Russian Su-57 Preparing to Compete with F-35 for Stealth Jet Market Share

Russian Sukhoi Su-57 fighter

While the US F-35 stealth aircraft has become one the fastest selling fighter jets in the world aircraft market, thanks to zero competition; that could be about to change with the Russian Su-57 fifth-geneation aircraft preparing to be offered for international sales.

An export version of the jet, the Su-57E could be offered to prospective customers in the Middle East and Asia with the Dubai Air show in November this year becoming the likely international launch pad for the F-35 challenger.

The Russian United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) which is flight-testing the plane is ready to commence supplies to the Russian Aerospace Forces (RAF) from 2020 onwards. In fact, the RAF is expected to order 76 of the new aircraft up from an earlier 16 due to a recent 20% reduction in the price of aircraft and its components. Russian media outlets reported on May 16 that Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced that 76 Su-57 fifth-generation fighter jets will be purchased for the RAF before 2028 and that a package contract will be inked in the near future.

The Su-57 which had earlier been christened as the T-50 got its new name in 2017 which is said to have been derived from adding up 35 and 22 suggesting that its features are combination of the two US fifth generation planes (F-35 and F-22).

Russia’s Sukhoi Su-57 incorporates the functions of the US F-22 and F-35 fighter planes but outperforms them, Chief designer and Director of the Sukhoi Design Bureau, Mikhail Strelets was quoted as saying on Zvezda TV in November 2018. "It so turned out and we didn’t choose this specially but if you sum up 22 and 35, you get the figure 57," the Sukhoi chief designer said.

The Russian fighter jet is capable of accomplishing missions to destroy both air and ground targets as compared to the two US aircraft that are focused on either of the specific tasks, the Sukhoi chief designer said. "The F-22 was initially developed as an aircraft to gain air superiority. But eventually the Americans realized that it was essentially wrong to design the aircraft only for carrying air-to-air missiles and made an attempt to fit air-to-surface weapons into the existing configuration of its compartments. But the configuration of the compartments did not allow placing larger cargoes (weapons)," Strelets said.

The designers of the Su-57, earlier designated PAK FA- (Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation) faced the task of developing a multi-functional aircraft, he said adding that the Russian aircraft has a higher power to weight ratio than the American planes.

Official information on the Su-57 is rather sketchy. Its key features have not been made public by its manufacturers.  For an aircraft intended to be launched in the international market, the Su-57 does not even have an official website unlike the F-35 and F-22 both of which are high on the PR offensive.

However, indications that the SU-37 project is indeed advancing to a level of serial manufacturing to feed the RAS and a potential export market was made known by Alexey Krivoruchko, Russia's deputy defense minister who visited the Su-57’s manufacturing unit, the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft plant in the last week of May. He said that mass production of the jets will begin soon and that the Russian armed forces will get their first Su-57 fighter by the end of 2019.

The minister also revealed that Russia is developing an advanced anti-ship missile that will be used in the ammunition load of Su-57 "Today the enterprise is working on developing an active homing warhead for the promising anti-ship missile that is planned to be carried by the Su-57 fighter as well," Krivoruchko said. A working meeting was held on the premises of the Detal Design Bureau to discuss the issue of signing a contract with Tactical Missiles Corporation on acquiring the entire range of air-launched weapons for the Su-57 fighter jets, the deputy defense minister said, according to TASS.

Information from Russian sources indicates that an advanced air-to-air missile is said to be on part of the Su-57 weapons suite, the R-77 (designated as izdeliye 180 or K-77M). The medium-range, active radar homing air-to-air missile is being developed by JSC Tactical Missiles Corporation. The fighter is also said to be equipped with air-launched anti-ship variant of Kalibr cruise missiles.

A potential weak link in the Su-57 sales prospects is said to be the absence of an aircraft carrier version like the F-35B which was developed for short-take-off, vertical landing. Unless such a version is on the cards, it rules out sales to navies of countries such as China and India which are in the process of expanding their blue-water naval capability by acquiring aircraft carriers.