The Su-57 and Eurofighter Typhoon fighters were created to achieve air superiority, but engineers incorporated different approaches into their designs. The "Sushka" was designed as a 5th-generation combat aircraft with reduced visibility, internal weapon bays, and a distributed radar complex.
The European Typhoon features an aerodynamic design with high maneuverability and is constantly being modernized: some modern variants are equipped with AESA radars and new missiles.
"Perviy Tekhnicheskiy" compared the fighter jets across five key parameters to determine which one is better.
Speed
The Su-57 reaches speeds of up to 2600 km/h (Mach 2.45) according to open data. The Eurofighter Typhoon is limited to Mach 2.0 at altitude.
However, both are capable of supersonic flight without constant use of afterburners: Eurofighter officially states this capability for the EJ200, and the Su-57 was designed with supersonic cruising in mind.
In terms of maximum speed, the Russian fighter jet gains the advantage.
Stealth
The Su-57 was developed using stealth technology. Designers minimized the number of sharp edges, used special coatings, and placed the main armament in internal compartments.
The Typhoon also incorporates stealth solutions: the manufacturer points to the extensive use of composites and the reduction of the metallic surface of the airframe.
But purely in terms of stealth architecture, the Su-57 gains the advantage: it was originally designed with internal weapon placement.
Onboard Radar
The Su-57 is equipped with the N036 Belka radar complex with AESA. Its peculiarity lies not only in the main nose antenna: additional radar panels are distributed throughout the airframe. This architecture allows for expanding the surveillance zones and using several antenna systems as a single complex.
Modern variants of the Typhoon are equipped with E-Scan with AESA. The antenna array is placed on a movable mechanism, thanks to which the Eurofighter gets a field of view approximately 50% wider than when using a traditional fixed antenna.
The Su-57 uses a distributed radar architecture, while the E-Scan relies on a wide field of view due to a reconfigurable array. For the capabilities of distributed radar surveillance and the integration of multiple antenna panels, the "Sushka" gets a point, the score is already significant.
Armament
The Typhoon has 13 external hardpoints and can use a wide range of weapons, including Meteor, AMRAAM, ASRAAM, and IRIS-T missiles, as well as ground attack weapons.
The Su-57 responds not only with external hardpoints but also with the ability to place weapons inside the fuselage. The export complex includes long-range RVV-BD missiles, as well as Kh-69 and Kh-58UShKE.
In terms of nomenclature, the Typhoon gains an advantage due to the large number of external hardpoints and wide integration of Western weaponry, we give it a point.
Maneuverability
The Typhoon was also originally designed with high maneuverability in mind. The aircraft has an aerodynamically unstable design, which is stabilized by a digital control system. This architecture provides high maneuverability without the use of TVC.
The Su-57 received an integral aerodynamic design and engines with thrust vectoring. This allows for changing the thrust direction and maintaining high controllability at high angles of attack. OAK specifically points to the development of Su-57 controllability at supercritical angles of attack, we confidently give it a point.
The final score is 4:1 in favor of the Su-57.
The Russian fighter jet gains an advantage in maximum speed, stealth architecture, distributed radar architecture, and controllability at high angles of attack.
The Typhoon takes its own for a wide range of weapons and a large number of external hardpoints.