The world has officially entered into a fifth
age of fighter plane design, and the leap in technology between 4th and 5th generation
fighters is so steep, that any adversary that isn't able to keep up risks losing an air
war before it even begins. Make no mistake, 4th generation and even 4.5th
generation fighters are no longer thought of as survivable platforms in any future great
power conflict, meaning only one thing: if a nation wants to fight, and win, a next generation
war, it needs to field a next-generation aircraft. Three nations have currently developed 5th
generation fighters to meet this critical need for a survivable fighter platform, although
of those three nations only America has actually reached initial operational capability in
any significant numbers. China's J-20 stealth fighter is not only widely
regarded as a poor man's 5th-gen fighter, but is only active in extremely small numbers-
between one to two dozen aircraft are currently cleared for combat. Russia's SU-57 is the nation's entry into
the 5th-gen fighter game, and it is a very impressive showing for a nation building its
first true stealth aircraft. The origins of the fighter hail back to the
waning years of the Cold War, when Russia-much as the United States- recognized the need
for a next-generation fighter that could survive an increasingly dangerous anti-air environment. Stealth would have to be a critical feature
of this new fighter, but it would also have to have a considerable ground-attack capability. In short, this fighter would have to be a
multi-role platform, much like America's F-22 would end up being. Development of the new fighter however was
seriously slowed by the collapse of the Soviet Union. With a lack of funding, the program waned
for years until it was resurrected in the late 1990s. It would take until 2004 for a conceptual
design to be approved by the new Russian Defense Ministry, and government funding began in
earnest the next year. Budget woes were still abundant though for
the Russian government, and thus it was decided to invite India into the development program
as a partner. With India shouldering half the cost of the
development program and committing to buying 214 of the planes, Russia was well on its
way to developing a competitor against America's own 5th gen fighters. As the years passed though, the Indian government
began to lose faith in the Russian design. In 2012 it decreased its planned purchases
from 214 to just 144. As the American F-35 neared completion and
public demonstrations of its capabilities began to take place, India lost even more
faith in the SU-57, and in 2018 the nation scored a crippling blow against the Russian
5th-gen fighter program by leaving the agreement altogether. The SU-57's status was thrown into limbo after
India's withdrawal of billions in capital, and it quickly became clear that Russia would
not be able to afford the plane on its own. Soon, it was reported that Russia would not
order more than a few demonstration models of the aircraft, and it looked as if the Russian
air forces would be left vulnerable against America's 5th-gen fighters. Priorities were quickly shifted to developing
the cheaper S-500 anti-air system as a stop-gap measure to try and fend off the F-35 and F-22. Then Russia got some unexpected help courtesy
of the American president and senate. After Turkey purchased several S-400 anti-air
units from Russia, America's President Trump and the US Senate agreed to throw Turkey out
of the F-35 development deal- even though it had been a key partner in the program and
even maintained several key component production facilities. Cut off from the F-35, Turkey soon turned
to Russia and expressed interest in purchasing the SU-57, with a goal of buying around 100
of the jets. The promise of such a massive infusion of
capital into the nearly-dead SU-57 program quickly brought it back to life, and today
the SU-57 is not only poised for international sale, but with enough profit from those sales,
could very well end up being purchased in significant numbers by Russia. Right now though, the Russian Air Force only
operates a few token demonstration models which have been dispatched to Syria in order
to generate interest from potential international buyers. The future of the SU-57 completely depends
on if nations such as Turkey will end up buying the jet, as at the moment Russia is still
too cash-strapped to afford it on its own. The F-35 has its origins with the Joint Strike
Fighter program, itself a merger of other fighter programs across the 1980s and 90s. Due to the high costs and logistical problems
with operating air fleets made up of different models of aircraft, the US government sought
an easy solution: have one fighter aircraft that can do nearly all jobs. This would not only result in reduced cost
as more units would be built over the life of the aircraft, but would greatly reduce
logistical issues as maintenance personnel no longer had to train on, or store parts
for, multiple aircraft models. One plane that could do it all was both an
