Russia's new Su-75 Fighter at MAKS 2021
Some time ago the Russian State Corporation Rostec reported that its UAC division (United Aircraft Corporation) would present a new Russian single-engined stealth fighter, developed by PJSC Sukhoi Company, during the Moscow International Aviation and Space Salon 2021 (MAKS 2021). It is one of the interesting new gems for the general public during the MAKS, which will run from 20 to 25 July 2021 at the airfield of Zhukovsky in the suburbs of Moscow.
Now, shortly before the show opens its doors, more has become known about Russia's new Sukhoi Su-75 Fighter. Multiple media outlets have unveiled photos and information about Russia's newest fighter. The Stealth-like jet has been confirmed as being a single-engine and a single-seat aircraft. Having not flown yet, a military registration, RF-00075, and convenient Bort code 75 BLUE are already painted on the aircraft. The displayed aircraft is by some thought to be a full-sized mock-up.
No official designation has been given and advertised as being Stealthy, Scramble Magazine assesses that this new fighter will fill no gap in Russia's current inventory of fighter aircraft or other capacities. Probably the Su-75 model does not represent its final design. The cockpit, canopy as well as the landing gear are very similar to that of its big brother, the twin-engined Sukhoi Su-57/PAKFA.
Named "Checkmate" by the Russians, it is expected that the Su-75 will be largely promoted by Russia's Rostec State Corporation and United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) for export. In a recently released video representatives of various export customers are shown, namely United Arab Emirates, India, Vietnam and Argentina. These countries are likely to be interested in buying such new fourth (+) generation fighters in the future.
This comes nicely together with the mutual agreement on industrial cooperation in the field of military-technical products, incl. joint development of a fifth-generation light fighter which was signed between UAE and Russia in February 2017.
It is suggested that at long last, a squadron (12 aircraft) could be ordered by the Russian Ministry of Defence to support future export. In the end this will merely boost more projects within Russia's Military-Industrial Complex as a whole and create more funding for other emerging technologies and systems.
The first reports about the new Sukhoi emerged back in December 2020 when Sergei Chemezov, head of the Rostec state corporation, mentioned that UAC was proactively working out the concept of a future light/medium-class aircraft using their own funds.
Since then we have learned few details about the design. It will be a low-observable universal platform for both manned and unmanned versions, with the take-off weight of up to 18 tons and maximum flight speed exceeding Mach 2.
It should also feature super-maneuverability and improved take-off and landing characteristics thanks to its single Izd.30 turbofan with multi-axis thrust vector control enabling the thrust-to-weight ratio over 1.
Credit photos: Via aviation friend @RupprechtDeino (On Twitter)