MOSCOW – The new plane is Russia’s entry in the fifth-gen multirole stealthfighter jet category.
“We are buying Su-57 jets for combat trials. The first stage of statetrials has been concluded,” Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov saidlink>,speaking to reporters during a visit to the Komsomolsk-on-Amur AircraftPlant on Thursday. The plant is expected to build the planes when massproduction kicks in.
According to the senior officer, a contract for the delivery of a pilotbatch of 12 Su-57s will be signed this year.
Borisov clarified that the first two planes from this batch may enterservice with the Armed Forces in 2019.
He added that 12 Su-57s have already been built during the developmentof the aircraft, known as the PAK FA, or ‘Prospective Aviation Complexof Frontline Aviation’ before being christened the Su-57 last yearlink>,with ten of them continuing flight testing.
Asked about the state of development work of the Su-57’s new, trulyfifth-gen engines, the deputy defense minister said it was too early to sayat this stage. “Right now it’s hard to say, because there has only been oneflight. Everything seems normal, but as you might imagine, this is a wholerange of trials. Many test flights must be carried out. As a rule, suchtesting requires two-three years.”
[image: T-50 secrets within 90 seconds]Developed by Russian aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi, the Su-57 is designedfor air superiority and attack roles, and plane is fitted with arevolutionarylink>avionicssystem capable of autonomous calculations of the battlefield situationto assist the pilot.
The fighter is also equipped with airborne active phased array radar, whichallows it to ‘see’ air, ground and naval targets at distances farbeyond most modern systems, and to strike the enemy with a varietyof modern weapons, including short, medium and long-range air-to-air,air-to-ground, and special anti-radar missiles.
Built from composite materials, the supermaneuverable plane includes anin-flight refueling system.