operational and a financial dream. The only people not quite on board the JSF
bandwagon though was the Air Force, which recognized that building a jack-of-all-trades
aircraft meant that it would ultimately not excel in any one particular role. Prudently, the Air Force thus pushed congress
to continue funding the development of what would become the F-22 Raptor. While the other services would fly a do-everything,
budget-friendly plane, the US Air Force demanded a fighter so advanced no foe could possibly
approach its capabilities. While the F-35 would become an extremely capable
aircraft, the F-22 would end up the world's most lethal aircraft. Ultimately though, this would also lead to
the F-22's downfall. Echoing the troubles of the US Navy's Seawolf
submarine class, the F-22 was so advanced- and so expensive- that there simply existed
no realistic need for such a formidable aircraft. At between $140 to $180 million per unit,
the F-22 may still be the deadliest aircraft in the sky, but it is also the most expensive,
and congress quickly decided that there existed no air threat in the world at the moment worth
that hefty investment. Thus the Air Force was allowed to order just
shy of 200 F-22s, but would have to rely on the F-35 as its workhorse just like the other
services. The F-35 quickly became the most controversial,
and expensive, weapons program of all time. While the plane is extremely capable, it continues
to showcase several serious problems even over a year after entering full-scale production. The most persistent issue perhaps is the fact
that even though the F-35 is meant to also be a ground-attack aircraft, its main gun-
a 25mm cannon, can't shoot straight. That would without a doubt be of some concern
for troops on the ground requiring very close air support. Despite ongoing issues though, the F-35 is
without a doubt an extremely capable, and dangerous aircraft. In numerous war games against American and
European aircraft, the F-35 has resoundingly defeated all enemy threats, and the only time
the aircraft took significant losses was when artificially forced by the rules of the war
game into a combat scenario at extremely close ranges. When allowed to operate as it would naturally
operate though, the F-35 is a lethal killer, knocking out 4th and 4.5th gen fighters out
of the sky long before they even realize it's there. So, which is the better aircraft: the SU-57
or the F-35? The answer is as it usually is, not a simple
one. First, it's important to understand the design
philosophies behind both aircraft. The SU-57 was designed to be a premier air
superiority and ground-attack aircraft, but it was not designed to be a 'workhorse' aircraft. Due to Russia's budget problems, the nation
would never be able to field it in large enough numbers to fully replace their air fleet with
SU-57s, thus it was meant to act as a force multiplier supporting Russia's 4th and 4.5th
gen aircraft. The F-35 by comparison was meant to replace
nearly all of the US's fighter and ground attack fleet, which meant that serious compromises
had to be made to accommodate such a wide variety of roles. On paper, the F-35's performance is thus very
often greatly outclassed by the SU-57, which have led many to believe the SU-57 to be the
superior plane. Because the SU-57 was never planned to be
bought in great numbers, the aircraft could be more expensive than an F-35 and thus pack
more design features. The F-35 is equipped with only a single engine
versus the SU-57's two engines, which means that the SU-57 has a higher service ceiling
of nearly 66,000 (20,000m) feet versus the F-35's 50,000 feet (15,240 m), and that it
can fly faster at 1,616 mph (2600 kph) versus the F-35 at 1,199 mph (1930 kph). Physically larger than the F-35, the SU-57
is 72 feet long (22 m) versus 50 feet (15.37m), has a width of 47 feet (14.20m) versus 35
feet (10.65m), and has an empty weight of 40,786 pounds (18500 kg) versus the F-35's
29,002 pounds (13,155 kg). This means that the SU-57 can fly further
than the F-35, with a range of 3,107 miles (5000km) versus 1,379 miles (2220km). The larger size allows the SU-57 to carry
more weapons, featuring up to 8 weapon hardpoints versus the four of the F-35 in its internal
weapon bays, though both aircraft can carry weapons on their wings in a non-stealthy configuration. On day one of a war, both aircraft would carry
their weapons internally, but once air superiority has been established weapons can be attached
to external hard points- though the SU-57 will always be able to carry more ordinance
given its larger size. Despite the SU-57's two engines, the Lightning’s
engine is not only more efficient, but allows the plane to supercruise- or fly at supersonic
speed- without the use of afterburners. Afterburners in essence destroy a plane's
ability to fly stealthily, and while the SU-57 has greater speed, it must make us of afterburners
in order to fly at supersonic speeds. This is because the aircraft is still using
4th generation engines, Russia has not successfully developed the 5th generation engine it needs
