Can't Get an F-35? Russia Wants to Sell Its Fifth-Generation Su-57 Stealth Fighter

Mark Episkopos

Security, World

The Middle East is looking to buy.

Key point: This would be easy cash for Russia's struggling economy.

With the first serially produced Su-57 fifth-generation fighter set to enter service in the Russian Air Force later this year, the Russian defense industry is planning to unveil the export version of the Su-57 at the upcoming MAKS 2019 international air show.

Russian state news outlet TASS reports that Rosoboronexport-- Russia’s state arms export agency-- will be displaying the Su-57E, as the fighter will be called, alongside the Il-112VE light military transport aircraft: "The Su-57E fighter (the Gagarin Aircraft Plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur) and the Il-112VE military transport plane (the Voronezh Aircraft Enterprise) will be the main exhibits of the Russian exposition’s military segment at the MAKS-2019 air show,” according to a Rosoboronexport statement.

TASS, citing Rosoboronexport, goes on to describe the Su-57E as superior to “generation 4++” fighters like the Su-35S in that the former boasts “multi-functionality, automation and the high degree of intellectualization of combat employment processes, super-maneuverability and other characteristics.” This is a rather standard list of fifth-generation features that have come to be associated with the Su-57; the more pressing question is how the Su-57E fares against its domestic Su-57 counterpart. Concrete specifications details will remain scant until the Su-57E is formally unveiled later this month, though the export version is not expected to deviate significantly from the established Su-57 design.

Rostec executive Viktor Kladov previously suggested that the Su-57E, which was cleared for export in March 2019, could be unveiled at the Dubai Airshow in November of this year. The MAKS air show has long been Russia’s preferred medium for flagship military aircraft presentations; an early development version of Su-57 flew for the first time at MAKS 2011.