation planes that are in use today feature advanced materials,
systems and designs that allow for supersonic flight and exceptional maneuverability.
The goal of today’s air forces is air superiority - total domination of the aerial arena so as to
discourage other nations from even attempting aerial combat - and the Typhoon and the Su-57
are Europe’s and Russia’s current best hopes for achieving such superiority.
Militaries may be hoping to discourage conflict, but that’s not to say there isn’t tension. When
Russia annexed the Ukranian territory of Crimea in 2014, the world very nearly found out who would
triumph in all-out aerial warfare. Thankfully, major conflict was avoided, but this situation was
a reminder to the world’s powers that technical military superiority is as important as ever.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is the result of the Future European Fighter Aircraft program,
a 1983 collaboration between the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and France - although disagreements
over design authority would eventually cause France to leave the program. The aircraft
is manufactured by a consortium of three major European aerospace corporations - Britain’s BAE
Systems, Italian firm Leonardo, and multinational company Airbus - under a joint holding company
called Eurofighter. A technical demonstration test flight took place in August 1986,
but the first Eurofighter prototype wouldn’t take to the skies until March
1994. The aircraft was dubbed the “Typhoon” in 1998, the same year that the first production
contracts were signed. Despite collaboration among some of Europe’s brightest minds,
the development of the Typhoon was plagued by delays, including bickering over cost
and work sharing between participating nations. The sudden end to the Cold War in 1991 didn’t help
matters, either, as reduced demand and urgency saw military projects around the world falter.
The Typhoon officially entered operational service in 2003, and is now in service with
air forces in Austria, Italy, Germany, the UK, Spain, Saudi Arabia and Oman. The Typhoon is
a twin-engine canard-delta wing fighter that can be operated by 1 or 2 crew members - the
term “delta” refers to the triangular shape of the plane’s wings, which resembles the Greek
character delta, and the smaller forewing above the main wing is called a canard.
The Typhoon is a multirole combat aircraft, which means that it can perform a number of duties,
including aerial reconnaissance, air support and, of course, attack missions.
The Typhoon is a highly agile fighter jet designed to excel in a dogfight situation,
though later models are better equipped for air-to-surface missions, too. The Typhoon
demonstrated its versatility in its 2011 combat debut in Libya, when the UK’s Royal Air Force,
or RAF, and the Italian Air Force performed aerial reconnaissance and air-to-ground strike missions.
A total of 623 Typhoons have been produced as of 2019. Back in 1985, the UK estimated that
the total cost of the 250 planes they planned to buy would be $7 billion dollars. By 1997,
that had risen to $17 billion, and by the time the first Typhoons went into service in 2003,
the cost had ballooned to $20 billion dollars - more than $80 million dollars
per aircraft. That’s certainly not a small number, but it’s a bargain compared to the
market price for outside buyers - countries who haven’t shared in the development costs
can expect to pay more than $105 million dollars to get their hands on a Typhoon.
The Soviet Union recognized the need for advanced fighter aircraft back in 1979,
and the Russian Aircraft Corporation, or MiG, was tasked with delivering just such an aircraft
by 1990. Development was delayed when the collapse of the Soviet Union led to a lack of funds,
and the first test flight didn’t take place until the year 2000, 9 years overdue.
Another Russian firm, Sukhoi, had been hard at work on their own next-gen fighter jet,
the Su-27, since 1983, so when the MiG program was cancelled in 2002, they were ready to step in and
take over the project. Using plastic composites allowed the new plane to have 4 times fewer parts
than the original Su-27, making it lighter, less expensive and easier to mass produce.
In 2007, the Russian government partnered with the government of India to jointly develop a 5th
Generation fighter aircraft. Each country was to invest $6 billion dollars and the project
was expected to take 8 to 10 years, with India originally planning to buy 214 of the finished
planes. The partnership appeared to be successful, and the first prototype test flight took place in
January 2010. However, after first reducing their planned order to 144 planes in 2012,
India pulled out of the project altogether in 2018, complaining that the plane did not meet
its requirements for stealth, avionics and weaponry. India’s sudden departure led many
to question the future of the Su-57 program, but development plowed ahead and production of
the first serial planes began in 2019, with delivery planned for the following year.
Russia may have spent decades and billions of dollars developing the Su-57, but the finished
product is apparently a real bargain, with a reported unit cost of just $35 million dollars.
The Su-57 was designed with one goal in mind - total air superiority. The 5th generation
multirole fighter was built to rival the most advanced military aircraft in existence,
like the F-22 Raptor and the Eurofighter Typhoon.
The Su-57 was designed for superspeed and supermaneuverability , and is the
first Russian military aircraft in history to use stealth technology.
Since the Su-57 is still in production, we don’t yet have any information on how the aircraft fares
in combat, though we do know that on Christmas Eve, 2019, the first serial production aircraft
crashed due to a control system malfunction while performing the final stage of factory trials.
The pilot was unable to stop the plane’s downward spiral using the manual controls,
and he was forced to eject at an elevation of 2,000 meters. He was later rescued by helicopter.
Now that we know a little about the history of these two impressive aircraft,
let’s see how they stack up against each other.
