MOSCOW. Feb 9 (Interfax) - Russian aircraft and engine designers are working on enhancing the combat capability of the Russian fifth-generation fighter aircraft Sukhoi Su-57, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said in an interview with Interfax.
"The [United Aircraft Corporation] UAC, jointly with their partners from the [United Engine Corporation] UEC, are working on further enhancing the aircraft's combat capability and equipping it with stage 2 engine," Manturov said.
The Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant is currently launching the serial production of Su-57 fighters, modernizing its manufacturing facilities, implementing new know-how, and building a flow-line assembly system for the aircraft, he said.
"The rate of the construction of these planes is to be increased in 2021, according to the timelines endorsed," he said.
The Su-57 is a Russian multirole fifth-generation fighter aircraft developed by Sukhoi (part of the United Aircraft Corporation, UAC, incorporated in Rostec) and manufactured at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant. It is designed to destroy all types of aerial targets at various ranges, as well as ground and surface targets, and capable of overpowering air defense systems. Its maiden flight was on January 29, 2010.
The Russian Armed Forces received the first serial Su-57 at the end of 2020. They are supposed to receive a total of 76 such planes and reequip three air regiments with them by 2028.
It was reported earlier that the first Su-57s would be manufactured serially with previous-generation engines. The flight tests of a more advanced engine, termed stage 2 engine and manufactured by the UEC, which should ensure its supersonic cruise speed, began in December 2017. Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov has said, "The engines will be ready and start flying approximately in 2022, and then we'll launch their serial production within the next few years."
The specifics of the fifth-generation fighter aircraft include supersonic cruise speed and weapons mounted inside the fuselage.