MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/: The first large-scale deliveries of the fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jet to Russia’s Aerospace Force will begin already next year, CEO of the state hi-tech corporation Rostec said in a material published by RBC media group on Thursday.
"Large-scale work awaits us in 2020 to stabilize the aircraft industry… The first large-scale deliveries of the fifth-generation Su-57 aircraft will begin. Of course, these are challenging tasks that will truly mobilize us," the chief executive said, commenting on the plans for the next year.
Russia’s Sukhoi Aircraft Company signed a contract with the Defense Ministry at the Army international arms show near Moscow on August 22, 2018 for the delivery of the first two Su-57 fighters to the Russian troops. Then-Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko said that the first serial-produced Su-57 out of 15 such planes scheduled for delivery was set to arrive for the troops in 2019.
At the Army-2019 international arms show, the Defense Ministry signed a new contract with the Sukhoi Aircraft Company on the manufacture and the delivery of 76 Su-57 multirole fighters for the Russian troops.
The Su-57 is a fifth-generation multirole fighter designed to destroy all types of air, ground and naval targets. The Su-57 fighter jet features stealth technology with the broad use of composite materials, is capable of developing supersonic cruising speed and is furnished with the most advanced onboard radio-electronic equipment, including a powerful onboard computer (the so-called electronic second pilot), the radar system spread across its body and some other innovations, in particular, armament placed inside its fuselage.
The Su-57 took to the skies for the first time on January 29, 2010. Compared to its predecessors, the Su-57 combines the functions of an attack plane and a fighter jet while the use of composite materials and innovation technologies and the fighter’s aerodynamic configuration ensure the low level of radar and infrared signature.
The plane’s armament will include, in particular, hypersonic missiles. The fifth-generation fighter jet has been successfully tested in combat conditions in Syria.