Serial production of the Su-57 fighter launches as Russia escalates in strengthening fifth-generation air dominance
Arab Defense Website – October 27, 2025: Russia has officially begun escalating serial production of the fifth-generation stealth Su-57 fighter, with the aim of enhancing air superiority capabilities and confronting Western military aviation in light of escalating global competition.
The start of serial production of the Sukhoi Su-57 fighter is evidence of Russia’s determination to bridge the technological gap with Western air powers and strengthen its dominance in future multi-domain conflicts.
This development represents a quantum leap for the Russian Aerospace Forces in its quest to achieve air superiority through advanced stealth technologies, multi-mission combat capability, and highly survivable combat performance against peer threats.
The announcement came in late October 2025 to confirm Russia’s official entry into the phase of manufacturing fifth-generation fighters in a sustainable manner after years of limited purchases and little initial production.
This achievement is in line with Moscow’s broader military modernization drive, which aims to ensure the readiness of Russian forces to confront NATO’s growing air capabilities in an era of heightened geopolitical tensions, exacerbated by the ongoing war in Ukraine and the east-west escalation.
United Aircraft Corporation confirmed that the stealth fighter production line will now operate at an increased production capacity, with Russia planning to deliver 76 Sukhoi Su-57 aircraft by 2027 under a multi-year government contract signed in 2019.
The size of this order places the Su-57 fighter at the heart of Russia’s future air dominance strategy, directly confronting the US Air Force’s F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II fleets in contested skies scenarios.
Russia is simultaneously developing the lighter and less expensive Su-75 Chekmet as a complementary fifth-generation design, expanding its fighter portfolio and creating dual export market opportunities aimed at undercutting Western aircraft sales and expanding its footprint in defense diplomacy.
The increase in Su-57 production reflects Russia’s determination to assert its technological independence and resist Western sanctions that aim to stifle its air industry base, which intensifies international competition in the field of stealth aviation.
Technical superiority, armament, and radar signature management
The Su-57 is built on a twin-engine, single-seat design, optimized for ultra-dynamic maneuvering and multiple missions including simultaneous air combat and ground attack.
The length of the aircraft is 20.1 meters, its wingspan is 14.1 metres, and its empty weight is estimated at about 18 thousand kilograms, which gives it a large internal capacity for fuel and payload compared to its competing stealth aircraft.
The maximum take-off weight reaches 35,000 kilograms, allowing a payload of up to 10,000 kilograms of weapons, including internal stores to maintain their low footprint, in addition to external suspension points used when carrying out heavy strike operations.
The fighter is currently equipped with AL-41F1 turbofan engines that generate thrust between 142 and 147 kN using afterburners, enabling it to reach speeds in excess of Mach 1.3 without heavy reliance on afterburners, thus reducing the aircraft’s thermal signature.
The AL-51F1 engine (known as Izdeliye 30), which will enter service in the Su-57M version starting in 2025, offers a higher thrust of 176 kN, with a lower thermal footprint and improved fuel efficiency that allows for long-range missions.
The aircraft can exceed Mach 2 in a short burst, fly at Mach 1.6 in normal flight, and has a combat range of 3,500 kilometers using only internal fuel, allowing it to carry out deep strikes behind enemy air defense lines.
Russia focuses on kinetic flexibility as a key element for survival, relying on directional thrust nozzles and advanced flight control systems that allow post-stall maneuvers that are superior to Western stealth fighters in close combat.
The aircraft uses the N036 Byelka radar with AESA technology and an all-round spherical detection capability, allowing surveillance of targets in all directions, including low-signature targets and hypersonic vehicles.
Its electronic system integrates a passive infrared sensor (IRST), defensive electronic warfare systems, and artificial intelligence-enhanced processing to reduce the pilot’s workload during complex engagements.
The aircraft’s stealth architecture provides a radar cross-section of 0.1 to 1 m2 at the front, but its stealth effectiveness at the rear is lower than that of the F-22 and F-35, due in part to exposed vector-thrust nozzles and some structural compromises made in the interest of enhanced maneuverability.
The Su-57 carries an advanced array of air-to-air missiles, most notably the R-77-1 equipped with an AESA active radar seeker, and the long-range R-37M heavy missile capable of engaging at distances beyond the range of most NATO air missiles.
Its offensive capabilities include hypersonic weapons such as derivative versions of the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal, and precise Kh-69 stealth missiles, in addition to air-launched glide weapons under development for deep strategic penetration operations.
Russia is developing the Loyal Wingman concept by integrating the fighter with the S-70 Okhotnik unmanned combat aircraft, allowing for distributed stealth targeting missions, cooperative electronic warfare attacks, and manned and unmanned attack formations capable of overwhelming NATO defenses.
The growth of these capabilities makes the Su-57 the pinnacle of Russian tactical air doctrine based on flexibility and flexible combat adaptation in the face of modern challenges.
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