- Russia’s fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jet first appeared a decade back.
- Russia has yet to produce the jet, despite its efforts.
- Russian officials have now confirmed that an upgraded Su-57 flew its maiden flight this month.
Moscow has been promoting the capabilities of the satellite since its official unveiling more than a decade back. fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighterThey are even higher than those of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor or Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II aircrafts.
However, Russia has been struggling with the development of the Su-57 (NATO reporting name “Felon”) in recent years, and just 10 test prototypes and six serially produced aircraft have been produced — of which two have been lost in crashes during test flights.
Despite those setbacks, the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), a subsidiary of the state-owned tech conglomerate Rostec, has continued the fighter’s development — and this week announced that an upgraded Su-57 made its debut flight earlier this month.
Associated Press
According to the UAC press release, “The Sukhoi Design Bureau in the UAC continues work for further development of Su-57.” Tass via a statement. “On October 21, the fifth-generation Su-57 plane made its debut flight at Gromov Flight Test Institute’s runway. Hero of Russia Sergey Bogdan, Sukhoi Design Bureau’s test pilot flew the aircraft. The flight took 56 minutes and was smooth without any snags.
According to reports, Su-57M was testing new types of weapons and onboard equipment.
“The aircraft also offers the possibility to install a secondary-stage engine,” said the statement. This initiative’s codename is “Megapolis”, while current Su-57 research-and-development were called “Stolitsa”, which means “capital”.
There have been several reports.The most significant aspect of the upgrade is the installation new “izdeliye 30” engines. These can provide a thrust equivalent to around 16 tonnes.
An AI copilot?
Associated Press
The Su-57’s AI technology is one of its most notable features. It could be used as a virtual co-pilot to gather data from all the sensors and then provide critical information to the human operator.
AI has been viewed as a critical component of the future “sixth-generation” fightersThese aircraft could be transformed by onboard computer clusters made up of high-performance ruggedized CPUs. Data centers in the Sky
This could enable pilots to take faster decisions.
Roger Entner, an analyst in technology from Recon Analytics, stated that AI was already an integral part modern fighter jets.
Associated Press
Entner explained to 19FortyFive that modern jets are more maneuverable but inherently unstable in flight. AI is the only way they can fly straight. AI of the next generation will play an active role in improving survivability as well as mission capabilities.
Of course, the issue is how Russia — which is struggling to keep its current military hardware equipped with the latest microprocessors — will be able to mass produce such aircraft.
Already reports have surfaced that the Kremlin had to resort to violence. Take chips from consumer applianceTo Use in tanks or other vehicles. Moscow might need to use an advanced AI to find a solution to this problem.
Peter Suciu, a Michigan-based journalist, is a senior editor for 1945. He has ContributedIn his 20-year journalism career, he was a contributor to more than 4000 articles in newspapers and magazines. He frequently writes about military hardware and firearms history. Peter is also an author. Contributing writer for Forbes. Follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
