On August 22, 2018, Aleksey Krivoruchko, Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation and United Aircraft Corporation's President Yuri Slyusar signed the first contract for two Su-57 fighters to be delivered to the Russian Air Force. During the signing ceremony Krivoruchko said "the first aircraft will enter service in 2019," and within the coming years the service "intends to receive 15 production Su-57s". Definitely a disappointing declaration after earlier announcements of 60 production standard fighters by 2020 and plans for a further 150-160 by 2025. So why is the Su-57 programme slowing down? The official reason given during a July 2018 TV interview by Yuri Borisov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation focused on the Su-35. Borisov said: "The Su-35 is considered one of the best aircraft in the world. We therefore have no reason to go ahead with mass production of the fifth-generation [Su-57] aircraft today. The Su-57 is our trump card, which we will be able to play when previous generation aircraft begin to lag behind similar aircraft operated by leading countries of the world."
展开▼
