Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov pointed out that foreign customers are always interested in whether the native armed forces take the equipment that they offer for export
TYUMEN, September 17. /TASS/. The Ministry of Defense may consider the purchase of Checkmate single-engine fighters as part of the future state armament program. This was announced to journalists by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Yuri Borisov on the sidelines of the Tyumen Oil and Gas Forum.
"In the plans of the future GPV, [the Ministry of Defense and the Aerospace Forces] will consider the possibility of acquiring it [the fighter]," the Deputy Prime Minister said. Foreign customers are always interested in whether the native armed forces take the equipment that they offer for export." According to Borisov, the Ministry of Defense and the Aerospace Forces have historically been "cautious" about single-engine fighters, preferring "twin-engine aircraft for reliability". Nevertheless, single-engine fighters are quite widespread in the world military aviation.
"As far as I remember, the start of flight tests is in 2023, the organization of mass production in the presence of demand, I think that 2025-2026 is quite realistic," Borisov believes. - Otherwise, we simply will not enter this market, where there are already American and Chinese [single-engine] models. According to its potential characteristics, this aircraft has a very good potential, it has all the prospects to occupy a certain niche and it already has potential buyers. Two criteria: its quick launch on the market and a reasonable price are its characteristics that will allow it to occupy an appropriate niche, " he said.
Borisov added that the aircraft has a number of characteristics corresponding to fifth-generation fighters, in particular, the internal fuselage suspension of all aircraft weapons.
About Checkmate
The Checkmate fighter was first introduced in July this year at the MAKS Air Show. It is planned that it will compete with the American F-35A Lightning II fighter and the Swedish JAS-39 Gripen. The demand of the international military aircraft market Checkmate is estimated at 300 machines. In addition to the home market, the aircraft, as Borisov previously stated, will primarily be focused on African countries, India, and Vietnam. The car will most likely receive the Su-75 index and will be assembled at the plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
The aircraft is made using low-visibility technologies, equipped with an internal fuselage compartment for air - to - air and air-to-surface aircraft weapons. The payload mass will exceed seven tons. The fighter will be able to simultaneously hit up to six targets. The speed of a single-engine aircraft will be Mach 1.8, and the combat radius will be 3 thousand km. The machine will be equipped with a highly efficient power plant.
