The Russian fifth-generation multi-role fighter Su-57 at the Airshow China 2024 air show in Zhuhai (South China) demonstrated takeoff and climb at an angle of 55 - 60 degrees with a thrust-to-weight ratio close to 0.93 kgf/kg. Military expert Evgeny Damantsev explained how this could affect the machine's actions in a real combat situation.
He noted that the supersonic cruising speed without engaging the afterburner mode of the Su-57 with 1st stage AL-41F1 engines is about 1.45 - 1.6M at an altitude of 8 - 10 km.
With the 2nd stage engines, this figure will increase to 1.8 - 2M, which will allow approximately 50 - 60% faster access to the firing lines of R-37M or Kh-59MK2 missiles from the internal fuselage weapons bays without significant fuel consumption, than such "4++" generation machines as the F-15EX, which require the engines to be switched to afterburner mode.
The analyst added that the Su-57s are capable of long-range interception of objects moving away at speeds of up to 1.5 - 1.7M for a long period of time in non-afterburner mode, in order to reduce the distance ensuring interception by R-37M or R-77-1 missiles.
Earlier www1.ru reported that Western countries will not be able to catch up with Russia in the development of hypersonic technologies. This opinion was expressed by the president of the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" Mikhail Kovalchuk.
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Unique footage: the first image of the second-stage AL-51F1 engine for the Su-57 fighter