The world's air fighters today take fifth-generation fighter technology as the latest technology, and they are also the strongest combat power embodiment of today's air combat. If you briefly analyze the performance gap between China and Russia for the performance gap of fifth-generation fighters, you will find that the Su-57, as Russia's fifth-generation fighter, has stealth performance that is really like a mystery.
After being shocked by China's J-20 comprehensive superiority, the West is still opposing the Russian Su-57 as a fifth-generation fighter, which is Russia's energy and investment to create a representative of the fifth-generation fighter, and also represents Russia's ability to keep up with the world's advanced air technology and create a stealth fighter that meets the standards of the times.
Because stealth capability is an important feature of fifth-generation fighters, the West always believes that the stealth capability of the Su-57 is insufficient, coupled with the evaluation of comprehensive factors, it cannot be counted as a fifth-generation fighter.
The Su-57 is an improved and upgraded model based on the Russian T50 fighter, and several prototypes have been created, after more than 700 test flights, as well as long-term maintenance and improvement, it is finally difficult to determine the model and structure, and realize the overall design effect of the finalized Su-57.
As a two-seat version of the fifth-generation fighter, the Su-57 has a strong Soviet-made weapon design concept, but also has a solid quality, fierce combat attack performance, but the West has always believed that the Su-57 has obvious deficiencies in stealth capabilities, at most it can be regarded as a fourth-generation and a half-generation fighter, and cannot be included in the ranks of fifth-generation fighters, which makes Russia also feel unconvinced.
According to Russia's military design, the Su-57 is built with advanced absorbing materials, which can reduce the interception surface information of radar surveys, so as to evade radar scanning and reading, avoid being detected by enemy radar, and achieve the purpose of stealth flight.
But the West does not think that the Su-57 can really have the ability to evade radar, based on the appearance design of the Su-57, with obvious defects, the Su-57's air intake pipe is designed as a large through, and the belly position of the fighter is uneven, so it will expose its whereabouts in front of the radar, and there are sliding windshields at both ends, which also greatly increases the hidden dangers of exposure, so that the Su-57 can appear in front of the radar to show the possibility of its true body, so the West believes that Russia's so-called fifth-generation fighters do not have stealth capabilities at all and cannot be counted as fifth-generation fighters。
The Western media have repeatedly said that the production capacity of the Su-57 is very low, although the Russian Air Force said that it will purchase more than 70 Su-57 fighters, but from the point of view of the production speed and the attitude of the Russian Aerospace Forces towards the Su-57, even the Russian Aerospace Forces themselves are not active, they are not interested in this fighter at all, and they think that the combat power and stealth ability are not outstanding.
Therefore, the West believes that the Su-57 is in an embarrassing situation now, the Russian Aerospace Forces do not recognize it, and the possibility of increasing production is even lower, and the Su-57 fighter jet that was shot down by Ukraine is rumored to be in the outside world, and the future development and upgrading are slim.
The West believes that the Su-57 does not represent the most advanced Russian fifth-generation fighter, nor is it inferior to the stealth capabilities of the Chinese J-20.
So what about the stealth capabilities of China's J-20?
When the J-20 realizes the stealth design, it fully considers the aerodynamic layout and designs the S-shaped air intake, which can be better hidden, realize the backward shift of the center of gravity, and there is no vertical plane on the appearance, which is difficult to be refracted by radar waves, so the stealth ability is good.
In particular, when our J-20 was patrolling the airspace over the Taiwan Strait, the Taiwan military did not react at all with the US Aegis system, and the Taiwan military, which realized it later, broke out in a cold sweat, and the J-20 hovered above its head for a long time and came and went freely, and the Taiwan military was unaware of it, which shows how powerful the stealth capability of the J-20 is, and it is even more able to hide and calmly carry out tasks under the enemy's detection system.
Therefore, the West also said that if you compare China's J-20 and Russia's Su-57 stealth capabilities, the J-20 obviously has a greater advantage.
Why do fifth-generation fighters pay so much attention to stealth capabilities, and there is still a fierce debate about this? The stealth function of the fighter can provide it with a higher survival rate and achieve a faster evasion and take the initiative on the battlefield.
In over-the-horizon warfare, the flight speed of the fighters of both sides of the enemy and us is increasing under the blessing of science and technology, and the stealth ability can provide greater protection for their fighters, so that the enemy can find out later, and our side can take the initiative to attack.
Then there is stealth ability, you can carry out reinforcements and raids, hit the other side by surprise, only unpredictable attacks are the most terrifying, like the United States B2 ghost bomber, the reason why it is so feared by other countries is because it has a strong stealth ability, has unknowingly flown over a certain country, bombs are dropped, the country only found that there are bombers.
What a terrible situation this is, if the B2 does not have a stealth function, even if it can be loaded with bombs and the endurance is long, it is estimated that the fear caused will not be so great. After all, the enemy you can see can still find a way to deal with and counterattack, but the enemy who doesn't know when it will appear will simply consume the energy of defense, and it is also a kind of psychological torture in combat.
The comparison of the stealth capabilities of fifth-generation fighters between China and Russia, at present, the J-20 fighter is still significantly ahead, and it has also formed the scale of combat power deployment, which also makes the Russian Aerospace Forces very envious.