Real development on the modern fighter program began once again in earnest in 2002, with America’s F-22 set squarely in the program’s sights.īy 2007, Russia’s PAK FA program, which was short for “‘prospective aeronautical complex of front-line air forces” in Russian, was once again steaming toward fielding a real stealth fighter. However, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 practically halted progress on the program, leaving America’s F-22 Raptor to claim the title of first stealth fighter unopposed with its first flight in 1997. The long road to the first Su-57 taking to the skies began in 1979 under the former Soviet Union, with plans to field a next-generation fighter that could enter service in the 1990s. PAK FA: The troubled beginnings of the Su-57 A Su-57 undergoes ground testing.
Of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t compare these fighters on paper, it just means that which fighter would win in a Top Gun-style dogfight isn’t quite as important as which offers a greater jump in capability for the forces it supports.Īll that is to say that, the Su-57 might just be the worst 5th generation fighter on the planet… but that doesn’t make it a bad fighter at all.
Each of these platforms was developed to fill a role within a broader force structure and strategy, and as such, are unlikely to run across one another one-on-one in even the most dramatic of scenarios.
Sukhoi su 57 vs f 22 raptor full#
Related: HOW THE F-35 FLIES THE LINE BETWEEN FAILURE AND SUCCESSĬomparing these jets to one another in a head-on way doesn’t really do any of them justice, as none were intended to operate alone in contested airspace full of opposing fighters.