MOSCOW – First ever crash of the Russian fifth generation stealth fighterjet Sukhoi Su – 57.
Russia’s Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter jets crashed on Tuesday in the FarEast during a test flight, the plane’s maker said, the first accident ofits kind involving what is the country’s most advanced warplane.
Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), which owns the factory whichmakes the plane, said the incident took place in the Khabarovsk Region andthat the pilot ejected safely.
The Defence Ministry will set up a commission to investigate the accident,which looked like it was caused by a failure in the steering system, theTASS news agency cited two military sources as saying.
UAC said nobody was hurt on the ground.
The lost plane was one of the first of its kind to be mass-produced and wasdue to be handed over to the Russian air force by the end of this year, theInterfax news agency reported, citing a source.
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Russia has previously tested the Su-57 in Syria.
A prototype of the plane, conceived as a rival for the U.S. F-22 Raptor,first took to the skies in January 2010.
The Su-57 made its first appearance at Russia’s annual Red Square parade inMay last year when a pair of them roared over Moscow.
