Myths about the Su-57
Truth about the Su-57 Felon
Okay we're going to dispel the myth that the Su-57 isn't stealth or 5th gen and we'll also go over the capabilities of the 4 currently produced 5th Generation fighters (most common models). There are several parts.
Intro
F-117 Incident
Stealth Technology
Top 23 Myths about Felon
RCS Numbers
F22 Vs Su-57
Weaknesses of Stealth Aircraft
Conclusion
Sources
Introduction
This is based on 3 factors, this is from over 30 hours of research, as well as several different scattering simulations, including our own at a computer science department at the university my friends work at.
Radar scattering Simulations and comparison with their average and minimum
The original prototype intended Number.
The minimum RCS the SNR-125 fire control radar can lock on relative to the RCS minimum of F-117, which was 0.2m² minimum required for lock on at any distance and RCS minimum of 0.005m² means its average was likely several decimal points higher. Of Course we take into account this was old stealth technology
F-117 Incident
It was detected because the RCS whilst having a minimum of ~0.005m², based on the fact it's an older design and current radar simulations its overall median was likely ~0.08m² with a median in X band of ~0.01m² and VHF at ~0.7m² , which explains how the SNR-125 SAM FC radar of the system was able to lock on in the first place. The F-117 was detected by the P-18 VHF early warning radar at around 25 km, they tried and Failed to lock the F-117 with radar assistance from P-18 twice, then at around 13 km using the SNR-125M fire control radar with cueing from the P-18 they got a hard lock and successfully shot down the aircraft, According to Zoltan Dani, the commander of the S-125 battery.
There is many myths on why it got destroyed around it off course, three biggest being
“NATO flew the same route” this of course doesn't account for the fact that others were targeted and hit.
“bomb bay doors were open” this cope was invented by the pilot and of course there is absolutely no evidence for this and it makes no sense. Now bay doors obviously open when firing but they are trying to argue that they bay doors opening caused an RCS spike and thats the reason it was detected was because they were open, again no evidence beyond what NATO says and especially when it doesn't even make sense since originally the S-125 crew were having trouble getting a lock once it was detected by the P-18 and in fact it took THREE different attempts (S-125 and P-18 were nearly 40 years old at that point) if the bay doors were open its RCS would be huge and easily detectable and lockable the first time.
“Serbs had spies” the final and most laughable claim was that the Serbs had spies and knew exactly where they had been flown but still doesn't account for the above issues and the fact that another one got hit and several were targeted. Ignoring that there is absolutely no credible evidence for this.
So what did happen ? Simple, it got detected. Simple as that, “its RCS minimum is 0.005m² and SNR-125 needs minimum 0.2m² for lock, so how could it ?”
See this is how there is a massive misunderstanding of how stealth technology works, we'll go over that in a bit. Many people say “we'll if it wasn't luck how come only 2 were hit” truth be told, it was luck, Serbia's radar systems were very old, they had skilled operators but most of their radars were older soviet P series that were early monopulse or doppler with basic digital upgrades allowing rudimentary radar data fusion and they had no OTH radars, as far as I know they had some C2 integration but it wasn't great, although better than Iraq who had no such integration. And as far I know they had little IR tracking abilities or the stuff they did have was either older tail chasing stuff with some all aspect abilities.
The issue was people think it was lucky they were seen when in reality it was lucky they got hit because of how dated the serbian equipment was. For context they got detected and hit by 1st Generation SAMs with 2nd Generation 2D radars, imagine what it would have been like with 3rd Generation SAMs (S-300 or Patriot) that utilised 3rd Generation PESA search radars which was the modern standard by the 1980s.
Stealth Technology and mass confusion
Regarding stealth, there's two most common misconceptions.
“Aircraft is invisible to Radar” This one is pretty common, people think stealth Aircraft are completely invisible to radar but in reality it's just reduced detection, modern radars that reduce clutter especially can still show a radar blip on the oscilloscope but the hard part is getting a radar lock. The fact that F-35s have been detected before proves this.
“Stealth Aircraft can't be locked” This one is another common one, whilst it's true that getting a radar lock can be difficult, testing and F-117 Incident proves it can be done not to mention the fact that it can easily be locked by infrared homing missiles and modern phased array radars can easily lock stealth aircraft at close ranges, not even mentioning modern aircraft like Su-35, F/A-18E, Rafale, J-16, Typhoon, Gripen etc. use sensor fusion so can fuse radar, electro optical and infrared targeting data into one.
A big point to make about stealth aircraft is that you can know the aircraft are there, even an F-22, a modern AESA system on a fighter would be able detect it anywhere from 30 to even 100 km away and 130 to 300 km away for a large ground radar, depending on power, type, T/R count and band. The issue comes from getting a lock which would be a fraction of those distances, a strong IR tracker could lock it or a modern FLIR system but these only have ranges of 40-150 km. The best response would be to deploy Interceptors with powerful radars/IRST and long range missiles such as MiG-31BMs armed with R-37Ms which utilise modern OSNOD data link with high speed data exchange between A-50Us, A-100s or Nebo radars which are high powered VHF and L band systems that link targeting data to the aircraft.
