Image source: topwar.ru
New images of the Russian Su-57 fighter jet have appeared online, in which it was seen with a new type of engine nozzle. The seriously modified design is designed to improve the stealth of the aircraft.
As indicated in the publication The War Zone (USA), the footage shows the stern of the second flight prototype of the Su-57, the T-50-2, which first took to the air in March 2011. Subsequently, it was used to test the second-stage turbofan engine AL-51F-1 (also known as "Product 30"), which first lifted the car into the air in 2017 (being installed together with the former AL-41F-1 powerplant).
Image source: topwar.ru
A "flat" nozzle (in the left nacelle of the Su-57) next to the three-dimensional version
According to the author, in the new images, attention is attracted by the "flattened" nozzle of the turbofan engine installed in the left nacelle of the T-50-2. Previously, the AL-41F-1 engines placed on the Su-57 and Su-35 used an axisymmetric nozzle, which provided three-dimensional control of the thrust vector in pitch, yaw and roll.
Image source: topwar.ru
A "flat" nozzle (in the left nacelle of the Su-57) next to the three-dimensional version
In its original form, the AL-51F-1 also had a similar three-dimensional nozzle, but the new images show a new version of the two-dimensional type, which, according to the author, "provides pitch control, as well as limited roll control with asymmetric activation."
- it is said in the US press.
Image source: topwar.ru
The standard three-dimensional nozzle for the Su-57
The new nozzle has four independently controlled flaps, two of which are designed for use in subsonic mode and two for supersonic flight. The images also show that the guide flaps are ventilated, which, in combination with the air supplied through these areas, allows the exhaust gases to cool and reduce the infrared visibility of the aircraft.
- the author notes.
