According to Military Watch Magazine, new facilities have opened at the aircraft factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Far East, designed specifically to expand production of the fifth-generation Su-57 fighter. The opening of new facilities is timed to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the plant and will also allow further testing of the fighter’s fuel system and avionics equipment. Currently, the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant produces Su-35 and Su-57 fighters, and the production of the latter has significantly expanded: deliveries in 2023 amounted to 12 aircraft compared to six in the previous year. Production is expected to increase to 20 Su-57 fighters in 2024, and possibly exceed 30 aircraft in the following years. The Su-57 fleet is expected to reach 76 fighters in 2027, compared with 22 fighters today, while a number of unconfirmed reports suggest that additional aircraft may be exported by then — for example, a squadron of 14 fighters may be delivered to Algeria.

Even in the footage from 2020, it can be seen that advanced technologies are really involved in the production of the aircraft, including augmented reality headsets that allow workers to perceive computer-generated information “on top” of real vision, which allows them to solve production tasks. Although much remains uncertain about the degree of stealth of the Su-57, initial criticism in the Western world was largely based on observations of prototypes. Serial aircraft, although much less stealthy than the most advanced Chinese and American fifth-generation fighters, still showed a significant improvement in production quality and a decrease in the effective scattering surface.

It is expected that the expanded production of the Su-57 will allow the Russian industry to phase out the production of Su-30 or Su-35 fighters (and possibly both at once), since domestic orders are focused on the new fifth-generation fighter and the Su-34 fighter-bomber. The Su-57 program is significantly out of schedule: commissioning was planned for 2015, and it was initially assumed that 50 fighters would be commissioned by the end of 2020, and 200 in 2025. However, the first full regiment of 24 fighters is likely to be formed only in 2024. However, despite these shortcomings, the Su-57 remains the most thoroughly tested aircraft of its generation in combat conditions and has been used for operations in the Ukrainian theater of operations since the beginning of 2022, including for precision strikes, suppression of enemy air defenses and even participation in air battles, the American magazine notes.

@ino_tv