This is also just single bands, an X band fire control radar supported by a VHF radar would have a far higher chance of lock.
These are also just single aircraft, stealth fighters work best in single units or squads,if you launched a bunch of Raptors at once it would be easily spotted.
Radar Cross Section Confused
What is RCS? As discussed this stands for radar cross section, basically what how big aircraft shows on radar is. There's three sets of these numbers.
RCS minimum
The RCS minimum is just the lowest possible RCS that the aircraft is capable of in the most ideal conditions, so it's going to be from a single band of Radar (most always X band as these are most common for fire control radars) from a single angle and aircraft position under perfect ideal weather conditions. This number is usually denoted as 0.00m².
RCS Median
You then have what's known as the median in a band. So in each band, X band, L band, VHF etc, this number is just what the average radar return is for the frontal aircraft angle. So in each simulation there are various numbers based on various types. This number is usually denoted as 0.0m²
RCS Overall Average
Lastly this is the aircrafts overall average in X band to VHF in all major angles. So it's the lowest median in X to the highest median in Y. This number is usually donated as 0.00-0m².
I use public Radar scattering simulations for numbers.
You've also got to remember these are idealised numbers, even with F-35 or F-22 radar spikes can be very unpredictable especially in different weather conditions, and these are just airframe approximations, you've also got to remember different aircraft are more stealthy in certain frequencies. The F-35 is overall more stealthy than Su-57 but as an example the Su-57 has better frontal stealth in VHF than the F-35 and the J-20 has better back cone stealth in X band than F-35. Although you need to remember, these are just airframe approximations and don't fully account for radar absorbing materials as the materials are classified so the RCS numbers are for bare aircraft frames, although for this we did additional research to try to get the best approximation on how RAM would function and we use 10 decibels (stuff like F-22 would be higher or around 20 decibels as it's got some of the best RAM) on average for RAM reduction or around a factor of one hundred.
All sources are at the end.
Top 23 myths about the Su-57 Felon.
In this part i will go over 23 common myths or misconceptions about the Su-57.
I genuinely think there is a psyop against the Felon because so many people repeat false claims, below I will answer the 23 most common myths and questions about the Felon.
1. "It's same RCS as hornet"
By FAR the biggest myth here, its hilarious because of how wrong it is, the F/A-18 Advanced Super Hornet has an RCS minimum of 0.1m², it was an experimental variant by Boeing with RAM coatings, internal weapon systems, low visibility airframes and stealthy exhausts, the normal F/A-18E is said to have a bare RCS minimum of around ~0.5m² so it's bare overall RCS average is probably around 1-2m² with an overall median around ~1m² nowhere near the felons median.
You also need to remember the Size difference, the Su-57 is around double the size of the super hornet and that these numbers are for the front facing, super hornets have no stealth features for the side, top or bottom or back facing.
2. "It's RCS is bad it's 0.1-1m² whilst F-35 is 0.001m²"
This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how stealth works.
Directly from the patent
“The technical result, which the invention is aimed at achieving, consists in reducing the value of the aircraft radar visibility to an average value of about 0.1-1 m2”
This is just a generalised number, from the original 2004 PAK-FA design in the patent.
Average could mean numerous things.
Overall average in all bands
Overall average in X band
Overall average in VHF
Average in front in X band
Average in side in VHF
Trying to imply that its RCS minimum is 0.1m2 or 1m2 or 0.5m2 from this shows you don't understand stealth or how radar returns work and don't know how RCS data is collected and discerned.
How RCS Data works
How RCS data works
Using data on what very early prototypes are is also very stupid.
“So What is the number ?”
Sukhoi said that they intend the Su-57 to be 1/40th the frontal RCS of the Su-35S which is estimated to be anywhere from 0.7-2m or a median frontal reduction of around -13-17 dB.
This would give a frontal RCS of 0.0175m² to 0.0556m² depending on what Su-35S front is, most sources and scattering simulations say an RCS minimum of 1m².
This would give the Su-57 a frontal RCS of 0.025m², which actually correlates pretty well with scattering simulations that I will get into later and if the number on the patent is an overall average, then these median numbers are very probably accurate.
Let's also just remember That those numbers were from the original early patent for the first T-50 prototypes, it's like using the YF-22 numbers.
As we said you have the RCS minimum which is just the lowest radar return possible, you have the average which is usually two numbers and the aircraft radar returns will be back and forth between the two, then you have the median, which is usually calculated from a single angle and radar band.
Anything below 1m can be hard for fire control radars to detect at high area defence range (200 km>), although modern radars and doctrine like low frequency ones or multi positional radars can negate stealth and modern systems like Patriot PAC-3 MSE, HQ-22, SAMP/T, NASAMS-2, S-300V4, S-350 and S-400 are able to lock on to RCS below 0.001m² at far point defence range (<60km) using X band systems.
3. "India thought it was rubbish"
Now. We need to get this out the way.
"India left the program because they thought it couldn't beat the F-22 and F-35"
That was the claim of senior indian military analysts. No. They left because they didn't pay for shit. Not only where they making ridiculous demands like stealth comparable to the F-22 but they also wanted the near 360° radar suite and advanced agility (PAK-FA program was $10b vs ATF $70b) there had to be a compromise and only the last two were chosen, India wanted ALL 3 but weren't willing to pay for it.
