London confirms the participation of Russian Su 57 stealth aircraft

London confirms the participation of Russian Su 57 stealth aircraft "criminal" to missions against Ukraine military zone

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London confirms the participation of Russian Su 57 stealth aircraft

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, apart from attacks with hypersonic “Kinjal” missiles, Russian forces have apparently made little use of their latest equipment, such as the T-14 Armata tank or Uran-type combat robots. . However, last October Moscow claimed to have used so-called fifth-generation Su-57 fighter-bombers “Felon” in attacks on Ukrainian air defense systems.

“The stealth technology implemented in the development of fifth-generation fighter jets has proven to be very effective. We know that the Su-57s were never detected by NATO radars and air defenses during their missions,” a source close to the Kremlin said at the time, according to the AviaPro website.

Obviously, it was not possible to independently confirm such a statement at the time… However, the use of Su-57 Felon on missions in Ukraine would not have been surprising… inasmuch as two prototypes of this aircraft were briefly deployed in Syria in 2018.

However, on January 9, the British Ministry of Defense [MoD] finally confirmed that Su-57 “Felon” had indeed been used by the Russian Aerospace Forces [VKS] for “missions against Ukraine” … and not in Ukrainian airspace. And that first commitment would date back to June 2022.

missions [des Su-57] were likely limited to overflying Russian territory and firing long-range air-to-surface or air-to-air missiles against targets in Ukraine, argues the Defense Ministry in its daily assessment of the Russo-Ukrainian war.

The requested aircraft would be one of five available to the 929th VKS Flight Test Center based in Akhtubinsk. “Since this is the only known Felon base, these planes were likely involved in operations against Ukraine,” British intelligence said.

As for why these Su-57s were not sent into Ukrainian airspace, he explains that “Russia’s priority is most likely to avoid reputational damage” to the Su-57 Felon that “would arise from any possible loss”. This would reduce export prospects and could “endanger sensitive technologies”. And to add: “This is symptomatic of […] Russia’s risk aversion to using its air forces in war”. However, the latter have already lost 68 aircraft since the conflict began, including tactical bombers and ground attack aircraft.

Another reason not mentioned by London is that the number of Su-57s available is small. At least in June, four more copies were delivered from the Komsomolsk-on-Amur factory. [qui appartient au conglomérat OAK/UAC, ndlr] At the end of last year.

As a reminder: With a wingspan of around 14 meters, a length of 19.8 meters and a take-off weight of 35,000 kg, the Su-57 “Felon” has four armament bays [dont 2 sur les flancs pour les missiles air-air] and 6 outer masts. Equipped with L-band and X-band radars, it can fly at a speed of Mach 2.42 at an altitude of 19,000 meters over a range of 2,150-3,500 km. There is talk of associating it with the S-70 Okhotnik-B combat drone, which is still under development. So far, a total of 76 copies have been ordered.