CEO of Russia’s state-run company Rostec in late December Sergey Chemezov revealed that Russian Aerospace Forces Su-57 fighter plane had demonstrated their capability toevade detection by a number of sorts of radar techniques, in addition to digital assaults, when deployed for operations within the Ukrainian theatre. “At the least our navy is glad. The plane evades all types of obstacles very properly, I imply radars and digital warfare techniques,” he said earlier than a State Council assembly within the last week of December. He added that Rostec receives suggestions on all gear deployed within the theatre, and that gear is modernised based mostly on the Armed Forces’ ideas and feedback, with the end result that “many of the navy gear has been upgraded in comparison with what it was initially.”
The Su-57 has been confirmed to have operated in heavy defended Ukrainain-controlled airspace, most notably in mid-2024 when one of many plane was assigned a penetration mission to shoot down a malfunctioning S-70 Okhotnik unmanned stealth plane to stop it from falling into Western palms. The S-70 was working close to Konstantynivka within the disputed Donetsk area, round 15 kilometres behind Ukrainian strains, which was a number of the finest defended Ukrainian-held airspace within the theatre. The Su-57’s capability to function within the space to attain a visible vary kill utilizing an R-74 brief vary air-to-air missile indicated a complicated radar evading stealth functionality.
Different Russian fighter varieties have given Ukrainain air defences a large berth, and relied on firing ballistic or cruise missiles or dropping glide bombs to interact targets from protected distances. The power to evade radar locks is among the many most important benefits of fifth technology fighters in comparison with ‘4+ technology’ fighters. Ukraine’s ground-based air defence community is broadly thought of probably the most formidable in Europe, and consists on the decrease stage of very massive portions of man-portable Soviet and Western techniques, and on the medium stage primarily of Soviet BuK-M1 and S-125 techniques. Longer vary techniques is service embody a number of variants of the Soviet S-300, American MIM-104 Patriot techniques, and really lengthy ranged S-200D techniques. The intensive focus of NATO members’ inventories of air defence gear within the nation has continued to pose challenges to the Russian Aerospace Forces, with the very restricted numbers of fifth technology fighters in service being a significant limitation on the flexibility to interact these defences. The Su-57 program’s critical delays have thus had extremely detrimental results on the Russian struggle effort, with no different Russian fighter varieties having comparable capabilities.
Su-57 fight operations within the Ukrainian theatre have included air defence suppression, air-to-air fight, and a variety of precision strike missions. Beforehand talking on the Dubai Airshow in November, Chemezov elaborated on plans to proceed to modernise the Su-57 based mostly on expertise using it in fight. “The plane continues to be being refined…. work is underway towards a complete modernisation that can embody its parts, electronics, and weaponry.” He added that the fighter had “gained excessive reward from each worldwide companions and Russian pilots alike,” he noticed on the time. The Su-57 was confirmed to have begun deliveries for export in November 2025, specifically to Algeria, whereas a significant license manufacturing settlement for as much as 140 fighters is presently below dialogue with the Indian Defence Ministry. A lot relating to the way forward for the fighter program, together with the numbers the Russian Armed Forces will procure, stays unsure.
