Is Russia’s Su-57 5th-Gen Stealth Fighter Really a Threat?

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

Is the Russian Su-57 truly a 5th-generation fighter capable of rivaling the F-35 and F-22?  The answer to this simply may not be known, apart from what little detail can be gleaned from the Russian media and a simple observer’s eye view of its external configuration. 

The aircraft does look stealthy, and as a dual-engine stealth fighter with tailfins, it does slightly resemble the F-22, if a little wider. 

Su-57 Mystery 

Little is known about how much of a threat Russia’s 5th-generation Su-57 poses to adversaries.

Russian media says many things about the airframe’s performance parameters, yet little seems to be known about its computing, weapons interfaces, sensing, and manned-unmanned teaming capabilities.

Certainly looking at the configuration, the Su-57 does look stealthy with its blended-wing body and rounded fuselage.

However, how might it compare with the F-35 in regard to sensing and high-speed, AI-enabled computing able to gather sensor input from disparate pools of data and perform immediate analysis and organization to present integrated information to a pilot?