Now I'm going to go on a tangent here. But India are the most delusional military on earth. Now I know that sounds harsh but its based on two facts.
A. The fact they could have purchased a whole fleet of Su-57s or upgraded all 260 of their Su-30MKI into SM2 standard (with AESA, hybrid PESA, sensor fusion and new FCS and weapons) sinstead they bought 36 Rafales that they barely fly, all because they thought it was prestige and didn't want to be reliant on Russia. Only to lose 1-3 to J-10s even worse, they have decided to waste billions more buying Rafale.
B. When offered the Su-57E in 2025, the delusional Indian media and military GENUINELY and unironically said
"We want to use our avionics and radar as the felons is outdated"
These absolute ungrateful clowns who took 40 years from designing a 4.5 Gen to actually building one whilst Russia did it in a few years, have no fighters in service with AESA whilst Russia has 5 and have no indigenous engines whilst Russia is a global leader and who's only GaN radar is piece of plastic whilst Russia has several in service.
Absolutely delusional.
This is a huge issue for India. Narcissism and insecurity. They are INCREDIBLY insecure about the fact that much of their military was built by Russia.
For example.
Instead of replacing their Tejas radars with Zhuk-A they thought we will build our own Uttam.
Thar failed and Tejas uses normal pulse doppler.
Derp.
Instead of buying Zhuk-AMs or N036A for their Su-30MKIs, AESA radars that are ready for export and mass production they decide on Virupaaksha, a fake mock up that hasn't even reached testing stage.
Derp.
Instead of upgrading their MiG-29Ks with the latest 35 software and a Zhuk-A radar they buy Rafale-M for 10-15x the cost.
Derp.
Instead of buying R-77MEs with an AESA Seeker they will wait for Astra Mk2 that yet again hasn't even proved that even exists.
Derp.
What's worse is these delusional clowns regularly mock Russian equipment because it fails. Because their air force can't maintain a simple 3rd Generation Fighter never mind 4th Generation. They consistently crash Su-30MKI, MiG-29Ks and Mirage 2000Is all the time, most of the time due to mechanical failures due to dog shit maintenance.
So expecting to have similar stealth capabilities as the F-117 or F-35 and a better airframe than an F-22 when you have spent a fraction of the money or time dedicated to R&D is pretty silly and not realistic at all. Although if I'm honest I just genuinely think India didn't want to spend the money so made an excuse because in the end that level of stealth would require at least $100 billion. Something that Russia was not willing to spend on, as again F-35 domestic at start costed 3x what the initial Su-57 cost and the lifetime program cost of the F-22 in research and development alone was close to $70 billion dollars and then there's building the first 100 at $200m each which was over $20 billion, then the JSF which is estimated to have cost over $300 billion in total R&D and nearly $10 billion building the first 100 at $100m each.
We also need to remember that they pulled out when it was still in the early prototype stage of the T-50, since then the airframe underwent several iterations including changing to radar absorbing materials.
4. "Russia just doesn't have the technology or capabilities to build stealth aircraft"
This is nonsense, compare the above costs to the PAK-FA program, where the cost was around $10 billion at start with additional $20 billion in overruns with the first 100 T-50s at $50m each set to cost around $5 billion and with that Russia managed to build a stealth fighter but remember the F-22 was built with a primary $70 billion R&D budget for the ATF program and built upon an over $100 billion Stealth technology foundation with F-117 and B-2.
Whilst the only stealth foundation Russia had was the Soviet MFI program with its MiG-1.44 5th Generation prototype that probably cost less than a billion. So the fact people say Russia technology is bad, when Russia has spent at most $10-30 billion on research and development over a decade and made an aircraft that is only 10x less stealthy than the F-35 (but has many advantages in other areas such as radar, airframe and missiles) is absolutely ridiculous when the US made the F-117 it was nearly double the Felons costs and by time F-22 came around the USA had already spent over $100 billion on research and development over the course of two decades with the F-117 and B-2 programs not including the $70 billion ATF program itself.
The fact it's nothing to do with Technology capabilities, if Russia was willing to spend that much on it's aircraft R&D then it would, instead Missile technology is where most of Russia's R&D budget goes, which is why Russia already has multiple hypersonic missiles in production and the United States recent cruise missile prototype failed in June 2023. It's why Russia has anti-satellite weapons that can accelerate to supersonic speeds immediately, it's why Russia has 4+ Generation Tanks in active service, it's why Russia has 4th Generation Manpads in service, it's why Russia outnumbers the US in modern digital ground based AESA radars and counter batteries nearly 5-1 and its why they outnumber the US in modern EW systems nearly 7-1, it's why their 3rd best SAM beats US premier SAM in detection range, tracking abilities, missile Range, engagement time and deployment time and it's why when US had not long made a SPAG with digital FCS, with solid state electronics, an automatic laying system, a digital ballistic artillery calculator, an INS, a mission control screen and a digital radio system Russia like Germany were building stuff with fully digital FCS, advanced computers, global navigation systems, SATCOMS and better deployment times and lastly it's why Russia has had modern radar missiles in use since 2018 with AESA seekers, advanced ECCM and ranges of 200 to 400 km whilst US only just tested the AIM-260 in 2021 and won't have a version that can be used inside its stealth fighters (like the R-77M and R-37M-810 can) until 2025-2026.
