The United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has handed over another batch of new Su-57 and Su-35S fighters to the Russian Air and Space Forces. The number of transferred aircraft and their flight numbers were not disclosed. The machines passed factory tests, were tested by Defense Ministry pilots in various operating modes and flew to the basing airfields, UAC said.
This is the second batch of Su-57s delivered in 2024 under a 2019 contract for the construction and transfer of 76 production aircraft to the Russian Air Force. The first one was handed over on September 12. The contract is to be fulfilled by 2027. By the beginning of 2024, the total number of Su-57s handed over was at least 20 aircraft. With the current delivery, their number may approach 27 machines. UAC also reported that simultaneously with the Su-57, Su-35S fighters were handed over to the Defense Ministry. As in the case with the Su-57, the exact number of transferred machines is not disclosed, and their photos are not published.
At the Airshow China 2024 opening on November 12 in Zhuhai, the Su-57 fighter will be presented abroad for the first time. Two prototype aircraft have been sent to the airshow, one of them (T-50-4) will take part in the flight program of the airshow, the other (T-50-7) will be shown as part of the static exposition of Rosoboronexport.
The Russian airplane attracted a lot of attention immediately upon its arrival in China. The exhibition has not even started yet, and photos of the aircraft were widely circulated in TikTok and the American X** network, where “experts” compared the Su-57 not with the American F-22 and F-35 fighters, but with China’s Chengdu J-20 “Mighty Dragon”, which externally has features of both the F-22 and the F-35, and the Soviet MiG-1.44, from which it inherited the aerodynamic scheme with a front plumage and lower keels. Chinese “couch experts” criticized the Su-57 for using “bolts instead of rivets” and allegedly underperforming radar stealth, and then Western media spread these comparisons across their publications.
The T-50-4 is the fourth prototype and is indeed not equipped with special anti-radar coating unlike the production models, has bolted joints on the fuselage and roughly fitted sections. The sending of the prototype aircraft to a foreign exhibition is explained by the Russian Defense Ministry’s reluctance to reveal all the secrets of the Su-57, given that in Zhuhai it will be scrutinized from all sides by Western specialists and everything will be fixed down to the last bolt and rivet. The main thing is to demonstrate the aircraft’s super maneuverability capabilities, which are achieved by engines with controlled thrust vectoring and a complex control system that assists the pilot in piloting. And Sukhoi Design Bureau test pilot Sergei Bogdan has already demonstrated some of the airplane’s capabilities in training flights.
The Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST, @bmpd) notes that the criticisms about bolts and rivets spread through Western media have no technical justification and are aimed at discrediting the Russian fighter jet.
“The coating of serial Su-57 aircraft and their appearance leave no room for further interpretations – there is nothing wrong with them. But to be fair, we would still add that bolts along with rivets can be found in the plating of absolutely any fifth-generation aircraft, be it the Russian Su-57, the American F-22, F-35 or the Chinese J-20. And rivets come in different types, including those with cross slits – it is quite easy to confuse them with bolts. In other words, the criticism of the Su-57 for bolts does not stand up to any criticism,” says the CAST TG-channel.
The Su-57’s status as a fifth-generation fighter confirms its active use in real combat conditions in Ukraine with countering the air defense systems of NATO countries. The Chinese J-20 has no such experience, and it is not possible to speak objectively about its technical parameters, including stealth.
According to the report of the Center for Analysis of World Arms Trade (CAMTO), taking into account its combat use in Syria and Ukraine, the Su-57 is the most tested fifth-generation aircraft in a real situation of armed confrontation. This is recognized in the West, despite the almost complete absence of information from official Russian sources on statistics and specifics of the Su-57’s combat performance on the Ukrainian front-line.
**X – formerly Twitter, banned in Russia as an extremist social network spreading lies and fake information about the Russian Federation and the special military operation.
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