Six of Russia’s Next Generation Su-57 Jets Escort President Putin to Weapons Inspections in Akhtubinsk

On a trip to the Russian town of Akhtubinsk on May 14th, the widebody Ilyushin Il-96-300PU presidential aircraft carrying Russian President Vladimir Putin was escorted by six Su-57 fifth generation fighters. According to Western reports, which indicate just ten Su-57 jets in service - all flyable prototypes rather than production variants, this escort contingent represents over half of the country’s inventory of next generation combat jets. The fighters reportedly took off from an airfield at the Valery Chkalov State Flight Test Centre, where a special runway was built in 2012 specifically for testing the Su-57. The Russian President visited Akhtubinsk for an official inspection of new weapons systems - including the Su-57 and MiG-35 fighters and technologies developed for the strategic bombers under the PAK DA program. He was also scheduled to hold a meeting on the socioeconomic development of the Astrakhan region.

President Putin has reportedly shown a great deal of interest in the Su-57 since its inception in the mid 2000s, referring to the aircraft as follows in March 2019: “This is the best plane today, the world’s best aircraft. By all its operational characteristics and by its armament. No other aircraft can fly as well as our plane.” The Su-57 integrates a number of high end next generation technologies including hypersonic air to air and ballistic missiles, advanced three dimensional thrust vectoring systems, and lasers designed to blind enemy missiles for higher survivability. Prototypes have increasingly integrated sixth generation technologies for testing, with artificial intelligence and laser weapons all planned for integration. Prototypes have demonstrated a degree of combat capability, and four were deployed to Syria on combat missions in February 2018.

Despite the advanced capabilities of the fighters and their lighter and cheaper counterparts the MiG-35, President Putin has reportedly favoured postponing acquisitions to facilitate further reductions to the national defence budget - which saw massive cuts in 2018 - with newly available funds intended to be used to stimulate Russian economic growth. Instead production of the cheaper ‘4++ generation’ Su-35 fighters, which the Russian Air Force views as sufficient to outperform the most capable Western jets in service including the elite American F-22 Raptors, are set to be prioritised - at least until Russia begins to perceive a greater threat from American development of sixth generation combat aircraft which are expected to considerably outperform both the F-22 and the Su-35. Mass production of the Su-57 may be brought forwards in the case of a large export order to cover the costs of an earlier expansion of production lines - with China, India, Algeria, Vietnam and a number of Arab Gulf States all being potential clients. The President reportedly also favoured postponing mass production of the next generation PAK DA bomber in favour of the sophisticated but less costly Tu-160M2.