There is an opinion that the combat qualities of a modern fighter depend on its maneuverability. Honored test pilot of the Russian Federation, Hero of Russia Alexander Garnaev explained to "Pervyi Technicheskiy" that this is a misconception, and also named exactly which characteristics determine the effectiveness of such aircraft.
In his opinion, demonstrating stunts at air shows has nothing to do with the real situation on the battlefield.
It is a misconception that the combat qualities of a modern fighter depend on its maneuverability. Professionals understand that this is stupid, and it is even more stupid to unreasonably burden and insanely increase the cost of structures with all sorts of useless trinkets for circus somersaults like thrust vectoring.
The specialist clarified that it is much more important to focus on comprehensive target reconnaissance and their long-range engagement through variable targeting and weapon guidance.
As a reminder, the new Russian fifth-generation fighter Su-57 is also equipped with a thrust vectoring system on AL-41F1 engines.
Unlike the American F-22 Raptor, which uses flat nozzles with thrust vectoring only in the vertical plane (up and down), the system on the Su-57 provides three-coordinate thrust vector control.
