04/27/2024 – Translated from Ukrainian via Google and OFP
The missiles that the Russians fired at Krivoy Rog on April 25 were launched from a Russian Su-57 fighter. The Russian Federation claims that it began using these aircraft already in the third week since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but Ukrainian defenders say that they have not yet seen this aircraft in our skies. The Russians do use Su-57s during attacks on Ukrainian cities. But they are trying to keep the fighter as far from the borders as possible.
This “expensive toy” can easily be hit by Ukrainian air defense forces, explained Ilya Yevlash, speaker of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to him, this is why these fighters do not appear over our land.
“It can easily be hit by our air defense, and this is a rather expensive “rattle” for them, which they treasure. It is an expensive and unique toy for them,” explained Yevlash.
The speaker of the PS of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that during the last combined strike on the territory of Ukraine, the Russian Federation used at least 12 Kh-50/69 missiles. The Su-57 is precisely the carrier of the new X-69 missiles.
Unfifth generation fighter Su-57
According to Russian qualifications, this aircraft is designated as “product 701”; In NATO, the fighter is classified as a Felon group. However, earlier, before the start of the mass pseudo-patriotic frenzy, residents of the Russian Federation themselves called the Su-57 “a fighter of the fifth generation.”
The fact is that this aircraft made its first flight in January 2010 – 30 years from the start of development. But the fighter was put into mass production only in 2020. A replacement for the Soviet MiG-29 and Su-27 began to be created back in the 1980s – this is the “701 product”. Currently, there are 9 Su-57 units in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces.
It is interesting that initially the Russian Federation preferred to put “product 701” into production together with India. However, in April 2018, India refused to participate in a joint project with Russia: the Indian military stated that the promised Russian “5th generation fighter” did not meet any of the stated requirements.
Su-57s crashed themselves
In December 2019, the first production Su-57 fighter crashed in the Khabarovsk Territory of the Russian Federation. The event took place 11 km from the Dzemgi airfield.
In the war in Ukraine, the Russian military uses the Su-57 as a conventional 4th generation aircraft, that is, as a simple missile carrier. The plane does not enter Ukrainian airspace.
However, it is on the Su-57 that the Russian Federation is testing the latest models of its own weapons in combat conditions. It was from these fighters, without the risk of losing highly promoted aircraft, that the use of K-77M, Kh-69, Kh-58USHK, and Kh-38 missiles was practiced.
They even beat them in the movies
The Russian Federation claims that their “product 701” competes with the American F-35 Lightning II. Aviation experts say that on the contrary, the Su-57 cannot be compared even with the F-22 Raptor, and without changing the design of the aircraft it is impossible to improve its stealth characteristics.
The vaunted Russian aircraft also appears in the airborne action movie Top Gun: Maverick. In the Russian Federation, the first part of the action film collected a good box office, but the Russians did not like the second “Top Gun”. And all because of one scene where Tom Cruise shoots down two “Su-57-like” fifth-generation aircraft in an already obsolete third-generation F-14 Tomcat.
As OBOZ.UA reported, Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin said at a meeting in the Ramstein format that during 2024 Ukraine will receive more than a squadron of F-16s. They will arrive along with pilots and maintenance personnel.
As is known, in Ukraine the squadron consists of 12 aircraft, but in other countries the number may be greater. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense previously stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces need two or three squadrons of F-16s, which is more than 30 aircraft.
Denmark will deliver modern F-16 fighters to Ukraine, as previously agreed. According to preliminary data, the first aircraft will be in the country in the summer of 2024.
We have only verified information in our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Don’t be fooled by fakes!
The war has shown that the SU-57 is definitely not a stealth plane. Being too afraid to use the plane over Ukraine territory is a sure sign. If it were a true fifth generation stealth plane, complete with the necessary avionics and radar, it should operate with nigh impunity in the combat zone.
The basic appearance/shape of the SU-57 was stolen from the US F-22 and F-35 planes, hoping to make it stealthy. However, there are many factors to work out to make the concept viable, which ruskie scientists and engineers cannot achieve.
Expect the first to be downed once the mighty F-16 is in Ukraine.
Massive attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid…
I will grant them this; it is a attractive plane with sleek, graceful lines.
But in the end it was a waste of money.
Does it have particularly better performance than the Su-27 derivatives?
I doubt it.
4th Generation fighter aircraft preformance pretty much maxed out in the 80s. Now the only real improvements are in avionics and radar.
Without a true stealth capability it’s just a 4th Gen with however many “+” you feel like adding.
Yes, those sleek, graceful lines were stolen from us. Just like the basic lines of the F-14 and F-15 finding their way into the Su-27 and Mig-29, et al.