The Russian Aerospace Forces (Vozdushno-kosmicheskiye sily) will receive large-scale deliveries of Su-57 stealth fighter jets starting from 2020, Russia’s Rostec State Corporation CEO Sergei Chemezov said Thursday. On 30 June 2018, it was reported that an order for 12 aircraft was agreed, with deliveries to the ranks of the Russian Armed Forces starting in 2019. Russian Defence Ministry planned to conclude a second contract for 13 more aircraft in 2020. However, on 15 May 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that 76 aircraft will be purchased and delivered to the Air Force by 2028
Russian will receive a “large” number of Su-57 stealth fighters, brushing aside speculations that the first Su-57 crash on Tuesday could derail the delivery schedule. On December 24, Russia’s most advanced jet till date, the Su-57, crashed allegedly during manufacturer’s “delivery trials” near Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the country’s far east. The incident marked the first total loss of a Su-57 jet, although one of the type’s T-50 prototypes was allegedly badly damaged due to an engine fire in 2014. The accident was thought to delay the delivery of the Su-57 jets to the military.
Sukhoi Su-57 (NATO reporting name Felon) is a fifth-generation stealth jet, designed by the JSC Sukhoi Company. The first batch of the aircraft which is intended to eventually succeed the MiG-29 and Su-27 in the Russian Air Force and the Navy was delivered to the military this year, with a large-scale delivery planned for the next year. According to various reports, the Su-57, which costs roughly $40 to $45 million per plane, could be also purchased by many countries China, India, Myanmar, Algeria, and Turkey – especially after the US and Ankara clashed over the F-35 programme.