There's also the fact that russias new Su-75 is estimated to have an RCS minimum around 0.005m² based on small size, airframe and DSI ducts.
5. "Defence analysts say its stealth is bad so that proves it is"
Are these the same "analysts'' that say Russia has been getting hammered in Ukraine for 3 years or that Russia has run out of missiles and men or that Russian tanks are all bad ? In the end nobody knows what the Felons RCS minimum is, just like nobody knows what the F-22 or F-35 is. We're just using radar simulations and the manufacturers own statements to arrive at an educated guess. Anybody saying it's X or Y for definite has no idea what they're talking about.
“The design of the Su-57 is inherently unstealthy”
False.
Directly from a very well sourced radar scattering simulation from respected aussie air power
“In conclusion, this study has established through Physical Optics simulation across nine frequency bands, that no fundamental obstacles exist in the shaping design of the T-50 prototype, which might preclude its development into a genuine Very Low Observable design with constrained angular coverage”
6. "Its too big"
Size is irrelevant look at the size of the B-21 with RCS minimum of around ~0.01m² or the B-2 with an RCS minimum of ~0.1m²
7. "It's not true 5th Gen rather 4.5 low visibility aircraft "
False it's 5th Gen by all standards. There are 4 main criteria for 5th Gen, which are full stealth, powerful modern phased array radar, powerful computer systems with sensor fusion between avionics.
A true low observability fighter by definition is one that uses
Low visibility airframes
Full RAM coatings
Stealthy exhausts
Internal weapon bays
Has RCS minimum below 0.1m²
Has RCS overall average below 1m²
The RCS sources have already been explained.
For people who say it's a low visibility aircraft like Advanced Super Hornet.
No.
A low visibility aircraft is something that uses stealthy airframes and exhausts and maybe some RAM with bare horizontal frontal axis RCS minimum in X band examples being F/A-18E ASH ~0.1m², F/A-18E ~0.5m², F-16V ~0.5m², J-16 ~1m², J-15 ~1m², J-10A ~1m², J-10C ~0.1m², Su-35S ~1m², MiG-29K ~1m², MiG-35 ~1m², Yak-130 ~1m², Rafale ~0.5m² Typhoon ~0.1m² Tejas ~1m², etc. Basically a bare RCS minimum of <1m² and an average below 3m².
5th Gen is also defined by powerful computer systems, Felon has an 4-5 million SLOC-OS with C4ISR software which is double more than F-22
It has a 12x integrated AESA radar system with over 2700 T/R modules which is more than F-35 and F-22 with a GaN AESA EW System and radar
It has a full sensor fusion linked fire control (known in Russia as advanced full data fusion) with all digital systems thanks to its IUS-50 and MIRES sensor fusion system which is also used on Su-75
and other less capable versions known as IUS-35 are used on Su-30SM2, Su-34M, Su-35S and MiG-35..
How sensor fusion works and how it can potentiate targeting
8. “Defence analysts say it's stealth bad”
Because it's russian, same thing happened with the T-14 Armata in 2015, Ka-52 Alligator in 2000s, MiG-25 and MiG-23 in 70s, T-72 and T-80 in 90s etc. many of these so called military “analysts” are basically propagandists because the TRUTH is nobody knows what the real RCS is, heck nobody knows how powerful it's radar is, because they've never been tested by an independent 3rd party just like the Raptors or Lightnings systems haven't, we've tried to come to a conclusion using the best available evidence and computer tests.
9. “its RCS is 1m²”
No idea where this myth came from. It doesn't even make sense considering it's intended average on the original patent prototype was 0.1-1m and the RCS minimum is always MUCH lower than the average. It also makes no sense because Russia's Su-35S, MiG-29K and MiG-35 that have RCS minimums of 0.7m² and 1m² or below so the idea that its premier stealth fighter has the same stealth as a flanker/fulcrum upgrade and worse stealth than the MiG 1.44 is absolutely ludicrous.
Original Su-27 and MiG-29
10. “its never seen combat which proves its bad”
Ignoring the fact that this doesn't prove anything, it has been used in Ukraine several times. It has not only been used in Ukraine but Syria as well and it scored a long range kill of a UAF Su-27 with its R-97 that Ukraine thought was an SAM system, likely because they couldn't see it on radar.
11. “You can see its bolts and screws therefore it's stealth is bad”
The rivets and screws in question are on T-50 prototypes which are used for training or publicity. It is important to consider that the original PAK-FA prototype does not represent a production configuration of the aircraft, which is to employ a new engine design, and extensive LO treatments (such as radar absorbing material treatments, bolt and rivet coverings, leading edge trail treatments, radar blockers for exposed bearings installed, additional RAM on spike areas etc) which are not required on a prototype. A number of people and propaganda groups have attempted to draw conclusions about production PAK-FA LO performance based on the T-50 PAK-FA prototypes.
