Russia’s Su-57 ‘Felon’ Stealth Fighter Is a Total Failure

Key Points and Summary on the Su-57 Felon: Russia’s Su-57 “Felon,” its premier fifth-generation stealth fighter, is a commercial failure on the international arms market, unable to attract buyers beyond a single, unconfirmed deal with Algeria for 14 aircraft.

-Unlike the widely exported American F-16 and F-35, the Su-57E export variant has been largely shunned.

Su-57. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

-This lack of interest is likely due to the Felon’s questionable stealth capabilities, which experts suggest are a generation behind its US counterparts and more comparable to a fourth-generation jet.

-The program’s inability to secure foreign partners is a significant blow to its credibility and Russia’s prestige as a major arms exporter.

Russia’s Su-57 ‘Felon’: The ‘Stealth’ Fighter That Can’t Find Any Buyers

There are three countries currently that have produced 5th Generation stealth fighters: the United States of America (as in the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II), the People’s Republic of China (as in the Chengdu J-20 Weilong [“Mighty Dragon”] and Shenyang J-35), and Russia (as in the Sukhoi Su-57 [NATO reporting name “Felon”]). Meanwhile, India is working on its Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), but it isn’t expected to be fully operational until 2035.

Of the extant stealth fighter jets, Russia’s “Felon” seems to be the most troubled in terms of reputation and credibility. This seems to be especially true of its export version, the Su-57E (the “E” literally means “Export” in both English and Russian), which hasn’t gained any solid foreign military sales (FMS) customers other than Algeria. (The Russian defense industry is practically bending over backwards in its effort to sell the Su-57 to India, but New Delhi hasn’t bitten yet.) Why is this so?

FMS as a Measure of Confidence

Though certainly not the only yardstick by which to measure a warplane’s overall quality and merits, it’s generally considered a pretty good testament when a platform generates multiple FMS customers, as that’s a clear indicator of a multinational vote of confidence on top of the home nation’s potentially biased patriotic inclination toward a homegrown plane.

Two prime Western examples are Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Fighting Falcon (also known as the “Viper”) and the F-35 mentioned above. The former is used by 25 countries, with an estimated 2,084 operational airframes worldwide, making it the most common fixed-wing aircraft in military service.

As for the Lightning II, despite all the controversies surrounding its infamous cost overruns in the United States, it is currently in use by nine non-US nations, with another nine waiting in the wings (both literally and figuratively) to receive their deliveries.

Su-57 Fighter From Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.

For their part, Russian-designed warplanes have also generated more than their fair share of foreign customers. For example, the Mikoyan MiG-29 “Fulcrum” has been adopted by over 30 countries, while the Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot reportedly has 21 worldwide users as of the last count.

So, then, why are there no foreign buyers lining up to buy the Su-75? Is this an unspoken lack of confidence in the Felon?

Felon Flaws

In a word, “Da (Yes).” In a 21 September 2023 article for Warbird Fanatics bluntly titled “Why The SU-57 ‘Felon’ *****,” author “Rej” elaborates: “[I]t had a 1,000 times worse radar cross-section than the F-35. It had a similar radar cross-section not to other stealth fighters, but to fourth gen fighters … It falls short in areas like stealth capabilities, limited production numbers, and outdated systems … The Su-57 is nearly a generation behind the F-35 which significantly outperforms it in every important metric in modern aerial combat, by seeing it first, hitting it first, without even showing up to the SU-57 visually. “

Differences Between Su-57E and Non-Export Su-57

The primary differences in the “E” model of the Su-57—which Rosoboronexport officially dubs the “perspective multirole fighter” for marketing purposes—are a different IFF (Identification Friend or Foe), flight instrument software adjusted to display readings in Imperial units (feet, miles, etc.) as opposed to the metric system, the cockpit labeled in English, and the ability to accommodate non-Russian ordnance.

Current Status of the Algerian Air Force

Despite the flaws and uncertainties, the Algerians appear willing and able to take the chance on the Su-57E. After all, this would make Algeria the first Arab country and the first North African nation (indeed, the first African nation of any kind) to obtain a stealth fighter, thus providing Algiers with major prestige and bragging rights.

Su-57 Felon Fighter Russian Ministry of Defense Photo

Accordingly, on 27 December 2019, Algeria signed a contract to purchase 14 Felon airframes from Russia; this deal was officially confirmed by Algerian state television in February 2025. The announcement added that Algerian pilots are currently undergoing training in Russia, with the first deliveries of the jets expected to begin later this year.

According to the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft (WDMMA), the Algerian Air Force (Forces aériennes algériennes) currently has 618 units in its active aircraft inventory, ranking it 24th out of 129 individual air services from 103 countries tracked by the website. Of these 618 airframes, 154 are fighter planes, including:

–30 Su-30 “Flanker-Cs”

–21 MiG-29S “Fulcrums”

–33 Su-24MK “Fencers”

–14 MiG-29 M/M2s

–13 MiG-25 “Foxbats“

Of that inventory, the Su-30 is the newest of the bunch, relatively speaking, having debuted in 1996; ergo, the fielding of the Su-57 would definitely inject some new lifeblood into the Algerian Air Force.

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About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert

Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU).

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