Russia Debuts Su-57 Upgrades at Dubai Airshow: Will It Be An Export Success?

Following the first appearance of the Russian Su-57 fifth generation fighter at the Dubai Airshow, CEO of the Russian state defence conglomerate Rostec, Sergey Chemezov, elaborated on ongoing foreign demand for the aircraft and the work underway to further modernise it. The Su-57 prototype at the event notably featured a new wide-area cockpit display resembling that of the F-35, providing a conspicuous indicator or ongoing efforts to further enhance the aircraft’s capabilities. “The upgrade of the fighter jet is kind of a non-stop process that continues as we continue our special military operation, we get the feedback from our pilots from the war zone, and we are tweaking and adjusting our equipment accordingly,” Chemezov stated, adding: “And that’s why you can witness the high demand from our foreign customers, because they understand, and they know that our equipment goes through a continuous upgrade based on the experience we gain in the real combat environment.” 

Regarding the export of the Su-57, Chemezov observed: “So, I will not confirm any contract number or any of our partners… I can definitely highlight that we have a very huge demand from many countries for this particular aircraft, and we’re hoping to even expand this demand.” His statements focused on two aspects of the program which have gained particular attention, namely its particularly high intensity combat testing in the Ukrainian theatre, and its first export delivery to Algeria. While a single Su-57 battalion is expected to replace MiG-25 interceptors in the Algerian Air Force in the near term, enhanced variants of the fighter may later be procured in much greater numbers to replace the country’s more than 70 Su-30MKA fighters which currently form the backbone of its fleet. Nevertheless, as the only stable country in the Arab world that remains outside the Western sphere of influence, Algeria is expected to remain the only Arab state that can seriously consider procuring advanced Russian fighters. 

The Su-57 program has gained growing attention since its appearance at the Aero India 2025 airshow, after which it has appeared increasingly likely that the fighter could make a breakthrough with the signing of a contract for over 100 aircraft. The Indian Defence Ministry has shown a growing interest in procuring the fighters, with Indian government reported in July to have informed U.S. officials that it was not interested in procuring the F-35 fighter, leaving the Su-57 as the country’s only near term option to field fifth generation fighters. Russia in May made an unprecedented offer to provide full access to the Su-57’s source code as part of a large license production deal, which will reportedly include up to 140 fighters, with Indian Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh having confirmed that procurements are under consideration. The Su-57’s appeal is expected to further increase as the heavily enhanced new Su-57M1 variant is brought into production near the end of the decade.