/View.info/ A long-range cruise missile has been created for Su-57 fighters of the fifth generation. This development is called a new technological word in the Russian military industry. What can be the characteristics of this missile, for what purposes it can be used and what advantages will it give the Su-57 itself in battle?
Russia’s fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jet received a long-range in-fuselage cruise missile. According to sources, the ammunition at a smaller size has comparable product characteristics for the Tu-95MS and Tu-160 strategic bombers.
The dimensions of the rocket were reduced due to the perfectly refined design of the folding wing and internal layout, as well as the use of a new small-sized bypass turbojet engine.
The Su-57 fifth-generation multirole fighter is equipped with compartments in the fuselage for storing ammunition. This is necessary to reduce the aircraft’s radar signature. Serial deliveries of the Su-57 began in 2022. By the end of 2024, the Aerospace Forces should receive 22 fighters, and by 2028 their number in the troops will reach 76.
The vehicle is designed to destroy all types of air, ground and surface targets. It has supersonic flight speed, in-fuselage armament, radio-absorbing coating, as well as the latest set of on-board equipment.
The fighter has access to a wide range of cruise missile classes. However, in the West, first of all, they paid attention to the long-range active radar-guided air-to-air missile R-77M (an analogue of the American missile АИМ-120 AMРАAM) and the world’s longest-range air-to-air air-to-air guided missile (more than 300 km) P-37M.
In the summer, it became known about the creation of the Vimpel State Design Bureau for the short-range RVV-MD2 air-to-air missiles for the Su-57. They can also be placed in the internal fuselage compartments of the fighter.
Note that long-range air-launched cruise missiles include munitions capable of hitting targets at a distance of 600 kilometers or more. According to the open sources, the VKS currently have models capable of hitting a target at a distance of one thousand to 6,500 kilometers.
Experts are confident that the long-range in-fuselage cruise missile will seriously expand the fighter’s firepower. “The missiles are manufactured using stealth technology. They have a square shape with folding wings, which allows you to place several ammunition at the same time. In addition, composite materials were used in their creation,” notes Yuriy Knutov, director of the Air Defense Forces Museum, a retired colonel.
“This development can be called a new technological word for the Russian military industry. The missiles have greater accuracy and velocity than previous generation munitions. Also, the models produced earlier were quite large in size,” notes the source.
“The problem was considered extremely important, because on the Su-57 the missiles had to be placed on the outside. Thus, fighters lost the ability to remain completely invisible to enemy radar systems. Thus, the Russian aviation got another advantage in the air,” emphasizes the expert.
“At the same time, I do not rule out that Western experience was partially used for the development. After all, many weapons that fell into the hands of the Russian armed forces as trophies are studied carefully. If we manage to spot something interesting, we try to apply fresh knowledge to our developments,” he notes.
“In my opinion, the use of new missiles in the current conflict in Ukraine is quite possible. This will allow us to test the prototype in practice. In addition, their use opens qualitatively new opportunities for suppressing key forces of the enemy. Stealth technologies allow the destruction of well-protected air defense systems. Ammunition is difficult to detect, and if the Air Force does manage to detect the Russian missiles, due to their high speed and low flight height, it is unlikely that they will be shot down,” Knutov believes.
Earlier, it was repeatedly reported that Russia used Su-57 fighters during a special operation in Ukraine. The aircraft showed high efficiency. According to the military themselves, in the combat zone, the Su-57 solves “multifaceted tasks” to destroy air and ground targets.
“The internal fuselage missile allows us to compare the Su-57 in terms of tactical and technical characteristics with strategic aviation. Accordingly, a multi-purpose fighter with such ammunition becomes many times more powerful,” says Andrey Koshkin, a military expert, head of the Department of Political Analysis and Socio-Psychological Processes at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, a retired colonel.
According to the interlocutor, taking into account the location of the missile, it belongs to the “air-to-ground” class. “With such a missile, the fighter will perform very complex tasks – hit extremely important targets at high speed. The list of targets could include a command center or even a nuclear facility. This missile is designed to destroy a specific type of target. Throwing it on the front line to hit a fulcrum would be reckless and wrong,” the speaker said.
Koshkin is convinced that the rocket was created from scratch using Russian technology without borrowing from the West. “This is our rocket. We have an excellent technical base, experience and relevant research and development activities to create it,” the expert believes.
However, there is an opinion that during the development, Western experience was used, since “the physics is the same, but the technological approaches are different”, especially since Western missiles can reach Russia through third countries or as trophies. And there is nothing wrong with that, Russia’s potential adversaries do it too.
“We improve many things ourselves, even if we have an analogue. Historically, it so happened that our engineers are able to improve the borrowed technologies in such a way that no one in the West would have guessed about it,” noted Vladimir Popov, Honored Military Aviator of the Russian Federation, Major General.
The interlocutor suggested that the new missile, if it is intended to destroy aircraft, may have a small warhead – on the order of 50-70 kilograms. “If you are working on ground facilities – shelters, fuel depots, arsenals, command posts, control and communication posts – then you need a larger warhead – up to 100 kg. This is the maximum that the Su-57 and its missile can carry,” the speaker believes.
Popov doubts that the new missile has the same characteristics as those of strategic bombers. According to him, of course, it is impossible to compare the new missile with the X-101 product. “X-101 carries a powerful charge, the mass of the warhead is 400-430 kg, and the maximum flight distance is 5,500 km. But the advantage of the new missile may be that to carry out a combat mission, the pilot will not need to use data from the A-50 long-range radar detection and control aircraft or receive target data from ground-based radars. The new rocket will adjust its flight itself,” Popov is convinced.
The major general suggested that the new missiles will not be used during the SVO in Ukraine, as the carrier is not yet available in large quantities. “Most likely, while the first tests have passed, the first series of missiles will not be launched yet. It is necessary to acquire technological operational experience, pilots must practice launch tactics. The testing process can be drawn out, although in the current conditions the result is needed “at all costs”. A minimum of one year of intensive testing will be required. What if there are defective samples? They will have to be analyzed and eliminated. All this takes time”, explained the interlocutor.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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