to achieve supercruise capabilities. Currently Russia's Izdelie-30 engine is still
undergoing flight testing and is not believed to be operational anytime before 2025. This is of little surprise to foreign observers,
as the United States has always maintained a technological edge in engine technology. The inability to supercruise and use of old,
inferior engines, means that the SU-57 is at a serious disadvantage against a squadron
of Lightnings. Russian SU-57 pilots would either have to
be pre-positioned along a lightning’s flight path, or use afterburners for a successful
intercept. The first choice would require perfect intelligence
on the American planes and their mission, a tactical near-impossibility, and the second
choice would nullify the SU-57's stealth and make them easy pickings for long-range air
attack by the stealthy Lightnings. Where the SU-57 shines though is in dogfight
scenarios, as it has incredible agility and maneuverability versus the F-35. If forced into a close-quarters fight, the
F-35 would be dominated by an SU-57, and have little hope for survival. With the F-35's slower speed, if pursued by
an SU-57, the F-35 would almost certainly be caught and destroyed. When it comes to 5th generation though, stealth
is what matters most after engines, and here the F-35 stands head and shoulders above the
SU-57. Despite a great deal of propaganda from the
Russian Defense Ministry, the most telling assessment of the SU-57's real stealth signature
comes from the fact that the Indian withdrawal from the program was largely due to serious
concerns about poor stealth engineering. In a rare moment of candor, the Russian news
outfit Moskovskiy Komsomolets Online- a former arm of the Communist youth news network- said
that the SU-57 could not yet be called a fifth-generation fighter due to its poor low observation capabilities. Indian military sources expected that their
version of the SU-57 would have a head-on radar cross section of .5 square meters, which
is significantly worse than the F-35's cross section of .001 meters or the F-22's cross
section of .0001 square meters. In essence, an SU-57's head-on radar cross
section is the size of a truck tire, while the F-35's cross section is the size of a
golf ball and the F-22 is that of a marble. With such dramatically poor stealth features,
the SU-57 would not fare very well in a head-on long-range engagement against an F-35, although
in a dogfight scenario the SU-57 would dominate. Unfortunately the last dogfight the world
ever witnessed happened towards the end of 1988, and given the state of today's long-range
sensors and missile systems, no pilot in the world believes a dogfight will happen again
anytime soon. Ultimately which aircraft is better depends
on the scenario. In most circumstances, the F-35 is the better
aircraft not necessarily because it is physically superior, but rather because it is far better
at its job then the SU-57. In a traditional dogfight though, the SU-57
continues to give Russia the advantage it has traditionally enjoyed in close quarters
fighting. However, the real testament to which is the
better aircraft may come from the fact that over 400 Lightnings have already been built,
while only 11 SU-57s are currently flying. Want to see more awesome videos? Why not tell us which you think is the best
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I don’t think I’ve seen a single “who would win” animated video on YouTube that could be considered anything other than dribble. You see it on both sides of the coin and it’s really depressing imo just how much misinformation that’s out there and how little people really question stuff. Hell I probably would still believe half of that misinfo if it wasn’t for dragon029 making me question stuff and do my own research
One of the many funny bits is how they compare RCS and shows the jet's nose-mounted radar and the supposed width of the emission cone. They're not even studying the misinformation they're parroting.
This just in: Guy with machine gun defeats the F-35 on the runway.
So easy to follow when 'raptor' means both the f-22 and the f-35.
Also I bet the Air force is real cut up about the machine gun being 'unable to shoot straight' so it cant do CAS. Do they really think the F-35 is going to do strafing runs against ground targets?
bad orange man took away Turkey's planes for no reason amirite
also:
off-boresight?
F-22 at the end?
Number of Su-57s built? 11.
Number of F-35s built? 500.
And roughly 1500 more to go. And with oil at $25/barrel, I would not count on Russia buying man (if any) more Su-57s soon.
That channel uploads atleast one video a day and has always been horribly inaccurate. Quantity over quality.
Infographics show is just trash. I recently saw C. W. Lemoine "Mover" (former fighter pilot turned youtuber) tear apart their "how to become a US fighter pilot" infograph. They mixed up Navy, Air Force, Marine pilot pathways, had steps out of order, and also put out outright falsehoods.
I think you should ask a god.