The Russian Defense Ministry and the Sukhoi Design Bureau are planning to develop a two-seat Su-57 fifth-generation fighter in its export configuration, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said on Wednesday.
"There is interest in this aircraft and, in my view, it will grow with every passing year as our Russian Army is supplied with this model. Foreign customers at first look at how a particular weapon of the Russian Armed Forces operates. The Defense Ministry and the Sukhoi Design Bureau have plans to develop a two-pilot aircraft that will boost the export demand for this model … and it may create additional demand," the vice premier said during his working trip to the Primorye Region in the Russian Far East.
CEO of Russia’s state arms seller Rosoboronexport Alexander Mikheyev said in early June that five Southeast Asian countries were displaying interest in the latest Su-57 fifth-generation fighter.
About Sukhoi Su-57
The Sukhoi Su-57 is a Russian-made fifth-generation multirole fighter designated to destroy all types of air, ground and naval targets. The Su-57 fighter jet features stealth technology with the broad use of composite materials, is capable of developing a supersonic cruising speed, and is furnished with the most advanced onboard radio-electronic equipment, including a powerful onboard computer (the so-called electronic second pilot), the radar system spread across its body and some other innovations, in particular, armament placed inside its fuselage.
The Su-57 took to the skies for the first time on January 29, 2010. Compared to its predecessors, the Su-57 combines the functions of an attack plane and a fighter jet while the use of composite materials and innovation technologies and the fighter’s aerodynamic configuration ensure the low level of radar and infrared signature.
The plane’s armament will include, in particular, hypersonic missiles. The fifth-generation fighter jet has been successfully tested in combat conditions in Syria.
The Russian Armed Forces received the first Su-57 fighter in 2020. Russia’s Aerospace Force will get 22 Su-57 fighters by late 2024, and their number in the Russian Armed Forces will grow to 76 by 2028.
Su-57 to become world’s first two-seat fifth-generation fighter
The Russian state tech corporation Rostec confirmed on Wednesday that it was set to develop a two-seat export version of the Su-57 fighter.
"This plane can be in demand in flight personnel’s training to lower the psychological stress of inexperienced pilots, and also to perform lengthy flights over featureless terrain," the Rostec press office said in a statement.
"Let us note that no country in the world has two-seat fifth-generation fighters. The Sukhoi may become the first one," Rostec said.