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| Russian Su-57 Stealth Fighter Shoots Down Ukrainian Su-27 Fighter Jet |
International Military - Russia is one of only three countries capable of building a stealth fighter jet. The term stealth is indeed closely related to fifth-generation fighter jets. Called stealth because of its camouflage ability "invisible" from radar detection. This capability is indeed loaded on modern fighter jets and even the future.
In addition to stealth features, there are many more advanced technologies in this modern fighter jet. For now, only United States production is actually fully operational. Namely the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II, these two were made by Lockheed Martin. Then there is the J-20 Mighty Dragon from China, and the Su-57 Felon from Russia.
The capability of the Su-57 Felon is even above the Su-35. As an illustration, the Su-35 is a 4.5 generation heavyweight fighter jet. Fighter jets such as the Su-35 are considered a competitor to the US Boeing F-15 Eagle.
The Su-57 Stealth Fighter can track 60 targets at once, as it is equipped with six radars. In comparison, the Su-35 uses only three radars. And Ukraine uses only one radar in each of its fighter jets.
The radar used by the Su-57 is also not kidding, namely the super-sophisticated Active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. This kind of AESA radar is indeed commonplace to be placed on modern combat platforms. And not so long ago, Russia's most modern generation fighter jet showed its fangs. According to Defense View, the Su-57 Felon managed to shoot down the Ukrainian Su-27.
The incident occurred on October 10 last in a Ukrainian city. In that incident, the Su-57 fired an R-37M BVR missile. Which meant, Felon's attacks were beyond the reach of the eye. In short, this Russian fighter jet attack came from a great distance.
According to Defense View, the Su-27 was flown to attack Russian drones. But because it flew too high, it entered the Su-57 Felon's attack range. The appearance of this stealth Su-57 on the battlefield is a phenomenon. Because from the start, Russia was reluctant to use it in Ukraine.
Quoted from Military Watch Magazine, there are several underlying reasons. First, there are very few combat-ready Su-57 units. Initially, the Su-57 was expected to enter service in 2015 with 60 units and 200 units by 2025. But unfortunately, there are only a dozen Su-57s ready to fly. This number was not enough to form even for half a squadron.
In fact, Russia is called the pioneer of fifth-generation fighter jets. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union, their economy, human resources, and natural resources were at the level of "not fine". Especially in the defense sector. And this is what is believed to be a result of delays in the development of the fifth generation fighter jet, namely the Su-57 Felon.
Currently, Russia expects 76 of these fighter jets to be combat-ready by 2027. The second reason why the Su-57 is not deployed in Ukraine is because it is too sophisticated. True, the Su-57 was designed too sophisticatedly, so it needed a worthy opponent. While Ukraine does not have a fighter jet of the same level.
And please note, this reason is also felt by two other countries (US and China). Each country does not immediately deploy stealth fighter jets. Usually, this fighter jet is used for large-scale military aggression (with commensurate opponents).
And the third is a continuation of the second reason above. The Su-57 was not deployed because the Ukrainian Air Force was judged to be too weak. At least, the level is far below the Russian Air Force.
Ukraine itself has old fighter jets from the Soviet Union. During the war broke out last February, one of the problems that Ukraine experienced was the capability of its fighter jets. It is impossible to beat modern Russian fighter jets. Their president had from the beginning asked his Western allies to supply fighter jets. Ukraine has not developed a new fighter jet of its own in decades, since 1991.