Serial produced airframes have all rivets and screws flush and covered in RAM with radar blockers in engine duct and RAM treatment on all trails and gaps. See the difference between the T-50 and Su-57S
T-50
Su-57S vs F-35 vs J-20
Side by side comparisons of T-50 vs Su-57S
Su-57S
T-50
Frame coated with RAM on Su-57S
Bare frame on T-50
"Why does Russia let the T-50 look like this"
Because they are only used for promotion or training purposes, Let's not forget that older F-22 airframes used for similar reasons all have visible screws or panels or are just in poor condition.
You can literally see the difference in visible rivets when the RAM is applied to production aircraft.
Pre RAM
Post RAM
Same on F35
Pre RAM
Post RAM
12. “It doesn't have DSI ducts therefore it's not a true stealth airframe”
This is why people should just read the patent or information given from Russia. No it doesn't use full DSI ducts, instead it uses partially curved ducts with RAM applied to the openings and a set of two radar blockers next to the fan blades similar to what the F-117 did. This was done because they wanted to fit 4x R-97s and large precision ground munitions inside the weapon bays and allow a for a higher agility airframe.
Again read the patents
This is a radar blocker.
Better yet see actual images and drawings.
13. “It has gaps between its panels and bumps therefore isn't really stealth”
Yeah this is just nonsense and has no effect on stealth capabilities. Both F-35 and F-22 have bumps and gaps.
14. “Sukhoi themselves said it was 0.5m²”
Again I have honestly no clue where this came from, there's Again no evidence beyond hear say. Is laughable to think premier stealth fighter would have worse rcs than MiG 1.44 tech demonstrator and slightly better than a fulcrum upgrade.
15. “Leaked documents show it's RCS is higher than 0.1m²”
This is just nonsense, I've heard this repeatedly so many times it's laughable. There's two types. The first are people using the patent and saying “it's RCS is 0.5m² because it says 0.1-1m² on document” not understanding that
That's a general average so the median and minimum is going to be much lower.
Those numbers were for the original T-50 demonstrator, again it's like using YF-22 numbers and lastly C. Again it's a rough idea what they were aiming for.
The other type is showing some half assed “official documents” claiming it's RCS was 0.4m² or sometimes 0.6m² both are nonsense because they are just fantasy with no evidence to back up validity.
16. “It's Engines don't merge with frame therefore it's not stealth”
This has nothing to do with an overall categorisation as a stealth aircraft. Proof? The YF-23.
17. “I've seen it carry Weapons on the outside, this proves it's stealth is rubbish”
Believe it or not this has genuinely been said to us and seen actual organisations say it. I guess by this logic the F-22 and F-35 aren't stealth either.
18. “It's glass cockpit doesn't have single touch screen like F-35 or J-20 therefore shows how lacking in technology it is”
Firstly this has nothing to do with stealth, secondly touch screen isn't even a game changer, it's literally an ergonomic preference. The Su57 uses modern ultra high definition LCD displays that utilise all primary and secondary controls unlike the F-22 which uses older Gen mini panels.
F-22
Su-57
What 5+ Su-57M and Su-75 variant will use.
System components
C2 computer
Ballistic computer
SPO-150-402 self protection suite
N036 Byelka multi positional GaAs/GaN Radar system and L-402 Himalayas EW System
ATOLL-N targeting pod
NSTsI-50 digital HMD
19. “It's radar is the weakest out of all stealth fighters”
Wrong. Its radar is actually one of the strongest. What people need to know is that the Su-57 has an integrated radar system called N036 Byelka with MIRES
The main radar system is the N036 Byelka which is an advanced X/L band all digital multi positional AESA radar system that utilise slotted planar arrays with 2,748 GaAs/GaN T/R modules in total and 1,600 in front facing system. There are 12x total antennas, with 4× X band and 8× L band in total with the following, 1× N036-1-01 main X band nose radar with 1,552 GaAs T/R modules, 2× N036B-1-01 X band cheek radars with 716 GaAs T/R modules and 8× N036L-1-01 with 72 large antenna GaAs T/R modules (1× N036, 2× N036B and 4× N036L make up main forward FCRs), there is also the N036Kh rear facing X band antenna with 404 GaN T/R modules.
All data and sensor information is fused into a single target through ICS-50 system which integrates all data from the radars, the L-150-402 self defense suite and the ATOLL electro optical, infrared tracking/imaging and laser targeting system, along with the MIRES system that integrates communications and has far superior independent sensor integration.
This gives the aircraft unprecedented situational awareness with ability to lock targets at practically all angles depending on range. The aircraft was built to kill deep penetration stealth fighters like the F-22 with special focus on agility, WVR and BVR.
Sensor placement below.
This not only gives the Felon amazing situational awareness (as it allows a full 360° protection against all types of missiles and all types of detection and tracking by aircraft) but an incredibly powerful radar and can make use of long wave L band radars which stealth aircraft are more vulnerable to.
The L band system is the game changer, Only the front cone radar has ~1550 T/R modules but people forget that it's an integrated sensor fused system so you need to count the other two frontal radars which are part of the primary frontal system which are L band which use long wave forms to have excellent range (50 to 90 km max tracking to 150 to 220 km max detection)
As stated before, sensor fusion targeting potentiates tracking system by integrating all individual sensor modalities into a single framework, meaning on the HUD a target will be displayed using both X/L band combined with the tracking data from the IRST.