At more than 65 feet long, with a wingspan greater than 46 feet and weighing it at nearly
40,000 pounds empty, the Russian Su-57 dwarfs its European counterpart. The Typhoon comes in at 52
feet long with a 35 foot wingspan, and an empty weight of just under 25,000 pounds. This gives
the Su-57 the advantage in terms of capacity - the Su-57’s max takeoff weight of 77,000 pounds
is 50% greater than the Typhoon’s max capacity of just over 51,000 pounds. This larger capacity also
allows the Su-57 to carry more fuel, giving it a longer range of 2,200 miles compared to
the Typhoon’s max range of 1,800 miles. Both planes have a maximum ceiling of 65,000 feet.
The Russian plane also has the more powerful engines, with it’s 2 Saturn AL-41F1 turbofans
with thrust vectoring capable of putting out nearly 150 kN (kilo-Newtons) of thrust,
compared to the 90 kN put out by the Typhoon’s twin Eurojet EJ200 afterburning turbofan engines.
The Typhoon has advantages of its own, the main one being speed. While both planes are
capable of Mach 2 speeds, the smaller and lighter Typhoon is able to climb at
more than 62,000 feet per minute and can reach max speeds of 1,550 miles per hour,
compared to the Su-57’s top speed of just 1,320 miles per hour.
In today’s highly advanced aerial theatre, speed alone won’t be enough to guarantee domination of
the skies - aircraft also need to be able to avoid detection. Being truly invisible is impossible,
but modern stealth technology helps to make it difficult to effectively track a plane.
Air Forces around the world had been looking for ways to avoid radar since World War II,
and the development of new materials like carbon-fibre and high-strength plastics
in the 1960s and 70s kicked the stealth race into high gear. The first-ever stealth program
was announced by the U.S. in 1980, and their first stealth planes - the F-117A Nighthawk
ground attack fighter and the B2 bomber - were operational by 1983.
Aircraft designers achieve stealth with a combination of passive low-observable
features and active emitter technology. Passive LO features include using unconventional shapes
and avoiding right angles or large surfaces to reduce radar reflection.
These stealthy design features are at odds with the principles of aerodynamics and supersonic
speeds, meaning designers often have to choose stealth at the expense of speed and agility.
Active emitters, like radar, radio and laser technology, are another
layer of stealth protection designed to confuse surveillance radar and camouflage the aircraft.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is not a true stealth aircraft. Though it was designed with some
features that make it less detectable by radar, the Typhoon was built mainly for
speed and maneuverability, and it’s canard delta wings limit the stealth features
that can be used in the craft’s design. The Typhoon’s stealth features include external
weapons recessed into the fuselage and s-shaped air-intakes to block the engines from radar.
The Su-57 will be the very first stealth aircraft in Russian history.
The aircraft’s planform edge alignment was designed to reduce radar cross section,
and the plane’s leading and trailing edges are serrated and carefully angled
to limit detection. The craft is also treated with a radar-absorbent material.
Still, experts have pointed out some issues with the plane’s fuselage shape, seams and rivets,
making the Su-57 less stealthy than the F22, arguably the world’s stealthiest aircraft.
When it comes to stealth, it appears that the Su-57 has the edge in technology,
though what the Typhoon lacks in stealth it more than makes up for in maneuverability.
Of course, speed and stealth are important, but you can’t make an accurate comparison
between two war machines without taking a look at their payload.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is equipped with 13 hardpoints and can be outfitted with a
huge array of weapons for any type of mission. The Typhoon boasts a 27mm Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon
holding 150 rounds, and can carry nearly 20,000 pounds of additional payload. The Typhoon can
handle air-to-air missiles, like the Sidewinder and the Meteor, as well as air-to-surface missiles
like the Storm Shadow and Brimstone. It is also equipped to handle various types of bombs,
like the laser-guided Spice 250 (two fifty), with more bombs currently in development.
The Su-57 is equipped with a 30mm Gryazev-Shipunov Gsh-30-1 autocannon and has 6 interior and 6
exterior hardpoints to handle additional weapons. The Russians have designed the Su-57 to handle a
variety of air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, as well as anti-ship and anti-radiation weapons,
although most of these more advanced weapons are still in development.
Despite being the larger aircraft, the Su-57 can only carry just over 16,000 pounds of ordinance,
giving the slight advantage to the Typhoon in terms of weaponry.
So, now that we know more about the Russian Su-57 versus the Eurofighter Typhoon,
how would these aircraft fare in head-to-head combat? The two planes are comparable in terms
of weaponry, but if Russia’s claims about it’s new stealth fighter jet prove true, they might
just be able to claim stealth superiority, at least over the Typhoon. The Eurofighter
has superior speed and maneuverability, not to mention a more proven track record.
The Russian Su-57 certainly sounds like an impressive piece of aviation machinery, but it’s
just too new and untested to draw a conclusive comparison between it and the well-established
Typhoon. Plus, between India backing out of their deal and the crash of the first production plane,
it leaves many doubts about the Russian program and plane. The Typhoon has some problems of its
own, not least of which is a lack of stealth technology, but it has proven itself to be
a capable and agile aircraft in combat. With hundreds more Typhoons in service in multiple
countries, and the backing of Europe’s brightest aviation minds, we’d have to give the edge to the
Typhoon. It’s important to remember, though, that in an age of such tight technological competition,
the key difference maker might very well be the man (or woman) behind the machine.
When it comes to “total air superiority”, only time will tell who will claim dominance.
The rate of aerial innovation shows no signs of slowing down,
and with 6th generation aircraft on the horizon, we can expect to see continual
improvements like supersonic speed, adaptive shapes and dual-mode engine technologies.
We can only hope that the competition to build the best fighter planes will prove distracting enough
to keep the world’s air forces from actually using their new toys and trying to prove it in the air!
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