What became known about the newest Russian SU 57 fighter, despite all the secrecy that always surrounds new Russian weapons?
The Sukhoi Su-57 is a stealth, single-seat, twin-engine multirole fifth-generation jet fighter being developed since 2002 for air superiority and attack operations. The Su-57 is the first aircraft in Russian military service to use stealth technology. Its maiden flight took place on 29 January 2010 and it entered service on 25 December 2020. The fighter is the world's fourth operational fifth-generation stealth fighter aircraft after the F-22, F-35, and J-20.
The fighter is designed to have supercruise, supermaneuverability, stealth, and advanced avionics to overcome the previous generation fighter aircraft as well as ground and naval defences. The Su-57 is intended to succeed the MiG-29 and Su-27 in the Russian Air Force.
According to the latest Russian military doctrine which considers the Russian Armed Forces as defensive forces meant to protect the country and its allies while maintaining a strategic deterrence capability, this fighter follows a different design philosophy when compared to western fifth generation fighter. With its forward-optimized stealth and infrared sensor, the aircraft could be considered as a counter-stealth fighter meant to get as close as possible to adversary stealth jets before engaging them, diminishing the enemy's stealth advantage and forcing them to a close quarter dogfight, where it has the theoretical advantage due to its 3-D thrust vectoring and supermaneuverability.
According to Bill Sweetman, the Su-57's high operational speed and altitude combined with its standoff weaponrycould be hinting at its role as a "sort of airborne sniper", designed to fly fast and high to engage enemy support aircraft. This claim is supported by Russia's intentions to adapt the new R-37M air-to-air missile with range of more than 300 km to the Su-57's armament, giving it a role similar to the MiG-31BM interceptors. Newly designed anti-ship and hypersonic weapons like Kh-47M2 Kinzhal could also enable the Su-57 to perform as a maritime strike aircraft.
The Su-57 could also serve as a testbed for advanced AI and man-unmanned teaming technologies intended for use in a future sixth-generation fighter program.
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