SU-57: Why Russia is not using its most advanced aircraft over Ukraine
The Russian SU-57 stealth fighter will not have any significant impact on the outcome of the war in Ukraine, a defence analyst has said.
Peter Wilson, a senior defence policy analyst at the think tank RAND Corporation, says the use of the SU-57 has been "episodic and almost experimental" because the few aircraft that Russia has of this model are still being developed.
The SU-57 Felon is a multi-purpose fighter bomber with stealth defence and striking capabilities.
It is Russia's most advanced fifth-generation supersonic combat jet, with low-observability features and highly advanced intelligence-gathering sensors on the wings.
But, according to a Ministry of Defence Intelligence (MOD) update, Russia is playing it safe with its stealth jets.
The MOD said: "This is symptomatic of Russia's continued risk-averse approach to employing its air force in the war."
Despite being Russia's most advanced aircraft, it has not been spotted over Ukrainian skies.
Since June 2022, the SU-57 combat bombers have been used in missions targeting Ukraine, but the attacks were launched from within Russia, the MOD said.
"These missions have likely been limited to flying over Russian territory, launching long-range air-to-surface or air-to-air missiles into Ukraine," the MOD added in a Twitter post.
If a Felon was to get hit over Ukrainian territory that could result in the loss of sensitive information and cause reputational damage according to the MOD.
Defence analyst Mr Wilson said that the use of SU-57 is "episodic and almost experimental and tentative and will not have any consequence on the outcome of this war".
"There are just too few of them and the aircraft is still immature," he said.
It does not seem that Russia will have more of these weapons soon, as they are having problems developing a next-generation engine and struggling to import microprocessor and sensor technology.
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