https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Su-57
The Sukhoi Su-57 (Russian: ????? ??-57) is the designation for a stealth,
single-seat, twin-engine multirole fifth-generation jet fighter being developed
for air superiority and attack operations. The aircraft is the product of the
PAK FA, translit. Perspektivny Aviatsionny Kompleks Frontovoy Aviatsii, lit.
''prospective aeronautical complex of front-line air forces''), a
fifth-generation fighter programme of the Russian Air Force. Sukhoi's internal
name for the aircraft is T-50. The Su-57 will be the first aircraft in Russian
military service to use stealth technology.
The fighter is designed to have supercruise, supermaneuverability, stealth, and
advanced avionics to overcome the prior generation fighter aircraft as well as
ground and naval defences. The Su-57 is intended to succeed the MiG-29 and Su-27
in the Russian Air Force.
The prototypes and initial production batch are to be delivered with a highly
upgraded variant of the Lyulka AL-31 engine used by the Su-27 family as interim
powerplant while an advanced clean-sheet design engine, the Saturn izdeliye 30,
is currently under development. The aircraft is expected to have a service life
of up to 35 years. Its first flight took place on 29 January 2010.
Origins
In 1979, the Soviet Union outlined a need for a next-generation aircraft
intended to enter service in the 1990s. The project was designated the I-90
(Russian: ???????????, Istrebitel, "Fighter") and required the fighter to have
substantial ground attack capabilities and would eventually replace the MiG-29s
and Su-27s in frontline tactical aviation service. The subsequent programme
designed to meet these requirements, the MFI , Mnogofunksionalni Frontovoy
Istrebitel, "Multifunctional Frontline Fighter"), resulted in Mikoyan's
selection to develop the MiG 1.44. Though not a participant in the MFI, Sukhoi
started its own programme in 1983 to develop technologies for a next-generation
fighter aircraft, resulting in the S-37, later designated Su-47. Due to a lack
of funds after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the MiG 1.44 programme was
repeatedly delayed and the first flight of the prototype did not occur until
2000, nine years behind schedule. The MiG 1.44 was subsequently cancelled and a
new programme for a next-generation fighter, PAK FA, was initiated. The
programme requirements reflected the capabilities of Western fighter aircraft,
such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and F-22 Raptor. In 2002, Sukhoi was selected
over Mikoyan as the winner of the PAK FA competition and would lead the design
of the new aircraft; Mikoyan continued to develop its proposal as the LMFS ,
Liogkiy Mnogofunktsionalniy Frontovoi Samolyet, "Light Multifunctional Frontline
Fighter") which was designed to be smaller and more affordable.
To reduce the PAK FA's developmental risk and spread out associated costs, as
well as to bridge the gap between it and older previous generation fighters,
some of its technology and features, such as propulsion and avionics, were
implemented in the Sukhoi Su-35S fighter, an advanced variant of the Su-27. The
Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association (NAPO) is manufacturing the new
multi-role fighter at Komsomol'sk-on-Amur along with Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft
Production Association (KnAAPO), and final assembly is to take place at
Komsomol'sk-on-Amur. Following a competition held in 2003, the Tekhnokompleks
Scientific and Production Center, Ramenskoye Instrument Building Design Bureau,
the Tikhomirov Scientific Research Institute of Instrument Design (NIIP), the
Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant (UOMZ) in Yekaterinburg, the Polet firm in
Nizhny Novgorod and the Central Scientific Research Radio Engineering Institute
in Moscow were selected for the development of the PAK-FA's avionics suite. NPO
Saturn is the lead contractor for the interim engines; Saturn and MMPP Salyut
will compete for the definitive second stage engines.
On 8 August 2007, Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief (CinC) Alexander Zelin
was quoted by Russian news agencies that the programme's development stage was
complete and construction of the first aircraft for flight testing would begin,
and that by 2009 there would be three fifth-generation aircraft ready. In 2009,
the aircraft's design was officially approved.
Role
Stealth air superiority fighter
National origin
Russia
Manufacturer
Sukhoi
First flight
29 January 2010
Introduction
2019 (planned)
Status
Final flight testing
Primary users
Russian Air Force
Russian Navy
Produced
Number built
10 flyable prototypes
Program cost
Unit cost
T-50: US$50 million
Variants
Sukhoi/HAL FGFA
Stealth
The Su-57 will be the first operational aircraft in Russian Air Force service to
use stealth technology. Similar to other stealth fighters such as the F-22, the
airframe incorporates planform edge alignment to reduce its radar cross-section
(RCS); the leading and trailing edges of the wings and control surfaces and the
serrated edges of skin panels are carefully angled to reduce the number of
directions the radar waves can be reflected. Weapons are carried internally in
weapons bays within the airframe and antennas are recessed from the surface of
the skin to preserve the aircraft's stealthy shape. The infrared
search-and-track sensor housing is turned backwards when not in use and its rear
is treated with radar-absorbent material (RAM) to reduce its radar return. To
mask the significant RCS contribution of the engine face, the partial serpentine
inlet obscures most of the engine's fan and inlet guide-vanes (IGV). The
production aircraft incorporates radar blockers similar in principle to those
used on the F/A-18E/F in front of the engine fan to hide it from all angles. The
aircraft uses RAM to absorb radar emissions and reduce their reflection back to
the source and the canopy is treated with a coating to minimize the radar return
of the cockpit and pilot.
