Russia’s New Su-57M Stealth Fighter Could Give the Air Force Trouble

Meet the Su-57M – The Su-57 Felon is Russia’s first serious effort to produce a fifth-generation stealth fighter jet. The Felon recently took another step toward maturity as a technological platform.

The Su-57M, a new variant of the fighter, integrates new electronics, engines, and, most intriguingly, an artificial-intelligence assistant. Together, these updates could allow the Su-57 to take its intended place among the most advanced fighters in the world.

Su-57M – New Fighter variant

The new Felon has been updated in ways subtle and less so. The M variant is equipped with the AL-51F-1, a more advanced version of the engines that drive the current Felon fleet. The AL-51F-1 provides more power at greater fuel efficiency, while also enhancing the Felon’s low-observability characteristics.

The Su-57M’s fuselage has been modified slightly to improve stability and high-speed performance. Overall, the new variant seems to deliver real progress along the path to product maturity, a process that plays out in every fighter jet as it moves from initial delivery to serviceability in numbers.

Pilot’s Little Helper

The biggest innovation for the Su-57M appears to be the inclusion of an AI assistant designed to assist the pilot during missions. The AI evidently handles some of the tasks associated with basic flying, as well as aiding with target acquisition.

The idea of an AI assistant for the pilot of a single-seat fighter jet makes a great deal of sense. Dan Hampton, an F-16 pilot and the author of Viper Pilot, once described flying a fighter in combat as playing all the instruments in a rock band at the same time. Western fighter design and pilot training have focused on facilitating this process and making it easier for the pilot to understand and influence his or her environment. But in this analogy, the AI assistant could relieve some of the complexity by taking over the drums and bass while the pilot focuses on fronting the band.

Export

The AI assistant may also be key to the export prospects of the Su-57. There is often a gulf between the domestic and export variants of Russian military equipment. This protects Russian technology. Nevertheless, innovations often find their way, in some form, into the export versions. Less capable versions of the AI assistant could be part of an export package for either the Su-57 or for other, older Russian fighter aircraft.

If Russia is willing to be sufficiently loose with its controls of the technology, the AI assistant could be of tremendous interest to second-tier air forces that often lack the resources to train pilots to the most strenuous extent. The assistant could help such air forces close the gap with their most advanced competitors, while also opening up the potential for accomplishing complex missions that place the greatest demands on pilots.

Russia-Ukraine War

The Felon has yet to contribute in any significant way to Russia’s war in Ukraine. To the extent that Russia has used Su-57s, it has largely been to carry out missions that most any Russian fighter could accomplish without difficulty, such as launching long-range munitions from deep within Russian airspace.

The increasing presence of Western aircraft in the Ukrainian fleet could eventually change this, but that would require a significant change in operational conditions over the battlefield. That said, simplifying the tasks required of the pilot could enable the Su-57M to take a more aggressive role in the Russia-Ukraine War.

Missions such as Suppression of Enemy Air Defense and air-to-air combat often place immense mental stress on a pilot, and tools to lessen that stress could make such missions easier to conceive and execute.

What Next for Su-57M Fighter?

The Su-57 remains in low-rate production, and Russia’s aerospace industry still faces formidable obstacles against reliably building enough aircraft to challenge a coalition of NATO air forces.

The Felon was well behind schedule even before Russia invaded Ukraine, and the priorities of Russia’s defense industry have been on warfighting, rather than aerospace innovation, over the past three years.

Moreover, Western sanctions have slowed the rate at which Russia can produce the most advanced components necessary to make the Felon operational in numbers.

Nevertheless, the Su-57M seems to be a real step forward in the capabilities of the platform. It could help to close a growing gap between Russian and Western fighters.

About the Author: Dr. Robert Farley

Dr. Robert Farley has taught security and diplomacy courses at the Patterson School since 2005. He received his BS from the University of Oregon in 1997, and his Ph. D. from the University of Washington in 2004. Dr. Farley is the author of Grounded: The Case for Abolishing the United States Air Force (University Press of Kentucky, 2014), the Battleship Book (Wildside, 2016), Patents for Power: Intellectual Property Law and the Diffusion of Military Technology (University of Chicago, 2020), and most recently Waging War with Gold: National Security and the Finance Domain Across the Ages (Lynne Rienner, 2023). He has contributed extensively to a number of journals and magazines, including the National Interest, the Diplomat: APAC, World Politics Review, and the American Prospect. Dr. Farley is also a founder and senior editor of Lawyers, Guns and Money.

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