How Russia built a stealth jet to beat the west - Su-57

Video from the channel Found And Explained about Sukhoi Su-57, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 21:53. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

Explainer piece that reviews the origin of the Su-57, its design, radar signature, engines, electronics and the programme's outlook. The underlying question is whether the Russian fighter is really as un-stealthy as has been claimed in the West. The video repeatedly compares it with the F-22 and the F-35 and draws on radar cross-section simulations published by the site Aircraft 101.

According to the account, Russian doctrine put performance ahead of stealth. The MFI programme of the 1990s produced the MiG 1.44, which did not progress amid that decade's crisis, while Sukhoi privately funded the S-37 Berkut demonstrator, with its forward-swept wing. In the early 2000s the PAK FA programme was launched and awarded to Sukhoi. The T-50 prototype was unveiled and made its first flight in 2010. India joined in 2007 to co-fund a two-seat version and withdrew in 2018 over delays. The first production contract, for 76 aircraft, was signed in 2017.

The design keeps traits of the Flanker, such as engines in nacelles separated by a tunnel, and carries canted, fully-moving tail fins that the author links to the YF-23. A leaked patent put its frontal radar cross-section at between 0.1 and 1 m². The cited simulations give a median of 0.48 m² in the frontal sector, against 0.06 m² for the F-35, not counting absorbent materials. As weak points, the author points to the partially visible compressor blades and exposed exhaust nozzles. Production aircraft use AL-41F1 engines with 3D thrust vectoring while they wait for the izdeliye 30, which should allow supercruise at Mach 1.5 and carry serrated nozzles. The review also covers the five-antenna N036 Byelka AESA radar (X-band in the nose and sides, L-band in the wings), the IRST, the R-37M missile, the S-70 drone as a wingman, and the upgraded Su-57M version.