The Su-57's design emphasizes frontal stealth, with RCS-reducing features most
apparent in the forward hemisphere; the shaping of the aft fuselage is much less
optimized for radar stealth compared to the F-22. The combined effect of
airframe shape and RAM of the production aircraft is estimated to have reduced
the aircraft's RCS to a value thirty times smaller than that of the Su-27.
Sukhoi's patent of the Su-57's stealth features cites an average RCS of the
Su-57's low observability measures are chiefly effective against high-frequency
(between 3 and 30 GHz) radars, usually found on other aircraft. The effects of
Rayleigh scattering and resonance mean that low-frequency radars, employed by
weather radars and early-warning radars are more likely to detect the Su-57 due
to its size. Such radars are also large, susceptible to clutter and are less
precise.
Operational history
Testing and trials
The 929th State Flight Test Centre (GLITS) received its first T-50 prototype for
further testing and state trials in March 2014, and Russian Air Force
Commander-in-Chief Lieutenant General Viktor Bondarev said that deliveries of
initial production T-50 fighter were expected to begin in 2016. External weapon
trials started in May 2014.
On 8 February 2018, Deputy Minister Borisov said that the first stage of state
trials has been concluded and that the combat trials are on schedule. During the
interview, he also reported that the contract for an initial batch of 12
aircraft is to be signed in 2018.
Syrian combat evaluation
On 21 February 2018, two Su-57s were spotted landing at the Russian Khmeimim air
base in Syria. The aircraft were deployed along with four Sukhoi Su-35 fighters,
four Sukhoi Su-25s, and one Beriev A-50 AEW&C aircraft. Three days later two
more Su-57s were reported to have arrived in Syria. The deployment was
criticised by some experts as overly risky. Military correspondent of
Komsomolskaya Pravda Viktor Baranets was cited as saying that according to his
information the Su-57s have "excellently" carried out their mission in Eastern
Ghouta. On 1 March 2018, the Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu confirmed
that the two Su-57s indeed spent two days in Syria and successfully completed a
trials program, including combat trials during which parameters of weapons work
were monitored.
On 25 May 2018, the Russian Defence Ministry revealed that during the February
2018 deployment to Syria, a Su-57 fired a cruise missile in combat. Based off
the video of the missile launch released by the Defence Ministry, the weapon was
likely a Kh-59MK2.
Specifications (T-50)
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 19.8 m (65 ft)
Wingspan: 13.95 m (45 ft 10 in)
Height: 4.74 m (15 ft 7 in)
Empty weight: 18,000 kg (39,680 lb)
Loaded weight: 25,000 kg (55,115 lb) typical mission weight, 29,270 kg (64,530
lb) at full load
Max. takeoff weight: 35,000 kg (77,160 lb)
Fuel capacity: 10,300 kg (22,700 lb)
production turbofans Dry thrust: 93.1 kN / 107 kN (21,000 lbf / 24,054 lbf) each
Thrust with afterburner: 147 kN / 176 kN (33,067 lbf / 39,566 lbf) each
Performance
Maximum speed:
At altitude: Mach 2
Supercruise: Mach 1.6
Range: 3,500 km (2,175 mi; 1,890 nmi) subsonic 1,500 km (930 mi; 810 nmi)
supersonic, 3600 km (max), 4500 km from 2 outboard fuel tank
Service ceiling: 20,000 m (65,000 ft)
Thrust/weight:
AL-41F1: 1.02 (1.19 at typical mission weight)
izdeliye 30: 1.16 (1.36 at typical mission weight)
Maximum g-load: +9 g
Armament
combinations of: Missiles:
R-37m 300 km for 6M speed, rang more 300.
250, 500, 1500kg Guided bomb
X-59MK2 285 km
X-58UHK
anti-tank "Drill" 30 km, 500 kg claster-bomb + active homing
Avionics
Sh121 multifunctional integrated radio electronic system (MIRES) Byelka radar
(400km, 60 targets of 16 hit) N036-1-01: Frontal X-band active electronically
scanned array (AESA) radar
N036B-1-01: Cheek X-band AESA radars for increased angular coverage
N036L-1-01: Slat L-band arrays for IFF
L402 Himalayas electronic countermeasure suite
101KS Atoll electro-optical targeting system 101KS-O: Laser Directional Infrared
Counter Measures
101KS-V: Infra-red search and track
101KS-U: Ultraviolet missile approach warning system
101KS-N: Targeting pod
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