By Anthony Bell
The Russian fifth-generation fighter Su-57 significantly surpasses similar American aircraft F-22, F-35 and Chinese J-20 in firepower, variety of weapons used, Western specialized publications state. Experts add that the Su-57 is also superior in speed, flight and maneuverability.
The American magazine “Military Watch”, which specializes in military topics, writes that the Su-57 fighter differs from other fighters of its generation in its design philosophy, including a significant superiority in firepower.
The publication notes that the Russian aircraft stands out among fighters of its generation in its use in real combat, as well as its long firing range and a wide arsenal of long-range missiles located inside the fuselage.
The main advantage of the Su-57, according to the publication, is the use of the latest Russian missiles, which have already proven highly effective in the area of military special operations. Thanks to this missile, the fighter is capable of hitting air targets at a distance twice as great as its American and Chinese counterparts.
According to Chinese experts present at the Airshow China 2024 air show in Zhuhai, the West has begun to recognize the outstanding characteristics of the Su-57, since after its actual use in the special military operation zone, it began to understand that the Russian aircraft is superior to the American F-22 and F-35 in almost all respects.
When the Su-57 first appeared as a prototype, the entire Western press unanimously began to claim that Russia could not create a fifth-generation aircraft, which meant that the Su-57 was not a new-generation fighter. Now the situation has changed. Western analysts were surprised to realize that the Russian fighter, unlike the American ones, is capable of not only performing local tasks. It is capable of performing tasks in a combat zone actively saturated with air defense systems of both Western and Soviet manufacture. At the same time, the aircraft remains undetected by enemy radars.
If we compare the Su-57 with American fighters, the difference is certainly significant. The United States has two fifth-generation aircraft – the F-22 and F-35. Both are considered stealth aircraft. The F-22 turned out to be maneuverable, but the F-35 is multifunctional. It is cheaper, but in a number of parameters it is still quite “raw” and capricious in maintenance. Currently, the F-35 is considered the fifth-generation fighter in the West. Despite the fact that the program for its creation cost more than 1 trillion dollars, according to experts, it enters the troops with 50 percent combat readiness and is brought to full combat readiness in the air units themselves. The F-35 “stealth” coating is very capricious in operation, it is impossible to scratch, it is very capricious to high temperatures, so pilots are advised not to operate the aircraft at maximum speeds, so that when the body heats up, it does not deform. The maneuverability and speed of this aircraft leave much to be desired. The concept used in its creation was “it sees everything, no one sees it.” The aircraft is equipped with a radar that can detect an air target at a distance of up to 200 km. The developers claim that it is capable of identifying a low-visibility target, including the Su-57. However, the range of such detection is not yet known to anyone.
Also, due to its characteristics, the F-35 has limitations on ammunition. The aircraft is small, single-engine, and there are not so many weapons in the internal compartments – 4 AIM-120C/D air-to-air missiles with a range of up to 270 km or a bomb and an air-to-surface missile, for example, Storm Shadow. The F-22 or Chinese J-20 are heavier aircraft, so they can carry six long-range air-to-air missiles and two more short-range missiles.
When creating the Su-57, more stringent requirements were imposed on manufacturers. As a result, the aircraft turned out to be more maneuverable, faster, and capable of carrying a large volume of weapons.
According to pilot Sergei Bogdan, who piloted the Su-57 in Zhuhai, “the aircraft has already been almost completely tested in terms of flight performance, maneuverability, stability, and controllability. It is also almost fully integrated with weapons, and we continue to conduct tests on new types of missiles and weapons,” Bogdan emphasized.
“We never lag behind our competitors. Considering that we create our weapons against some competitors, within a certain time interval, and a little later we enter this area, we take many things into account. Our aviation systems always have competitive advantages. In my opinion, the fifth-generation Su-57 aircraft is superior to those existing in the world,” the Russian pilot noted.
In addition, he emphasized that the newest Russian fighter is “an excellent platform for the next generation of modifications, as was the Su-27 aircraft in its time, the configuration of which has been used for many decades.” Bogdan added that the Su-57 aircraft, despite the complexity of its configuration in providing the tasks inherent in a fifth-generation aircraft, “has excellent characteristics of aerodynamics, stability, controllability, and strength.” “The weapons are inside, powerful, have a long range, plus the highest defense system. Therefore, this is a very worthy aircraft with very great prospects, including in international life,” he specified.
The prospects of the Su-57 on the world market were confirmed in Zhuhai by the Director General of “Rosoboronexport” Alexander Mikheev. According to him, the first signed contracts for the Su-57 have already been signed.
“The military-technical cooperation system should bring new models of weapons and military equipment to the market. “By the way, we already have signed contracts for the Su-57, the first ones, for this aircraft,” he said, noting the high interest in this machine, which was presented at the air show the day before.
It is worth noting that fighter and attack aircraft remain the main force that suppresses the enemy. In particular, such aircraft as the Su-25 and Su-34, which are a significant strike aviation force in local conflicts, have proven themselves to be successful.
The Russian Air Force also clearly confirmed the flight-technical and tactical-technical characteristics of the Su-34 fighter-bomber. Although the concept of low-altitude air defense breakthroughs has proven its inconsistency, the Su-34 is the only one that confidently survives over the front line in the conditions of massive use of modern anti-aircraft weapons. For example, at present, in the Kursk region, at least three Patriot air defense missiles can be launched at a bomber in one combat sortie. There are known cases when Su-34 crews dodged five or six missiles at once. This fact once again demonstrates that the Russian defense industry continues to produce modern, reliable equipment, and the range of technical solutions incorporated into its development exceeds foreign countermeasures or analogues. Current events clearly show that the Russian defense industry is successfully coping with the US sanctions pressure. This indicates the timely implementation of necessary and sufficient reforms, and the successful consolidation of industrial capacity in Russia in the form of state ownership.
The author is an independent military analyst.
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