In the recent Russian-Ukrainian battlefield, the Su-57 showed its muscles, took the form of formation hunting, and penetrated the Ukrainian air defense system in one fell swoop, winning rave reviews. Before this battle, the Su-57 as a fifth-generation aircraft was rarely unveiled, and the outside world can only speculate about its actual performance. Even, the Su-57 has been controversial in the experimental stage, and many negative news have been exposed by foreign media. So what is the truth?
Photo note: Su-57 fighter
Create illusions that interfere with the line of sight
Russia has always attached great importance to the tradition of secrecy, and even in the past there have been incidents of its own pilots mistakenly hitting its own new fighters, but because the secrecy is too strict, we do not know that it is its own fighters. However, with the development of technology and the maturity of reconnaissance and monitoring technology, the traditional method of secrecy is no longer suitable for modern warfare, especially since the Russo-Ukrainian War, the US military has provided high-definition satellite images and other intelligence to Ukraine, which has increased the difficulty of secrecy work.
Therefore, the Russian side made a response strategy, that is, to spread false news. From the source of information, the Information of the Su-57 from the early stage of development to the official installation of the Information, the Russian side carried out comprehensive control. In addition to the photos and videos officially released by the Russian side, the outside world can hardly see unofficial information, and can only rely on guessing. This provided the basis for Russia's secrecy work and created an information gap advantage for the Su-57 to win the initiative in technology.
However, the side effects of this are also obvious, making the Su-57 have few arms sales orders, which cannot be compared with the F-35 of the same generation in the arms sales market.
Photo note: Su-57 fighter
Consolidating national defense must be done
Although Russia inherited a large amount of the legacy after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Air Force was still seriously injured by the situation at home and abroad, and equipment research was almost stagnant. At the same time, the United States has been steadily advancing the development of advanced fighters to consolidate its position, which has greatly exacerbated Russia's sense of crisis, and Russia urgently needs a new generation of fighters that can compete with U.S. air power.
In the early stage of the development of the Su-57, because the fifth-generation aircraft needed a large amount of research and development funds, the Russian side has been talking about cooperation with India, hoping that "India will contribute, and the Russian side will contribute." Some people say that in order to cooperate with India in the development of the Su-57, Russia had no choice but to show weakness everywhere and released a lot of negative news about the Su-57, the purpose of which is to make the United States relax its vigilance.
Subsequently, Russia and India reached cooperation, and the development of the Su-57 was also less effective. Soon after, due to various reasons such as funding, India announced its withdrawal, and the Su-57 development project was forced to be stranded. Nevertheless, the cooperation between the two sides during this period laid a solid foundation for the successful development of the Su-57 later.
Later, the Sukhoi Design Bureau withstood the pressure of many parties and successfully developed the test model under the condition of limited funds and technology. On this basis, the Russian side carried out many experiments and improvements, and finally, the Su-57 came out. The successful installation of the Su-57 also further demonstrated Russia's status as a military power, greatly alleviating the pressure and tension of air defense within Russia's territory.
Graphic: F-35 fighter
Reduce costs Mass production and reduce burdens
As we all know, the sale of military products has always been an important source of funds for military powers, F-35 as the only export of the five generations of stealth fighters favored by the buyers, which can also bring a large amount of military sales funds to the United States, at the same time, Loma Company on the basis of a large number of funds backflow, so that the F-35 cost is reduced, directly promoting the sustainable healthy development and upgrading of the F-35 industrial chain.
Similarly, the biggest problem with the Su-57 fighter is production.
As long as there are international buyers to buy, the Su-57 fighter can come back to life and continue to flourish. Among the warplanes available for export in various countries in the world, the Su-57, as the only competitor to the F-35, has a very good sales prospect, such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Peru, India, Turkey and other countries. For example, Israel, due to the restrictions on US arms sales, Israel cannot buy F-35s, and has no choice but to choose Su-57s; Countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia and Algeria in Africa, who are enthusiasts of Soviet fighters and have great confidence in Soviet fighters, will also choose Su-57s.
In general, is the Su-57 good or not? Battlefield performance says it all. This practical demonstration of the Su-57 is believed to attract a large wave of international orders, and the problem of mass production of the Su-57 will eventually be solved.
Expert Profile: Weng Zongbo, an expert in the popularization of military equipment science, is mainly engaged in research on high-tech equipment at home and abroad, main battle equipment of various branches of the armed forces, and joint operations strategy and tactics, and has published more than 200 articles in military newspapers, periodicals, and magazines such as "People's Liberation Army Daily", "China National Defense Daily", "Weapons" magazine, and has been awarded the third class merit once.
Producer: Science popularization at the forefront of China's military science and technology
Author: Weng Zongbo
Curator: Kim Hyuk
Producer: Guangming Network Science Popularization Division
Source: Guangming Network - Popular Science China