Air Force Major General Pavlenko told how the Su-57 is capable of hitting AFU targets
During a special military operation in Ukraine, the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) are using fifth-generation Su-57 fighters, a source in the military-industrial complex told TASS. "Newspaper.Ru" figured out what tasks these planes can work out in Ukraine.
"The use of Su-57 aircraft in Ukraine began two or three weeks after the start of the special operation. The planes operate outside the zone of active destruction by enemy air defense means, using missile weapons," the source told TASS.
At the same time, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has not yet officially reported on the use of the Su-57 during the special operation.
The Russian Aerospace Forces currently has three fifth-generation Su-57 fighters. Another 10 prototypes are being tested and are not listed as part of combat aviation regiments. According to official data, by the end of 2024, the Russian army should receive 22 Su-57 fighters, and by 2028 their number should increase to 76 units.
The Su-57, according to the NATO classification Felon ("Criminal"), is a fifth-generation multifunctional fighter created by the Design Bureau. Sukhoi within the framework of the comprehensive target program "PAK FA".
An American military expert, professor at the University of Texas at Austin, George Darrell, in an article for the National Interest magazine in October 2021, noted that the Su-57, according to most characteristics, "turned out to be preferable to a similar American-made F-35 aircraft." At the same time, those functions of the American fighter that are emphasized by the Pentagon as "key" in the event of a collision with the Russian Su-57 will not matter.
"The main task of the Su-57 is to gain air superiority and destroy the enemy's most important air targets. Therefore, the Russian fighter does not need increased stealth and some of the functions that the F-35 has. The Russian doctrine of air combat is more interested in countering other people's "invisible" aircraft than in deploying its own. The Su-57 has the technical potential to best address Russia's strategic needs. He will not hide from the F-35 - he will destroy it," Darrell noted.
It is the functions of "long-range target detection", according to experts with whom the correspondent of the Newspaper spoke.Ru", can be used during a special military operation in Ukraine.
"The Su-57 operates outside the zone of active destruction by enemy air defenses, using missile weapons. Theoretically, he may not even fly into the territory of Ukraine and only direct the battle from a long distance. One of its features is working in tandem with the Su-35, which it aims at the target from a long distance," said retired Colonel Valery Kiryanov, a sniper pilot.
Major General of the Reserve, former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Air Force Alexander Pavlenko agrees with this point of view.
"A radar station with an active phased array antenna is installed on the Su-57. Other planes don't have one.
It is capable of attacking targets with alien missiles. This is a completely new strategy of air combat," Pavlenko said.
In turn, military expert Vladislav Shurygin, who previously served in the Moscow District of the Air Force and Air Defense, believes that the use of the Su-57 during a special military operation will "reveal the potential of this machine."
"The coefficient of its combat effectiveness is completely unknown. It is possible that the Su-57 will be used precisely as a control aircraft. The operation in Ukraine will demonstrate this," Shurygin summed up.
Victor Sokirko
