Russia has finally canceled full-scale production of the long-troubled and ill-fated Sukhoi Su-57 jet fighter, which was a fifth-generation fighter only in name.
This move means that the only stealth fighters in the world are the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (both from the United States) and China's Chengdu J-20.
At best, the Su-57 was a juiced-up, non-stealthy fourth generation fighter masquerading as a stealth jet. At worst, it was an embarrassing symbol of the high-level corruption and bureaucratic bungling so pervasive in a Russian defense industry dominated by cronies of dictator Vladimir Putin.
It was a fighter good only for propaganda photos and stirring words of approval from the Russian military, and its cancellation proves this point. Although the first prototype flew in 2009, Russia only managed to produce from 10 to 12 of these jets, including the prototypes.
Russia bragged the Su-57 was cheap -- only $40 million per plane. The true cost of the plane, however, was placed by Western analysts at over $100 million per aircraft. This made the Su-57 the most expensive fighter in Russian and world history, more expensive than even the F-35, of which over 300 have been produced since 2006.
But it was the collapse of the co-production deal with India that ultimately sealed the fate of the Su-57. Without India to share the enormous cost burden of developing and producing the Su-57, cash-poor Russia was unable to do this on its own. India now shows a strong interest in acquiring the F-35.
In announcing the death of its "F-35 killer," the Russian military made the incredibly inane excuse the Su-57 was axed because it was so good, Russia no longer needed to produce it.
"The plane has proven to be very good, including in Syria, where it confirmed its performance and combat capabilities," said Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov. "The Su-57 is considered to be one of the best aircraft produced in the world. Consequently, it does not make sense to speed up work on mass-producing the fifth-generation aircraft."
Borisov's comments "could be charitably described as an unreasonably optimistic reason why they stopped production," said Justin Bronk, a combat-aviation expert at the Royal United Services Institute, a British defense, and security think tank.
"Russia is more or less admitting defeat in building a feasible fifth-generation fighter," said Bronk.
In the end, the verdict is the Su-57 was never really a fifth-generation jet -- and never really stealth.
