While the United States and its NATO allies have the 5th generation all-weather stealth multirole combat Lockheed Martin F-35, the Russian equivalent is the Sukhoi Su-57, NATO reporting name Felon. In 1979, long before the fall of the Soviet Union, the Kremlin had identified the need for a 5th generation fighter jet with stealth capabilities that could be used in multiple, including ground attacks. Mikoyan and Sukhoi began designing two different aircraft in 1983 to meet the requirements.

Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev tried to introduce a series of reforms known as perestroika to end a decade of stagnation. In August 1991, amid political turmoil, Russia, Ukraine, and Byelorussia declared the break-up of the Soviet Union.

A lack of money set the project back

Severely hampered by a lack of funds, Russia canceled Mikoyan's project and concentrated on Sukhoi's approach of producing an aircraft that could replace the Su-27 and MiG-29. Sukhoi developed the aircraft based on the exciting Su-27 but added more advanced features to reduce development costs and spread the risks associated with creating a new aircraft.

Originally called the T-50, before changing the name to the SU-57, the aircraft suffered from numerous delays and made its maiden flight on January 29, 2010. Ten prototype aircraft were built for testing purposes, but structural cracks were discovered on the airframes. This further set the project back and led to a redesign incorporating more composite material and a slightly longer wingspan. Further issues and accidents during testing led to the SU-57 introduction being pushed back from 2015 until 2020.

The Su-57 was expensive to build

Another problem the aircraft faced was that it cost much more than the Su-35S and Su-30SM, causing the Russian government to delay production. Things changed drastically for the better in 2019 when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he wanted to purchase 76 Su-57s and have them delivered to the Russian Air Force by 2028.

Production of the Su-57 followed, with the first plane being delivered to the Russian Air Force in late 2019. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, international sanctions imposed by the West and Russia's inability to trade using US dollars have hampered production. Russia cannot procure the semiconductors and high-end machines needed to build the Su-57 from the European Union.

Russia is afraid to use the plane in the war with Ukraine

While we do not know the exact number of Su-57s active in the Russian Air Force, we know that Russia is hesitant to use the plane in combat. They are worried about some of its secretive, sensitive technology falling into the hands of the West and also what it would do to future export sales if one were to be shot down.

According to the Eurasia Times, citing Russian media, Russia used a Su-57 in May 2022 to fire missiles at targets in Ukraine from Russian airspace out of range of Ukrainian surface-to-air missiles. While being interviewed, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu described the Su-57 as having performed brilliantly but provided no documentation to back it up.

Specifications and general characteristics of the Sukhoi Su-57: