Slyusari, president of the Russian United Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation, said in a report by the RIA Novosti news agency that orders for the Su-57, the fifth-generation fighter of the Russian Aerospace Forces, have doubled this year and are finally delivered. It is reported that Russia has already received all the aircraft ordered, and in 2024 more are being ordered. Slyusari said that the company has completed the national defense order as planned, delivered all orders, and even delivered it ahead of schedule for individual factories. Orders increased for all factories, with some of them seeing significant increases. From this it follows that the production of new aircraft, including the Su-57, has doubled.
Although there is no specific mention of the number of Su-57s produced, the company mentioned in the press release that in order to increase the production of serial aircraft, they have taken a number of initiatives to improve the upstream and downstream of the ** chain and enhance production capacity. In addition, the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade also said that the assembly of fifth-generation fighters Su-57 is underway, and these fighters will be delivered to the Russian Aerospace Forces in 2024. The number of fifth-generation fighters received by the Russian army every year can almost double. At the beginning of this year, the Russian Ministry of Defense increased its investment in the aviation industry, adjusted the production line of the Su-57 and opened a new line to increase the production capacity of the aircraft. At present, the first batch of fighters for the 2024 year has already begun to be carried out**, and a further increase in production is expected next year.
The Su-57 is Russia's only mass-produced fifth-generation fighter, and compared with China's J-20, the Su-57 started earlier, but the production was less. The first prototype was assembled in 2007, but it was not until the end of 2020 that the Russian army received the first mass-produced Su-57. At the end of 2019, Russia's first mass-produced Su-57 fighter was scheduled to enter service, but the first mass-produced aircraft crashed that year, causing the entry into service plan to be postponed. In 2018, the Su-57 was deployed in Syria for combat tests, and subsequently participated in the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022.
India was one of the partners in the Su-57 fighter research and development project, and invested a lot of money, but later withdrew from the project, losing part of the research and development funding support and important customers. This may also be one of the main reasons for the postponement of the Su-57's entry into service. Russia** Putin has said that he originally planned to purchase Su-57 fighters for the Russian army in 2027, but due to the efforts of all parties and the reduction of production costs, it was decided to increase the number of purchases to 76 aircraft. Due to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, Russia is facing greater external pressure, which may force the Russian side to further increase the production of Su-57. But the specific amount of equipment was not disclosed by the Russian side.
It is reported that at the end of 2022, the Russian Aerospace Forces received 4 Su-57 mass-produced aircraft, and the total number at that time was about 10. This year, the manufacturer delivered two batches of Su-57 fighters, with a total of about 18 aircraft. Together with the previous 10 prototypes, Russia may currently have almost 30 Su-57 fighters. The Su-57 is Russia's only twin-engine heavy fifth-generation fighter, comparable to the American F-22 and China's J-20. However, the Su-57 currently has problems such as poor stealth performance and insufficient production. Due to the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Russia is increasing the production capacity of various **.
Russia has not only developed the Su-57 stealth fighter, but also plans to launch the Su-75 single-engine stealth fighter. Compared to the Su-57, the Su-75 is cheaper to manufacture and is expected to be able to go into mass production more quickly. If foreign orders can be obtained, the fighter is expected to be quickly put into production. In the context of many NATO countries buying F-35 fighters to enhance their military strength, Russia urgently needs to expand the production scale of Su-57 fighters.