Not everyday Russian Aerospace Force gets a new aircraft, since Soviet-era, Sukhoi Design Bureau continues to upgrade fighter jets from Su-27 to Su-30, from Su-30 to Su-35,– a glimpse of hope of getting a Su-57 into service with VKF disappeared. The deputy head of Ministry of Defense of Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov announced yesterday that the engine of Su-57 is not ready and cannot be used in a serially produced aircraft.
It became apparent that the mounting technical and financial challenges made it impossible delivering Su-57 fighters to the arsenal of the airborne forces learned GDC citing Moscow-based internet newspaper Avia.pro.
Contrary to the expectation that with the advent of the Su-57 fighters in service with the Russian Air Force, the country’s defense capability will increase many times, it became known that the adoption of these combat aircraft into the VKS has been postponed for the sixth time in a row.
According to earlier statements by Sukhoi Design Bureau, initially the Su-57 fighters were supposed to be in service with the Russian Air Force in 2015, after which the date was postponed to 2016, then to 2017, 2018 and 2019. In 2019, the Russian VKS could well have the first Su-57 serial fighter, however, as a result of multiple crashes, the fighter entered into defects rectification phase i.e. back to drawing board. The multiple crashes were related to malfunction of cruicial components like the flight control system, engines and avionics. The proposed radar for the Su-57 is yet to enter into mass production phase.
According to the report that appeared at the end of last year, it was planned to supply the first production model of the Su-57 to the VKS by the beginning of May 2020, however, at the moment there is no information that the production model is ready for deliveries to the Russian Air Force, which caused a lot of questions , and according to experts, this can also mean that due to the financial crisis in the country against the backdrop of a pandemic and cash strapped Sukhoi Design Bureau is yet to solve techinical problems of Su-57, the timing of the implementation of the plan can be shifted indefinitely.
According to analysts, there is no doubt that the Su-57 could be a potential replament of Su-35 fighter, however, the impossibility of delivering it to the VKS in the time announced earlier raises the question of the readiness of this combat aircraft for actual service.
A little earlier, the deputy head of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced that the engine would begin to be installed on Su-57 fighters only after 2025.
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