These are the large antenna L band arrays that are used for fire control and IFF. Propagandists have tried to lie and claim that
A. It's only for IFFA
B. It has very short range.
Offcourse they provide no Russian sources that back this.
Details of how the L band system on its own works below.
It should be noted there seems to be two different arrays. One with a quad radiator antenna array with 12 T/R modules
And one with what seems to be an improved radiator array with 24 T/R modules.
It's unknown if either the planar array was simply a more advanced option used in both or just developed for the flanker series as it can only be seen on them.
It also utilises a GaN based rear AESA radar that is part of the L-402 Himalayas EW system that also utilises the aircrafts other 3 X band radars for EW.
20. “Only 22-26 have been made therefore it's bad”
Firstly this proves nothing and is wrong, Wikipedia is not a source ESPECIALLY regarding anything Russia. Secondly only 76 were ordered with around 300 planned. 2018 marked a huge jump for Russia with T-14 finishing state trials and 2S35 and Su-57 being approved for production, in 2019 pre production models T-50S-1 and TS50S-2 flew with one crashing, it was approved for mass production in late 2021 with an IOC reached in 2022 and full service in 2024, there were still export and domestic orders for Su-30SM2, Su-34M, Su-35S, Tu-160M2 and Yak-130 needing fulfilled and the war started in 2022 meaning production was focused on Su-35s and Su-34s. With 5 made in 2020-2021, With ~6-8 made in 2022, 11-14 made in 2023 and 12-36 made in 2024 and 5-12 made in 2025 with a low of 39 to a high of 75 made with around ~60 likely made. This is also backed by seen aircraft number designators, So nearly all the orders fulfilled already in around 2 years isn't bad. But again this proves nothing.
Russia has 76 ordered with a further 212 Su-57M on stand by, by 2030 Russias fleet is to be
300× Su-75S
212× Su-57M
76× Su-57S
200× Su-35S
220× Su-34M
110× Su-30SM2
100× MiG-35
40× MiG-29KR
Deliveries
2023
https://defence-blog.com/russia-receives-additional-su-57-su-35-fighter-jets/
2024
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/recieves-su57-ambitious-acquisitions-target
2025
Production models
21. “Su-57s IRST makes it non stealth”
This is why people need to do research. The IRST when not in use turns around and is covered in RAM for stealth.
IRST exposed
IRST retracted
22. "The AL-41 Engines are not stealth"
False. Now the claim is because they are not serrated this means they aren't stealth. For example here is the F135 turbofan for F-35.
And here is AL-41-F1.
Now yes, it doesn't have the serrated edge. But what they don't tell you is that this has nothing to do with radar RCS, serrated nozzles is for reducing thermal heat, nothing to do with RCS on radar. The AL-41 engines like most 5th Generation engines has supercruise, thrust vectoring and RAM coatings applied to nozzles. The F135 has no supercruise ability so it shouldn't be classed as a 5th Gen engine by this silly standard.
23. "Su-57 was spotted with a satellite radar this probed its stealth is bad"
So much wrong with this, first hete is the image.
So.
First. That image is laughable, could literally be any aircraft and the fact you have to draw an outline to even see it speaks volumes.
Second. This proves nothing as SAR can see any stealth aircraft especially from top down which has limited stealth and especially since this would have been a T-50 with no RAM.
Su-57 RCS Numbers
So What is the RCS then ? Well that's what this is about, these numbers are from using various simulations and sources. Numbers are taken mainly from the front facing. We use averages. We have checked, double checked and checked again and done far more digging than last time, these are probably the most accurate estimates you're going to get.
All numbers are for horizontal frontal facing.
Based on radar scattering simulations the Su-57 has a pre RAM RCS across the frontal horizontal axis in X band of around ~0.05m² to 0.3m².
Simulated models (likely to be russia's level) with basic RAM coatings that reduce returns by around ~7-22 dB across the median RCS across the horizontal frontal axis.
Higher quality RAM and shaping which unlikely for Russia and is stuff used by USA and likely China is -30 to -40 dB this is used on F-35, F-22, J-20 and J-35, 6th gen stealth will likely strictly be -50 to -70 dB area so around 0.0001-0.000001m² with emphasis on VHF radar and infrared protection.
(These are for X band only, the overall was achieved using VHF and S band, check our scattering simulation sources for full breakdown)
So we will do 3 sets of numbers. Lowest, most likely and highest using the numbers.
