Vietnam Plans Order for Russia’s Elite Su-57 Fighters; First Stealth Jets in Southeast Asia?

Reports first emerged in late 2017 that the Vietnamese Air Force had shown interest in acquiring Russian Su-57 fifth generation air superiority fighters to modernise its aerial warfare capabilities, and had planned to purchase these high end combat jets as part of its plans for comprehensive military modernisation. A number of sources in both Russia and Vietnam indicated that the Southeast Asian state would become the elite fighter’s first export destination, with the acquisition of 12-24 aircraft planned. More recently the Sukhoi Aircraft Manufacturing Group announced that it was working to provide a variant of the Su-57 specifically for export, while indicating that it was anticipating an order from abroad. Russian media has also announced that the export destination for the fighters was to Southeast Asia - without specifying which party specifically had placed the order. As one of Russia’s largest defence clients in the region, and a state less susceptible to Western pressure under CAATSA to cancel purchases of Russian military equipment, Vietnam remains the most likely destination.

The Vietnamese Air Force currently relies heavily on Russian combat aircraft, which are complemented by ground based missile platforms deployed to defend the country’s airspace. Vietnam’s entire fighter fleet currently consists of platforms developed by the Sukhoi design bureau, which include a dozen Su-27 fourth generation and 35 Su-30 ‘4+ generation’ air superiority fighters - alongside 28 older but heavily modernised Su-22 strike fighters. Advanced air defence platforms in service include the S-300PMU and S-300PMU-2, the shorter ranged Pantsir-S1, and a number of older Soviet era platforms such as the S-75 and KUB. Alongside the Su-57, Vietnam has also shown considerable interest in acquiring the S-400 surface to air missile system.

While the Su-57 has yet to complete state level testing, a number of weapons systems including the American F-35 stealth fighter have seen not only foreign interest - but export orders and even deliveries before the platforms were considered fully operational. The Su-57’s deployment to the Syrian theatre and participation in airstrikes against jihadist targets demonstrate that the fighter is at least to some extent combat ready, and the operation was speculated to at least in part have been intended to demonstrate this to potential foreign clients. Given Vietnam’s Air Force doctrine, which prioritises deployment of a large but highly elite air wing, acquisition of the Su-57 appears a highly suitable choice - particularly given neighbouring China’s deployment of its own fifth generation air superiority fighter, the Chengdu J-20.