How fast does the Su-57 fly?

The Sukhoi Su-57 is Russia's fifth-generation fighter, developed from the PAK FA program and in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces since 2020 in limited numbers. The performance figures in circulation are those declared by the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and Rosoboronexport, its export agency: a maximum speed of about 2,140 km/h at high altitude, equivalent to Mach 2, and around 1,400 km/h at sea level, where dense air limits any fighter.

The most interesting figure isn't the top speed, but the supersonic cruise. The Su-57 is designed to fly above Mach 1 without lighting the afterburner, known as supercruise; Russian sources cite roughly Mach 1.3. It's a capability it shares with the F-22 Raptor, allowing it to cover distance at high speed without burning through fuel in minutes.

The first production Su-57s fly with the AL-41F1 engine, an evolution of the AL-31 used on the Su-27, with about 147 kN (33,000 lbf) of thrust with afterburner. The engine planned from the start, known as "Izdeliye 30" or AL-51F1, offers more thrust and lower fuel consumption, and first flew on a prototype in 2017. With it, the manufacturer expects to improve supercruise and acceleration; the top speed, by contrast, is limited mainly by temperature and airframe strength, and shouldn't change much.

None of these figures has been verified by an independent body or by tests published in the West. Modern fighters, moreover, rarely fly at their maximum speed: doing so requires altitude, afterburner, and a clean configuration with no external loads, and it burns fuel at a rate that cuts the combat radius to a handful of minutes. In operational practice, the speed that matters is what the aircraft can sustain with internal weapons and a half-full tank, and Russia doesn't publish that figure. For comparison, the F-22 declares Mach 2 and the Eurofighter Typhoon also Mach 2, so the Su-57 sits within the usual range for fighters of its class, not above it.