Article Summary – At the 2025 Dubai Air Show, Russia rolled out an updated model of its Su-75 Checkmate, a single-engine “affordable” stealth fighter now pitched in manned, two-seat, and unmanned loyal wingman variants.
-The redesign features a new wing, refined rear fuselage, diverterless inlets, internal bays, and specs that put it theoretically alongside the Gripen E and South Korea’s KF-21.
KF-21. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-On paper, Checkmate promises Mach 2 performance and multi-role flexibility.
-In reality, it has no prototype, no Russian program of record, and is backed by an industry under crushing sanctions—making any export buyer’s risk uncomfortably high.
Russia May Be Quietly Pushing a Su-75 Checkmate Stealth Fighter Sale
At this year’s Dubai Air Show, Russia’s Sukhoi displayed a model of a new, “developed” version of its single-engine, lightweight Su-75 Checkmate fighter jet, also known as the Light Tactical Aircraft (LTA). The latest model, if it is representative of the current version, appears to show a new aircraft with a redesigned wing and rear fuselage.
“The current management of Sukhoi and the OAK [United Aircraft-Building Corporation] are the world’s experts in displaying models of some aircraft concept that they have neither the funding nor the customer base to actually bring to fruition,” said a retired Russian aerospace industry designer.
“But Dubai is one of the top-priority events in the international aerospace calendar,” he explained. “The major Russian decision-makers are always here. If they are making a point of exhibiting a new model of this aeroplane, then it means there is a persistent intent to keep the program still running and begin production of this model—despite current development problems with delays and major questions as to funding possibilities.”
During a press event in Dubai, the Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov said the Su-75, also known as Checkmate, is “almost at the stage of flight testing.”
“Generally, it takes 10-15 years on average to develop a combat aircraft, and we have only recently started this work,” Chemezov told the media at the Dubai event. “I believe that [Checkmate] will be in demand,” he added.
“This is a cheaper, single-engine aircraft, and I think that it will have enough weapons to meet all the requirements for destroying both aerial and ground targets.”
Russia’s Answer to the CCA
In the clearest sign of any developments with this program since Sukhoi showed a full-scale mockup of the aircraft at the 2021 Dubai expo, the Russian aircraft firm presented a completed model of an unmanned variant.
This model, which appears to be Russia’s attempt to develop a Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) or an unmanned “Loyal Wingman” version of the aircraft. This model clearly shows that in the unmanned version, the Su-75 Checkmate features an updated wing and a revised rear fuselage, both of which differ significantly from the manned version.
In the manned version, the aircraft’s design has also changed. There is an extension and an inclination of the wing’s trailing edge, which increases the aircraft’s overall wing area.
Based on these new models, industry analysts assess that Sukhoi intends to promote the Su-75 in export markets, even though there apparently is still no full-scale prototype of the aircraft. The timeline for its development remains a big question mark as well.
According to Sukhoi officials, there will be a two-seat, combat-capable version of the aircraft in addition to the single-seat and unmanned versions. The two-seat version of the Su-75 will follow a design technique that dates back to the 1980s, when the Su-27UB was designed.
This will raise the rear seat slightly to improve the crewman’s visibility. By building the aircraft in these variants, the Su-75 will be capable of conducting training, strike, intercept, and loyal wingman missions.
Design Details
Sukhoi is promoting the aircraft as featuring a diverterless supersonic inlet, a V-shaped tail, and both an internal weapons bay and external hardpoints. The aircraft is intended to be between 6,000 and 7,400 kilograms.
Su-75 Checkmate. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Su-75 Checkmate and Su-57. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The aircraft’s aerodynamic configuration has been optimized to reduce its radar cross-section (RCS), while still allowing high-altitude operations. The Sukhoi specifications call for an aircraft with a length of 17.7 meters, an 11.8-meter wingspan, and a maximum takeoff weight of roughly 26 metric tons.
Combat performance is supposed to achieve speeds of Mach 1.8 to 2.0, with a combat range of 2,900 to 3,000 kilometers, a ferry range of about 3,000 kilometers, and a service ceiling near 16,500 meters.
The Checkmate is marketed for air-to-air and air-to-surface missions and can carry and launch the R-77, R-74M, Kh-38, Kh-59MK2, anti-ship missiles like the Kh-35E, guided bombs of several classes, and optional gun pods.
In theory, these characteristics put the Su-75 Checkmate in the same class as the JAS-39 Gripen E and the KF-21 Boromae.
JAS 39 Gripen. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The difficulty for the Su-75, said the retired Russian aerospace industry designer, is “who is going to buy it? Anyone who decides to go with this unproven design, that is not a program of record with the Russian military and suffers from being produced by an industry under a mountain of sanctions. It is more than an acceptable level of risk,” he said.
“These other options – Gripen E or KF-21 – these are safer, more predictable and more retilable options,” he continued. It becomes hard to see why anyone would ‘take the plunge’ to go with the Su-75.”
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson has thirty-six years of experience analyzing and reporting on foreign weapons systems, defense technologies, and international arms export policy. Johnson is the Director of the Asia Research Centre at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. He is also a survivor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He worked for years in the American defense industry as a foreign technology analyst and later as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Departments of the Navy and Air Force, and the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2022-2023, he won two awards in a row for his defense reporting. He holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio, specializing in Soviet and Russian studies. He lives in Warsaw.
More Military
The U.S. Military Is In ‘Crisis’
Canada’s F-35 Stealth Fighter Mistake Is Just Around the Corner
The Mach 2.23 F-4G Wild Weasel Has a Message for the U.S. Air Force
