NEW DELHI, (BM) – As we announced earlier this year, Russia has started mass production of the Russian fighter of the latest generation Su-57, and according to comments from the Russian Ministry of Defense, the first unit is expected to be delivered to the Russian Air Force at the end of the year as we reported in the middle of current year.
Read more: Su-57 Felon – Russian stealth multirole fifth-generation fighter [review]
Earlier this year, we also confirmed that Russia plans to send the first mass-produced fighter jet to the Russian Federation’s western military district, which will make it part of the country’s defense air force in response to a possible NATO threat.
However, the Indian online daily EurAsian Times believes that the Su-57 is more than a Russian fighter of the latest generation, and a serious competitor to the Amirak stealth fighter Su-57. NATO has already given the new fighter an official name and named it ‘criminal’ [Felon]. According to officially circulated documents in the last 12 months, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an order with the Russian company Sukhoi for the production and delivery of 76 Su-57s for the Russian aerospace forces. The entire order is expected to be executed within the next eight years or by the end of 2028. It is also known that the Russian Ministry of Defense has set the second stage of deliveries for the Russian army to begin in 2022.
The Indian journalist thinks that the presence of a new generation of radar in the construction software of the Su-57 will lead to a serious competition between the Su-57 and the F-35. The Russian Su-57 is the first fighter to receive AESA radar. Until now, Russian aircraft have used PESA radar. The difference is quite large between the two types of radars and consists in the following – PESA concentrates the processed information or in other words – the returned radio signals at one point on the radar, which leads to faster heating of the radar itself and to disruption of normal operation of avionics in the Russian fighter. AESA concentrates the returned radio information at several points, sometimes hundreds, which allows the radar to continue to operate quite normally and to avoid overheating the systems.
The Indian journalist believes that the presence of AESA radar in the Russian fighter puts it on a par with the American F-35. However, they have repeatedly written that it takes more than radar to equalize the capabilities of the two fighters. For example, Russia is still struggling to develop a second-generation jet engine. Moreover, at the moment it is not even clear when Russia will make a technological breakthrough in the development of this type of engine. Also, the avionics is not at the level of the F-35, which is the main reason why the Russian Su-57 is not defined as a fifth-generation fighter, but a curse fighter 4 ++.
We remind you that the Russian Su-57 fighter has been under development since 2002, when its first test flight was nearly 10 years ago, but it had not yet entered serial production due to various technical problems in the process of its development. India and Russia intended to outsource the project and develop it jointly in the two countries, but Russia’s delay forced India to give up and start thinking about its own fighter. It is a public secret that Russia’s problems with developing the engine for the fighter are the main reason for New Delhi’s withdrawal from the project.
Su-57 is a Russian combat multi-role fighter. The fighter is designed according to the instructions of the Russian Air Force, as part of the PAK-FA program. The Su-57 has not one but two engines. The main goal of the PAK-FA program is to replace the existing Sukhoi Su-27. Nearly three years ago [August, 2017], the new Moscow fighter received its designation Su-57, while the type is more popular as a prototype Sukhoi T-50.
On the basis of the “FGFA program”, a two-seat variant for the Indian Air Force should also be developed. However, India dropped out of the project in spring 2018. The development of the Su-57 goes back to the tactical-technical requirements from 1998 after the MFI program was canceled in 1997. At the end of 2000, the requirements for the front pilot were specified and in April 2001 the “PAK-FA program” was officially launched on 26th.
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On June 10, 2014, the right air intake of the prototype T-50-5 caught fire during the landing approach, which was quickly extinguished after landing. People were not harmed. The aircraft was later repaired with parts of the prototype T-50-6 that was started and which was not used. This test aircraft was fully equipped. On December 24, 2019, the first series machine crashed during the acceptance test, and the pilot was able to save himself with the ejection seat. Control failure and subsequent transition to flat spin were reported as the probable cause, and the flight recorders were salvaged.
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