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Master system road fighter11/7/2022 ![]() ![]() The first production Su-57 crashed before it could even be delivered Russia had already placed their prototype fighters in “operational service,” deploying them to Syria for little more than headline fodder and a few promotional photos, but these first two production jets were to be something more: They would not only represent Russia’s top-of-the-line fighters, they would be the nation’s first-ever production stealth aircraft. ![]() A total of 12 prototype Su-57s were constructed for testing and assessment, and just months after India backed out of the program, Russia’s Defence Ministry signed a contract to purchase the first two serial production Su-57s, slated for delivery in 20. In 2018, the Indian government signaled their departure from the program despite Russia’s promising claims about their first batch of prototype fighters, and while India’s official reasons didn’t suggest problems with the program itself, unofficially, rumors swirled that India had given up the PAK FA program because the fighter it produced simply wasn’t stealthy enough to survive in highly contested airspace, alongside a list of other concerns. India, keen to have their own 5th generation aircraft, agreed to team up with the Russians to continue development and begin procuring what would eventually become the Su-57, but the partnership wasn’t to last. Real development on the modern fighter program began once again in earnest in 2002, with America’s F-22 set squarely in the program’s sights.īy 2007, Russia’s PAK FA program, which was short for “‘prospective aeronautical complex of front-line air forces” in Russian, was once again steaming toward fielding a real stealth fighter. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 practically halted progress on the program, leaving America’s F-22 Raptor to claim the title of first stealth fighter unopposed with its first flight in 1997. ![]() The long road to the first Su-57 taking to the skies began in 1979 under the former Soviet Union, with plans to field a next-generation fighter that could enter service in the 1990s. PAK FA: The troubled beginnings of the Su-57 A Su-57 undergoes ground testing. Of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t compare these fighters on paper, it just means that which fighter would win in a Top Gun-style dogfight isn’t quite as important as which offers a greater jump in capability for the forces it supports.Īll that is to say that, the Su-57 might just be the worst 5th generation fighter on the planet… but that doesn’t make it a bad fighter at all. Each of these platforms was developed to fill a role within a broader force structure and strategy, and as such, are unlikely to run across one another one-on-one in even the most dramatic of scenarios. Related: HOW THE F-35 FLIES THE LINE BETWEEN FAILURE AND SUCCESSĬomparing these jets to one another in a head-on way doesn’t really do any of them justice, as none were intended to operate alone in contested airspace full of opposing fighters. ![]()
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