Lowest RCS
Post RAM
RCS Minimum: 0.005m²
RCS Median: 0.007m²
RCS Average: 0.01-0.1m²
Pre RAM
RCS Minimum: 0.05m²
RCS Median: 0.08m²
RCS Average: 0.2-0.5m²
Median RCS
Post RAM
RCS Minimum: 0.01m²
RCS Median: 0.03m²
RCS Average: 0.05-0.6m²
Pre RAM
RCS Minimum: 0.1m²
RCS Median: 0.3m²
RCS Average: 0.4-0.9m²
Highest RCS
Post RAM
RCS Minimum: 0.05m²
RCS Median: 0.1m²
RCS Average: 0.2-1.4m²
Pre RAM
RCS Minimum: 0.5m²
RCS Median: 1m²
RCS Average: 0.8-1.4m²
PAK-FA Numbers
RCS Minimum: 0.009-0.01m²
RCS Median: 0.01-0.03m²
RCS Average: 0.1-1m²
Overall Numbers
Post RAM
RCS Minimum: 0.005-0.05m²
RCS Median: 0.007-0.1m²
RCS Average: 0.01-1.4m²
Pre RAM
RCS Minimum: 0.05-0.5m²
RCS Median: 0.08-1m²
RCS Average: 0.2-1.8m²
So yes, not as stealthy as the F-35 or F-22 but certainly not comparable to any Hornet, Rafale or Typhoon and absolutely classed as a true low observability aircraft or “stealth”.
F-22 & F-35 Vs Su-57: Battle of Air Superiority
What's better Felon or raptor ? Let's cut the shit and get right to the stats.
F-22
Airframe: Draw
Manuvarabilities: Felon
Speed and Endurance: Raptor
Stealth: Raptor
Fire Control: Felon
Targeting: Felon
Ordinance Capacity: Draw
Guns: Raptor
Countermeasures: Felon
Radar Missiles: Felon
IR Missiles: Draw
Navigation & Flight Control: Felon
Communication & C2: Draw
Raptor: 7
Felon: 10
Close but Felon edges out.
F-35
Airframe: Felon
Manuvarabilities: Felon
Speed and Endurance: Felon
Stealth: Lightning
Fire Control: Draw
Targeting: Draw
Ordinance Capacity: Felon
Guns: Lightning
Countermeasures: Felon
Radar Missiles: Felon
IR Missiles: Draw
Navigation & Flight Control: Draw
Communication & C2: Draw
Raptor: 7
Felon: 10
Funny both the same
Weaknesses of Stealth Aircraft
Stealth fighters are a wonder in engineering but they are not invisible.
Stealth Aircraft have four weaknesses.
Low frequency radars. Stealth Aircraft are particularly vulnerable to lower bands of radar like L band because most RAM used on stealth fighters is tailored to absorbing X band wavelength because it is most commonly used by fighter jets and many air defence radars. VHF radars also fall under this category. These radars work in similar fashion to low frequency ones. It was a P-18 VHF radar that located the F-117s. Russia has developed the Nebo-U, an all digital GaN AESA variant for protection against B-2, B-21, F-22, F-35 and X-47B that can be used by S-500 and S-400.
VHF radars especially are incredibly effective at detecting stealth aircraft due to their nature and because most RAM is suited towards X band. Taken from SP.
This is a lifting body stealthy cruise missile. As seen it is capable of extremely low RCS in the expected frontal section. it reached a median 0.002 sqm Without RAM treatment. it is a pure PEC body.
You can see the behavior of the Reflection in different frequency, notice that the strongest reflection comes from wing area from X to L . It may be very strong but The lobes are relatively small, it will be hard to pick the strongest part, as can be seen from the contourplot.
This is what you want to achieve. VHF however is another story where the missile shape lost its ability to control RCS and become blobs. Compare it to conventional cruise missile here at X-band
The contour plot
One can see the axisymmetric airframe gives "halo" reflection. still relatively small but when one see the numbers
Notice the stealthy cruise missile give more dramatic reduction at higher frequency. While the conventional one the RCS is higher but not as fluctuating. You may also notice that the conventional have a bit of lower RCS in VHF band. This is the result of the MIE scattering. You may see lower RCS value in one frequency but not in the other and this conventional one happens to be in "favorable" frequency.
Multi positional radars. These are radars that are set up in different positions that face the aircraft on the X and Y triangular; these will make the aircraft much more visible to the radar and enable easier lock on.
Over the Horizon radars. These radars can detect stealth airframes by bouncing the signal on to the top of the aircraft where it is less protected.
Infrared detection. Modern 3rd Generation IRST can track fighter sized aircraft up to 150 km and see up to 250 km facing on afterburner, and Russian aircraft like Su-75, Su-57, Su-30SM2, Su-35, MiG-29K, MiG-29M and MiG-35 all have these alomg with built in FLIR. Russia's Su-27, Su-30 and MiG-29 all have modern 2nd Generation IRST that can track aircraft up to 50 km and see aircraft in afterburner up to 100 km. It is effective for interception of aircraft as whilst even if a SAM fire control radar can't lock it, search radars can see it and launch aircraft to intercept and they can use IRST to track and help get a lock and Infrared or radar homing missiles to fir.
As Seen here with Su-35S OLS-35 tracking F-22 engine plume.
Conclusion
Stealth Aircraft are amazing machines no doubt but they are not invincible.
The fact is the Su-57 a solid fighter and the fact Russia built a 5th Gen stealth fighter in just over a decade which in comparison to the USA was with 6x less funding and 3x less time and didn't have the stealth technology foundation to build on, I think that's a testament to Russian engineering. People need to learn to put their personal bias aside and look at things objectively.
