The first production Su-57 ‘Felon’, Russia’s 5th generation stealth fighter, crashed during a test flight today. The pilot ejected and was recovered by a Mil-8 rescue chopper some 70 miles from the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant (KnAAPO). Russian media reports indicate that the accident was due to a failure of the flight control systems, though an exact cause will take some time to determine.
The Su-57 is Russia’s answer to the USAF’s F-22 ‘Raptor’, and has been in development since 2002. The type’s first flight was in 2010, and while combat trials have been flown over Syria, the Russian Air Force was expecting to introduce the fighter into regular service in 2020.
