The production cost of Russia’s fifth-generation stealthy light fighter Su-75 is about 30 million USD. This information was published in Interfax, by a source in the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC).
According to information from Interfax, $ 30 million is “the production cost of an experimental Su-75 Checkmate fighter “, while the cost of mass production of the Su-75 is still undetermined.
The head of Rostec Sergei Chemezov said that the cost of a new fighter (not a model or a demonstration aircraft) will be around 25-30 million USD. But if the model or prototype is already priced at $30 million, the finished plane will cost much more than the original price declared by Russia.
Of course, it can be assumed that this price does not include aircraft research and development funding; If the cost of research and development is included, the Su-75 stealth fighter cannot have such a price, because the R&D cost hundreds of millions of dollars. For example, according to open sources, the development of the Su-57 cost Russia about 1.65 billion USD.
From this, we can conclude that Russia is trying to encourage potential future buyers of the Su-75 Checkmate light fighter aircraft , by offering an attractive low price.
But is the price so low for such a modern fighter (at least as suggested by the manufacturer) right? When the price of a fighter aircraft includes production costs, plus research and development (R&D) costs and selling costs it will cost more. Therefore, it is difficult to have a price for a light 5th generation fighter like the Su-75 Checkmate for $ 30 million. Currently, the price of an F-35 fighter, the Air Force version costs about 120 million USD.
Finally, Su-57 had introduced to the world 11 years ago, and still its not in mass production, according to the latest news the Russian Ministry of Defense will receive only four Su-57 fighters this year, there are doubts about other published figures for the Su-75 Checkmate, including mass deliveries to begin in 2026.
The Su-75 Checkmate is a single-engine stealth fighter; according to the manufacturer Sukhoi, the Su-75 will be tested in 2022; Before the first test flights, the Su-75 will receive the izdeliye 30 engine. This engine is expected by both Russian aviation, as it is expected to become the main engine of both Su-57 and Su-75 in the future. With the Izdelie 30 engine, the Su-75 Checkmate will reach speeds of up to Mach 2 and will have low radar reflectivity, one of the features of a stealth fighter.
The Su-75 will make its first flight in 2023. This means that for the next almost a year and a half, Russian engineers will test many processes, as well as all possible systems, but on the ground, not in the air.
Equipment of the stealth fighter Su-75 Checkmate will be similar to that of the Su-57. According to Yuri Slyusar, the Checkmate fighter can use the entire range of weapons of the Su-57. This means that the Su-57’s bombs, air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, anti-ship missiles and electronic warfare systems will be used on the Su-75. This reduces the cost and development time of the Su-75.
For close combat, the Su-75 is equipped with a 30 mm automatic aviation cannon. All weapons of the Su-75 equipped, will be located both in the internal weapons bay of the fuselage and, if necessary, on the hardpoints of the wings. In addition to the manned version, the Su-75 Checkmate will have an unmanned version.
If all the tests go according to plan, the UCA will begin mass production in 2026. As mentioned above, UAC expects the first customer to be the Russian Air Force, which is very likely. But Russia so sure that India, Vietnam and Argentina will buy this aircraft too.
According to Yuri Slyusar, the goal of the UCA company is to produce 300 of these fighters within the next 15 years. This number was given in the business plan for the Su-75 Checkmate.
Su-75 Checkmate will be available on the international market in the near future. According to Yuri Slyusar, the company has thoroughly researched potential countries and regions that may be interested or give any signal for the purchase of this fighter.
According to the company’s CEO, 300 Su-75s will be produced for international customers. It is also rumored that the Su-75 Checkmate will be a low-cost fighter and a real competitor in the international market of the US F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation stealth fighter.
The Su-75 Checkmate is not a light version of the Su-57 as many people think, but was developed from the mistakes of the Russians during the development of the Su-57. This was officially confirmed by Yuri Slyusar
Thus, the Su-75 development program has become clear, the first flight of the Su-75 is expected in 2023, while mass production is due in 2026. In the next three years, a second prototype will be built and will be equipped with weapons, avionics, radar and will be tested in real combat conditions in Syria (if the war not over).
It seems that the expectations of the Russians about the future and the effectiveness of the Su-75 Checkmate are very high. Also, its huge a doubt if Russia can achieve what they are promising to the international market at a very small time and low price. At this early stage, there can be no exact conclusions, but all predictions. The first data and analysis will be carried out in phases over the next year and a half. Only then can conclusions and analysis of technical characteristics be made