An advanced Russian fighter jet built to compete with top American stealth fighters has crashed during a training mission in the country’s Far East – but its pilot safely ejected, according to reports Tuesday.
The pre-production Su-57 aircraft, a fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, went down about 69 miles from the airfield during a test flight near Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) said in a statement obtained by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. No casualties or damage were reported on the ground.
The aircraft, which belonged to the Sukhoi company, was being piloted by a civilian at the time, an unnamed source told Russia’s Interfax news agency. The Russian military was set to receive its first serial-produced Su-57 this week.
The state-controlled UAC has yet to release what caused the crash.
The Su-57, which made its maiden flight in 2010, is Russia’s most advanced fighter plane. It has stealth capability and carries sophisticated equipment and weapons. The twin-engine aircraft has been designed by the Sukhoi company to compete with the U.S. F-22 Raptor stealth fighter.
Some of them have been successfully tested in combat missions during Russia’s military campaign in Syria, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, said last week, according to The Moscow Times.
The crash marks the first loss of a Su-57, 10 of which have been built at Sukhoi’s plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur for pre-production tests and combat evaluation.
The Russian air force has placed an order for 76 such aircraft to be delivered by 2028.
Earlier this month, the Russian military said one of its long-range bombers made a belly landing after suffering an engine malfunction during a training mission. No one was injured during the incident.
© Fox News 2019
More proof that gravity also hates the Moskali. Maybe they should try to produce cheese or underwear first?
Better yet, spend money on things that matter like indoor toilets or wages for the many, many workers that are owed.
One of the biggest problems has been the development of new engines . India, which which had committed $6 billion to the project pulled out of the program entirely .
The Su-57 program has been a mess for several years now . Regardless , the SU 57 is not dangerous threat especially when the U.S. and its allies will take possession of 141 F 35s in 2019 alone and are now testing new 6th generation fighter technology.
Agreed, and I’ve read reports that this rip off model is not even really stealth because the engines are on the outside and will be picked up easily on radar. Maybe you or Murf could clear that up.
It is not stealth. As you mentioned, the engines are mainly external and produce heat, also the stray from the fuselage is huge because of a wide gap in the tail section. Further the seams between the flaps are way too big. As i discussed with Focusser days ago, the engines are total crap. The plane may be invisible to russian radar, but not to ours. 😂
The way I understand it is that there are degrees of stealth or low observability aircraft. It does have a reduced radar signature but nowhere near the almost complete
” invisibility of the F-35. This very well may have been a necessity due to lack of stealthy materials science, manufacturing, and design expertise .
Thanks SA. My understanding is that any sharp edge can be seen on radars and that’s why the F-35 has gone to such lengths as to smooth out all of them and even fuse the surface with lasers.