SU-57 is not so imperceptible: experts have shown one subtlety in armed fighters of the Russian Federation
In this regard, Western military experts noted that this machine is unambiguously exceeding Ukrainian MiG-29 and Su-27, especially in terms of unnoticedness. However, there is one nuance that can destroy the myth of the stealth capacity of the Russian Su-57. This is stated in Bulgarian Military.
Russian weapons classify SU-57 as a multi-purpose fifth-generation stealth fighter, designed to destroy all kinds of air goals, lesions of terrestrial, surface goals of the enemy, monitoring of airspace at long distances from the base site, etc. Sometimes, in order to give the weight of their development, Russians call SU-57 "promising aviation complex of front aircraft".
Certainly, compared to earlier Su-27 and already outdated MiG-29, Su-57 fighters have more serious characteristics, and therefore will be a threat to the Ukrainian Air Force, even if Ukrainian aircraft are equipped with AIM-120 Air-Air Air-Air-Air-air missiles. This is due to the limited range of a rocket that cannot reach SU-57 if it operates outside of visual range. However, there is a detail that Western experts drew attention to.
The fact is that Ukrainian forces interact with intelligence aircraft and early NATO warning. Therefore, in the case of Su-57, they will become vulnerable to the attacks of Ukrainian forces. And here it is necessary to mention the rocket of the class "air-air" P-77 of the design of the ICB "Vimpel", which is part of the arsenal of the latest Russian fighter jets.
The military researcher and employee of Royal United Services Institute (Rusi) Justin Bronk drew attention to the problem associated with this rocket that creates difficulties for the SU-57. He notes that the potential of the SU-57 is limited by the fact that the aircraft is currently equipped with an old version of the P-77 rocket, namely MK1 version.
It is the external placement of this rocket that violates the secrecy of the Russian machine, and it is impossible to install it on the plane in a different way because of the features of the P-77 design, namely in the plumage itself. "On the one hand, the aerodynamic plumage of the rocket does not allow it to be placed in the internal compartments of the SU-57 weapons. On the other hand, the external placement of the rocket violates the steady of the aircraft," the Bronk said.
According to him, avoiding the detection of a large AESA radar is an extremely difficult task. And although Su-57 is really much more difficult to detect than the previous machines of "dry", the characteristics of the aircraft do not justify it expended in excessively large funds. Earlier it was reported that Russian engineers of NGO "Flight" equipped a multifunctional Su-57 fighter with the latest complexes of onboard means of digital communication.