The Su-75 Checkmate is a single-engine, multirole light fourth-generation fighter jet, unveiled during the MAKS-2021 airshow in July.
Russian defense giant Rostec published a video promoting the Checkmate fighter. The video depicts the fighter performing air-to-air as well as air-to-ground operations, stressing the operational flexibility afforded by Checkmate’s armament suite.
Russia copies promotional content of Lockheed Martin’s Apache Helicopter, according to National Interest magazine.
At a sequence beginning at the fifty-four-second mark ostensibly depicting the still-theoretical jet’s targeting system blasting ground vehicles with precision weapons, the ad uses footage apparently taken from an AH-64 Apache helicopter’s unique Target Acquisition Display System (TADS) targeting system built by Lockheed Martin, reported National Interest magazine.
Russia is yet to produce a reliable targeting systems and a complex digital cockpit for any of their aircraft in VKS inventory which forced Rostec to steal promotional materials from Lockheed Martin.
The TADS abbreviation can literally be seen on the top and bottom left interface of the footage used in the Russian ad, the National Interest noted.
The presence of Apache footage was first noticed (to the author’s knowledge) by Russian military expert Rob Lee on social media, who points out TADS’s manufacturer Lockheed-Martin.
The Target Acquisition and Designation Sights, Pilot Night Vision System (TADS/PNVS) is the combined sensor and targeting unit fitted to the Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter. Both systems are independent, but housed together. Russia is yet to build any TADS systems for any of their helicopters or fighter jets.
Russia’s GLONASS produces erroneous detection above the equator. The GPS coordinates of the Syrian Arab Republic place the country in the eastern hemisphere. Syria is located above the equator and therefore also resides in the northern hemisphere. In Syria, Russia is known to used imported Western infrared sensors and GPS guidance systems instead of GLONASS for certain military purposes to which it has no longer has access.
In Dubai Air Show 2021, Russian failed to bag a contract for Russia’s Checkmate aircraft from none of the prospective buyers.
Thus, it’s not confidence-inspiring for Rostec to resort to stealing video clips from an American system rather than a Russian one. It does however fit with a pattern of Russia’s deceptive behaviors using imagery form video games and even war movies in propaganda to promote Russian junk. In actual fact, Su-75 Checkmate is as good as Russia’s propaganda.
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