Russian aircraft manufacturers have delivered a batch of new fifth-generation Su-57 fighters to the Defense Ministry, Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said on Thursday.
"The Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant has handed over the next series of Su-57 (Generation 5) and Su-35S (Generation 4++) aircraft to the Russian Air Force," Manturov, who is also the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said.
The aircraft were handed over to the military after a full cycle of factory tests and trials.
According to Yury Slyusar, president of the Russian United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), "the remaining fifth-generation fighters to be delivered in 2023 are in the final assembly hangars and at the test airfields".
The Russian Su-57, also known as the T-50, is a fifth-generation stealth fighter that is designed to replace the Su-27 series of fighter jets. It is equipped with advanced sensors and avionics, including an active electronically scanned array radar and an infrared search and track system. It can carry a range of air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles.
Deliveries of these aircraft began in 2022. According to the present state armament program, the Russian Aerospace Forces will receive 76 Su-57s by 2027. According to open sources, the Russian Aerospace Forces had 6 Su-57s in service before the latest delivery, and by the end of 2024, the army is to receive 22 fighters.