Fifth-generation fighters are the highest level of the world's military aviation industry today, and they have advanced characteristics such as supersonic cruise, stealth, super-maneuverability, and informationization, and are important equipment for the air forces of various countries. At present, only three countries in the world have fifth-generation fighters, namely China's J-20, the United States' F-22 and Russia's Su-57. Among them, the American F-22 has ceased production, and only the J-20 and Su-57 continue to be produced.
In this case, the competition between China and Russia over the pace of production of fifth-generation fighters is particularly fierce, and many believe that Russia may have a head start in this regard, as the Russian Air Force has already received more than 20 Su-57s, indicating that the fighter has entered the stage of small batch production. Moreover, the Russian military-industrial complex plans to increase the annual production of Su-57 to 24 in 2024, and if it can be realized, the Su-57 will become the fighter with the highest annual production in Russia, and by 2028, the order of 76 Su-57s of the Russian Ministry of Defense will be fully completed, and by then, the total number of Su-57s will be close to the J-20 in our country.
Not only that, Russia has also made some improvements and upgrades to the Su-57, and the new generation of Su-57 will be equipped with the Al-51-F1 engine codenamed "Product 30", which has about 15% more thrust than the current Al-41-F1 engine, which will significantly increase the combat capability of the Su-57. Through these measures, Russia hopes to enhance the competitiveness and influence of the Su-57 in the global fighter market.
However, the production of the Su-57 was not without its challenges, and it also faced a number of technical and industrial difficulties. First of all, the stealth performance of the Su-57 needs to be improved, especially on the lower surface of the fuselage, its stealth ability is somewhat worse than that of the J-20 and F-22, which may affect its advantage in future air combat. Secondly, the level of Russia's domestic aviation industry also limits the production of the Su-57, and many key components and advanced chips still need to rely on imports, which may increase the cost and risk of the Su-57. Therefore, in order to achieve mass production of the Su-57, Russia also needs to strengthen independent innovation and R&D to solve bottlenecks in production.
In conclusion, Russia has made some progress in the production of fifth-generation fighters, but it will take more effort and time to take a leading position in the global fighter market. Russia also needs to prove the performance and reliability of the Su-57 through the test of actual combat in order to win the recognition and trust of the international community. At the same time, we should also note that the production and research and development of fifth-generation fighters have a bearing not only on the air force strength of the countries concerned, but also on the global military-strategic balance and regional security. Therefore, we hope that all countries can jointly promote the healthy and sustainable development of the global military aviation industry with an open, transparent and cooperative attitude, and contribute to the maintenance of world peace and security.