Sources
Radar scattering simulations
https://www.ausairpower.net/APA-2012-03.html
https://basicsaboutaerodynamicsandavionics.wordpress.com/2022/09/
https://www.ausairpower.net/APA-NOTAM-300309-1.html
https://wipl-d.com/applications/rcs-scattering/
How stealth technology works
https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/doppler/how-radar-works
https://www.scribd.com/presentation/310248972/Stealth-technology-ppt
https://wipl-d.com/applications/rcs-scattering/
Radar Absorbing Materials and relations to reducing radar returns
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/advs.202303104
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/materials-science/radar-absorbing-material
https://github.com/PygmalionOfCyprus/cmo-db-requests/issues/4101
https://militaryembedded.com/radar-ew/signal-processing/radar-cross-section-the-measure-of-stealth
https://wipl-d.com/applications/rcs-scattering/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215098616311892
https://www.scribd.com/document/248792541/Radar-Absorbent-Material
F-35 was detected in Syria and Iran
https://www.defense-aerospace.com/russia-dismisses-reports-on-unnoticed-israeli-f-35-syria-flights/
https://syrianobserver.com/foreign-actors/moscow-monitors-f-35-fighter-jets-in-syria.html
Discussions on possible RCS numbers
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/intake-design-and-general-stealth-discussions.32552/page-8
https://www.russiadefence.net/t5721-russian-stealth-technology
https://www.russiadefence.net/t9075-su-57-stealth-fighter-news-9
https://www.360doc.cn/article/16755731_1077539828.html
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/stealth-aircraft-rcs.htm
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/intake-design-and-general-stealth-discussions.32552/
https://www.ausairpower.net/APA-2012-03.html
https://medium.com/@kirill_koles/is-the-f-22-raptor-really-unbeatable-9f5046444001
http://sukhoitributeenglish.blogspot.com/
https://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewtopic.php?t=7241&sid=5f1594991380b7467d8f64e305a03598
F/A-18 Advanced Super Hornet
https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.php?aircraft_id=1082
F-117 Incident
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbian_Air_Force_and_Air_Defence?wprov=sfla1
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/how-f-117-was-shot-down-in-1999-by-an-sa-3-battery.33472/
Su-57 Ducts
http://su57.mariwoj.pl/small/su57-serial-airintake-engine.jpg
http://su57.mariwoj.pl/small/su57-serial-airintake.jpg
Su-57 Used in Ukraine
https://defence-blog.com/russia-intensifies-use-of-new-su-57-jets-for-strikes-on-ukraine/
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/russia-using-new-su-57-jets-against-ukraine/
https://defence-industry.eu/russia-employs-su-57-felon-fighter-to-strike-targets-in-ukraine/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.eurasiantimes.com/russian-su-57-cautiously-joins-the-ukraine/
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-fifthgen-squadron-intensify
Video of S-70 shoot down by Su-57
https://youtu.be/mK0tbojz10k?si=Qrk9tprEfkOkw46v
https://youtu.be/f_xEqCPXYTQ?si=kklUS0w_TK-IMm3_
Su-57 Used to take out Ukrainian Flanker at ~300km
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/extreme-range-su57-su-27-kill-reports
https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/longest-ranged-aam-performs-ukraine-su57
Su-57 Used in Syria
https://www.google.com/amp/s/tass.com/defense/992335/amp
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/22/new-russian-stealth-fighter-spotted-in-syria
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/russias-new-su-57-stealth-fighter-back-action-syria-106541
Su-57 Flying and being Inspected
https://youtu.be/M39FaHYgbpY?si=mr3bv0yVoJWXiYyf
https://youtu.be/swj75EU8xCw?si=iHqhPihsGFBeq35i
https://youtu.be/Zid1Nv-FfyQ?si=SpJwKYNqNmlAa9N3
https://youtu.be/CHIwx9CH2u4?si=-vNi8kU0-_ucnfB2
Su-57 Technical Details
https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/pak-fa.htm
https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.php?aircraft_id=782
http://su57.mariwoj.pl/su57-index.html
https://www.eurasiantimes.com/sukhoi-su-57-trashed-by-india-in-2018/amp/
https://fighter-planes.com/info/su-57.htm
https://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/sukhoi-su-57-felon-fighter-jet-russia/
https://www.russiadefence.net/t9075-su-57-stealth-fighter-news-9
https://euro-sd.com/2022/11/articles/26787/stealthy-airborne-communications/
https://findpatent.ru/patent/244/2440916.html
https://findpatent.ru/patent/250/2502643.html
https://www.russiadefence.net/t8640p950-su-57-stealth-fighter-news-8
F-22 Technical Details
https://forum.warthunder.com/t/f-22-raptor/4495?page=12
https://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=58798&start=15
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/weapons-platforms/f-22/
https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/lockheed-martin-f-22-raptor.4505/
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/f-22.html
https://thaitechnics.com/aircraft/f22.html
F-35 Technical Details
https://aircrafttechnic.com/aviation_news/f-35-technical-specifications-f-35a-f-35b-and-f-35c/?amp=1
https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.php?aircraft_id=23
https://www.worlddefencenews.com/f-35-fighter/
https://www.f35.com/f35/news-and-features/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-f-35c.html
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/f-35-lightning-ii-eots.html
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