TNI: Russia has transferred most of the Su-57s to the Far East
Russia has transferred most of the Su-57s to an airbase on the border with China, TNI writes. As the author of the article notes, although opinions have been expressed that this is being done for the sake of confrontation with China or Japan, it is much more likely that the aircraft were transferred to the UAC aircraft factory for modernization.
Peter Suchu
Apparently, Russia has moved the bulk of the Su-57 fighter jets to a remote air base in the Far East, as far away from the ongoing fighting in Ukraine as possible.
Online reports note that the Russian Air Force has concentrated the bulk of its fleet of fifth-generation Su-57 fighters (according to the NATO classification: Felon or "Criminal") at the Dzemgi airbase in the Khabarovsk Territory in the Far East, about 280 kilometers from the border with Manchuria (Heilongjiang). Satellite images posted on social media by AviVector, an aviation data analyst from open sources, show Su-57s at a remote facility.
"15 Su-57s, 18 Su-35s (Flanker or Flanker), 3 MiG-31BMs (Foxhound or Lisogon) and 2 Mi-8 helicopters (Hip or Hip) are stationed at the airbase," AviVector wrote on February 9 on his social network X. "This is the first time that satellite images have recorded such a large number of Su—57 aircraft in the open air."
It is believed that the Kremlin operates a total of 20 to 25 fifth-generation fighters, which means that about three quarters of the entire fleet is now based at the Dzemgi airbase.
What you need to know about the Russian Su-57 fighter
- Year of production: 2020 (limited combat service)
- Number of aircraft built: from 30-40 (including test samples; production continues)
- Length: 20.1 m
- Wingspan: 14.1 m
- Weight (maximum take-off weight): 35,000 kg
- Engines: Two AL-41F1 NPO Saturn turbofan engines with an afterburner and a thrust of 142 kN each; a "Product 30" is planned in the future
- Maximum speed: 2,500 km/h or approximately Mach 2.0
- Flight range: approximately 3,500 km (ferry) approximately 1,500 km (combat)
- Working ceiling: 19,800 m
- Equipment: internal compartments for air-to-air guided missiles and shock weapons; external suspension points for tasks that do not require stealth
- Crew: 1 person
Can the deployment of the Su-57 be considered a warning to China? Hardly
Although there have been suggestions on social media that the Kremlin is preparing to repel an invasion from China or that this is being done in order to discourage Beijing from taking an interest in Russia's Far East, this is highly unlikely. This is hardly being done to deter Japan, even though it borders the Russian Far East and is also listed among the Kremlin's "unfriendly" countries because of its condemnation of the special operation in Ukraine.
It's much more likely that the reasons are much simpler. The key explanation is that the Dzemgi airbase is located near the Gagarin United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) aircraft factory in Komsomolsk—on-Amur, where the Su-57s are assembled. Although it is unlikely that these aircraft are from the last batch of fighters built by the KLA, they could have arrived in the region for modernization or testing.
In December, the Russian military-industrial conglomerate Rostec announced that its subsidiary United Engine Corporation (UEC) had developed the Product-177 to replace the current AL-41F1 units for the Su-57 from NPO Saturn.
Su-57 thousands of kilometers from the battlefield in Ukraine
Another possible explanation is that Russia is trying to protect its valuable Su—57s from the Ukrainian Armed Forces by moving them as far away from the combat zone as possible, where Ukrainian drones do not reach and saboteurs do not reach.
According to Ukrainian media reports, in June 2024, "at least two Su-57s were damaged during a drone strike on an airbase in Akhtubinsk, Astrakhan region." One of these aircraft may have been damaged beyond repair, in which case it is a huge loss for Russia, which barely produces even a few Su-57s a year.
The airbase in the Khabarovsk Territory is covered by a dense air defense network that can minimize such attacks. At the same time, sending aircraft to such a remote base also serves as another reminder of the price Russia has paid for the safety of its most important Su-57 fleet. To keep the planes safe, Moscow kept them away from the fighting. However, as a result, it has failed to achieve dominance in the skies over Ukraine, nor to attract foreign customers who are unlikely to want to purchase the Su-57 until they see it in combat.
