The Sukhoi Su-57 is Russian 5th generation, stealthy, single-seat, twin-engine jet multirole
fighter aircraft designed for air superiority and ground attack operations.
It is the successor of Su 35 and Russia’s answer to American F 35 Lightning II and F 22 Raptor.
Su 57 has super-cruise capability and is super-maneuverable
due to 3D thrust vectoring and has very powerful radar unit.
The F-15 is an American twin-engine, all-weather tactical fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell
Douglas which is now Boeing.
F 15 was introduced in 1976 and America has different variants of it totaling about 450.
The aging F 15 which is nearing its service life seems no match for Su 57, but an upgrade
could change this.
In this video, Defense Updates analyzes how old American F 15 can take down latest Russian Su 57?
Let's get started.
5th generation aircraft like F 35, F 22 Raptor or Su 57 are all designed to be stealthy or
low observable.
This is achieved by designing the aircraft in such a way that radar signals reflect away
in a different direction and don't reach back to the sensor which is emitting them.
Also, these aircraft use RAM that is Radar Absorbing Material on the outer surface to
reduce the amount of signals that gets reflected.
But the current generation of stealth aircraft are not designed to suppress LONG-WAVE INFRARED SPECTRUM.
There is no countermeasure that can be retrofitted as the airframe would likely have to be designed
& developed from the outset to accommodate those technologies.
Lockheed Martin is currently developing the Legion pod that will enable F 15 with long
wave Infrared Search and Track (IRST) capability.
Legion pod can be attached to an aircraft's airframe externally.
The Lockheed Martin Legion pod will be equipped with the company’s IRST21 infrared sensor
and advanced data processing capabilities.
Boeing the manufacturer of F 15, will award Lockheed Martin a development and production
contract for the Legion pod sometime this year.
Around 130 of these will be produced.
Paul Lemmo, vice president of Fire Control/Special Operations Forces Contractor Logistics Support
Services at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said last year
“With a rapid delivery schedule and unmatched sensing capabilities, Legion Pod will immediately
enhance our warfighters' operations and address a passive attack capability gap,"
He added,"Our proven partnerships with Boeing, including on our U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F IRST21
and international F-15 IRST products, will ensure successful execution of the F-15C Legion
Pod program for the U.S. Air Force.”
Long-wave IRST especially when combined with high-speed data networking—could generate
a weapons quality track against a stealth aircraft.
That track would only get more precise with multiple IRST equipped aircraft sharing data
amongst themselves.
Equipped with the Legion pod, the F-15C would be able to detect Su-57.
Once the F 15 has spotted the Su-57, it could direct a focused scan with the main sensor,
that is the powerful Raytheon AN/APG-63(v)3 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.
In focussed scan mode the radar will direct all its power on the narrow direction which
is provided by the IRST Legion pod instead of having to scan a large area.
With this, the radar is very likely to get a weapons quality track on the Su-57.
At long ranges, the F 15 can unleash the Raytheon AIM-120D AMRAAM missiles to take out the Su 57.
If the Su 57 somehow manages to survive the initial barrage, the F 15 will be at a disadvantage
in a dogfight as the Russia jet is super maneuverable.
But it must be noted here that, American fighter pilots are some of the most well-trained pilots
in the world and they often hone their strategies by practicing against super maneuverable F-22s.
Several times F 15s do win dogfights against F 22.
Viewers may note that Russia has only 10 flyable prototypes of Su 57 and is unlikely to match
the quantity of F 15 possessed by the U.S, keeping in view the cash shortage Russia is facing.
So in any battle, Su 57s will always be outnumbered by F 15s which will be a distinct disadvantage.