The confrontation between the most advanced stealth fighters of Russia Su-57 and the US F-22 has always attracted great attention from the media.
Currently, the US has put 187 F-22A Raptor stealth fighters into service and hundreds of F-35 Lightning IIs with all 3 versions serving in the Air Force, Navy, and Marines. Meanwhile, Russia has only one fifth-generation fighter Su-57 Felon in the first batch of mass production serving in the combat component.
However, Russia’s Su-57 fighter aircraft is commented that in terms of all basic criteria, this combat vehicle not only makes the F-35 “look up”, but also outperforms the fighter America’s best stealth is the F-22.
Notably, the above comment was not made by Russian military experts as usual but came from the US National Interest magazine itself. The article said: “The media knows very little about the Su-57. Although it is on duty, many details of the aircraft are still being kept under strict confidentiality. What was revealed was the Sukhoi struggled to develop the Su-57, especially key components such as engines.”
“According to the plan, the first mass-produced Su-57 will be part of the Russian Aerospace Forces in 2019, but in fact the above timeline has been pushed back quite far, showing the difficulties that Moscow is facing right now to produce Su-57.”
“Military aviation experts believe that the Su-57 Felon is an evolution of the Su-27 Flanker, in which the fourth-generation fighter is modernized for a low area of radar reflectivity, but also offers the ability to greater mobility”.
“The mixed wing design increases internal mass for avionics, fuel, and weapons. So what will happen if F-22 and Su-57 fight each other? What advantages do give the design of the two aircraft in different areas?
“The priority and weapons of the Su-57 help detect and eliminate threats from a long distance. The key to this strategy is that the Su-57 radar must be able to identify stealth targets at long distances. The Su-57’s emphasis on speed allows it to react quickly or retreat from battles in an emergency chance.”
“In the event that two fighter jets come within range of the pilot’s line of sight, the combination of the Su-57’s maneuverability and the infrared tracking and seeker will make superior against F-22 Raptor”.
But however, in close combat, it is difficult to judge which fighter will be superior, because we do not know how flexible the Su-57 is capable of maneuvering.”
“However, the infrared search and tracking system on Russian aircraft – something that US stealth fighters do not have and it will be a huge advantage for Su-57 fighter,” National Interest magazine cited a comparative analysis.
The capabilities of the Russian-made fifth-generation fighter are really a lot of mysteries, but with the characteristics revealed on the Su-57, it seems to have surpassed the American F-22. in both close and long range combat. But however it still not easy to detect F-22 from long range because of its excellent stealth capabilities. According to US air force, F-22 has the lowest RCS of any manned aircraft in the USAF inventory, with a frontal RCS of 0.0001~0.0002 sqm.
While Su-57 being less stealthy than F-35 (-40 dBsm) – it has a 1,000 times bigger RCS. Since detection range is proportional to the 4th root of RCS, a 1,000 times bigger RCS equates to 5.6 times greater detection range. And this is after giving Su-57 every benefit of doubt, the F-35’s RCS is very likely closer to -50 dB.’
But it should be emphasized that this is still a theoretical comparison, the real victory of the two fighter lines will only be answered when they are actually confronted on the battlefield, because there is no guarantee of the features of Russian weapons. Really good as advertised.