Russia’s Su-57 Felon will never be the F-35 fighter

The Sukhoi Su-57 Felon stands as Russia’s flagship fifth-generation stealth fighter, embodying advanced design and capabilities. However, despite its technological prowess, the Su-57’s production has been significantly hampered by international sanctions, limiting its deployment and operational impact.

Designed for both air superiority and precision strike missions, the Su-57 boasts an array of cutting-edge features that place it in the elite category of modern combat aircraft. Its blended-wing body enhances stealth and aerodynamic efficiency, while its state-of-the-art avionics and sensors provide exceptional situational awareness. The aircraft can reach speeds of Mach 2 and has an operational range of approximately 2,200 miles, making it a formidable presence in the skies.

Yet, for all its sophistication, Russia has struggled to produce the aircraft in meaningful numbers. As of late 2024, reports indicate that only 22 Su-57s have been delivered, including both production and test aircraft. The Kremlin has outlined plans to procure 76 more by 2028, but given the economic and technological constraints imposed by sanctions, these targets seem increasingly ambitious.

By contrast, the American F-35 program has seen massive production, with over 1,000 units delivered across multiple allied air forces, underscoring the logistical and industrial advantages enjoyed by Western defense contractors. The F-35, despite its own cost overruns and delays, has demonstrated significant combat readiness and integration across NATO and allied air forces, a feat Russia has yet to replicate with the Su-57.

Russia’s latest fighter hit by sanctions

The primary obstacle facing the Su-57 program is the impact of Western sanctions, which have severely disrupted Russia’s access to critical military and dual-use technologies.

The Russian defense industry has long relied on imported components, particularly advanced microelectronics, composite materials, and precision machining tools. Sanctions have cut off access to many of these crucial inputs, forcing Moscow to scramble for alternatives. While efforts to replace imported components with domestically produced substitutes have been underway for years, the results have been mixed at best.

A study analyzing the Russian defense industry’s ability to produce key technological components found that only about a quarter could be effectively replaced, leaving at least half without viable local substitutes. The gaps in production have forced Russia to slow down or even scale back certain military projects, and the Su-57 has been no exception. Meanwhile, the F-35 benefits from a vast multinational supply chain, ensuring that production remains uninterrupted and scalable, highlighting the stark contrast in industrial resilience between the two programs.

To mitigate these challenges, Moscow has increasingly turned to alternative strategies such as parallel imports and sourcing components from allied or neutral nations. Countries like China and Turkey have become crucial suppliers, providing Russia with access to high-tech components through indirect channels.

However, the quality and reliability of these alternative sources vary significantly, raising concerns about the performance and longevity of systems that rely on them. Even with such workarounds, the Su-57 program remains hindered by logistical bottlenecks and rising costs, further limiting the scale of its deployment.

In contrast, the F-35’s global network of production and maintenance facilities ensures consistent quality control and operational readiness, granting it a significant edge over the Su-57 in terms of reliability and sustainability.

Related: Ukraine has downed more Russian aircraft than it has lost

Su-57: Can it fight and win?

A Su-57 Felon being refueled. (Creative Commons)

Beyond production challenges, the Su-57 has also faced scrutiny over its actual battlefield effectiveness and overall reliability. Despite its impressive specifications, the aircraft has yet to be tested extensively in real combat scenarios. While Russian sources claim that the Su-57 has seen limited action in Ukraine, independent verification remains sparse. Furthermore, questions about build quality have emerged from international observers

At a recent airshow in Zhuhai, China, one displayed Su-57 exhibited visible defects, including poorly fitted screws and gaps in the fuselage. Such quality control issues have fueled skepticism about the aircraft’s overall refinement and raised concerns among potential foreign buyers.

This stands in stark contrast to the F-35, which, despite its own developmental hiccups, has undergone rigorous testing and refinement, making it the most widely adopted fifth-generation fighter in the world.

he F-35 has been battle-tested in multiple theaters, with verified reports of its use in combat missions, reinforcing confidence in its capabilities and performance.

Despite these obstacles, the Su-57 remains central to Russia’s long-term military aviation strategy. The Kremlin views it as a vital component of its efforts to maintain parity with the United States and China in the realm of next-generation fighter aircraft.

Yet, the difficulties in scaling up production underscore the broader struggles facing Russia’s defense industry in an era of tightening economic and technological restrictions.

A fighter felon with no future?

While Moscow will likely continue refining and improving the Su-57 over the coming years, its ability to field the aircraft in large numbers remains uncertain. The Su-57, for all its promise, exemplifies the broader challenges confronting Russia’s military-industrial complex as it attempts to navigate a future constrained by sanctions and geopolitical isolation, while lagging behind the F-35 in both production numbers and operational deployment.

The F-35’s success has positioned it as the dominant fifth-generation fighter. In contrast, the Su-57 remains an aspirational project still struggling to reach meaningful scale, a reality that underscores the growing disparity between Russian and Western military aerospace capabilities.

Feature Image: Russian Su-57 Felons (Creative Commons)

This article by Andrew Latham was originally published by 19FortyFive.com.

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