Su-57 Felon Brandishes Its Loaded Weapons Bays For The First Time
Imagery has been published providing a rare look inside the weapons bays of one of the prototypes of Russia’s Su-57 Felon fighter, an aircraft you can read about in more detail here. While internal weapons carriage is a key design feature of the Sukhoi jet, the main weapons bays, at least, haven’t been seen in such detail, with weapons loaded. The footage comes as Moscow embarks on another export drive for the Su-57, which has reportedly so far only been ordered by Algeria.
A recent promotional video from the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), Russia’s aviation manufacturing conglomerate, shows the prototype T-50-9 being put through its paces ahead of its planned appearance at the Dubai Airshow. The event takes place in the United Arab Emirates next week. In the footage, the T-50-9 performs a variety of maneuvers, but of greatest interest is the forward main weapons bay, opened to reveal a pair of Kh-58UShK anti-radiation missiles.
While we have previously seen imagery of weapons being released from the aircraft’s main weapons bays, we. The plan to display the T-50-9 at Dubai, with internal weapons exposed, is also new — this hasn’t been done since the aircraft was first flown in prototype form 15 years ago.
The Felon carries its main weaponry in a pair of notably large internal weapons bays that are arranged in tandem between the engines. Each of the bays is sized for the carriage of two missiles with a maximum length of just under 14 feet and a cross-section of around 16 by 16 inches.
For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, it was a long time before Sukhoi began to conduct tests of internal weapons from the Felon. Such trials only began in 2016, six years after the initial prototype T-50 had first taken to the air. In March of 2016, a Felon first launched an undisclosed type of missile from one of its main internal weapons bays.
For the air-to-air role, the large tandem weapons bays are intended to carry two types of beyond-visual-range missiles that were specially adapted for internal carriage. These are the medium-range R-77M (izdeliye 180) and the very-long-range izdeliye 810. You can read more about them here.
For offensive missions, the Kh-69 long-range air-to-surface missile was designed specifically for the Felon, again for internal carriage. The Kh-69 is a weapon we have discussed in detail in the past.
Meanwhile, the Kh-58UShK supersonic anti-radiation missile seen in the recent UAC video is a further evolution of the older Kh-58 (known to NATO as the AS-11 Kilter).
Weighing around 1,400 pounds per piece, the Kh-58UShK (in which the K suffix stands for Kompaktnaya, compact) has a missile body that is approximately 24 inches shorter than the baseline weapon. It also has folding fins to fit in the internal bays. The weapon has a reported range of 150 miles when launched from higher altitudes, although this is significantly reduced when launched from lower levels.
Other offensive munitions that the fighter can carry internally include the ‘universal’ Kh-38M air-to-ground missile with a range of different guidance types, the Grom (thunder) missile that adds a range-extending wing kit to the Kh-38M, and the 551-pound KAB-250L electro-optically guided bomb.
The UAC footage also shows the aircraft’s ability to carry two additional air-to-air missiles inside the two so-called ‘quick-launch’ bays — these have previously been seen in some detail, unlike the main bays. The quick-launch bays are located in distinctive underwing fairings, and the design ensures the missile can be extended into the slipstream so it can lock onto its target. Each can be located with a single R-74M2 (izdeliye 760) short-range air-to-air missile. This is another weapon that was developed specifically for internal carriage, derived from the well-established R-73 (AA-11 Archer).
The missile launch clip begins at approximately 1:19 in the runtime of the video below:
Carrying internal ordnance is a prerequisite if it’s paramount that the Su-57 retains its reduced radar signiture characteristics. However, for missions not requiring such a degree of low-observability, the aircraft can carry a heavier weapons load, making use of four pylons under the wing and two under the air intakes. The underwing pylons can also accomodate drop tanks for additional fuel.
Finally, for close-range combat, the aircraft is armed with a 30-millimeter single-barrel cannon within in starboard wing root and provided with 150 rounds of ammunition. You can see it in action here.
Showing off the Su-57’s relatively impressive capability to accommodate larger internal weapons will, UAC surely hopes, help to drum up more export interest in its product.
Apart from the announcement from Algeria’s state-run media earlier this year that the country was buying the Su-57, the aircraft hasn’t seen any export uptake. The sales fortunes of the Su-57 have so far suffered from a failed partnership with India as well as limited Russian orders and deliveries.
Combat employment in Russian hands has also been less than impressive, with only questionable capabilities demonstrated in Syria, and little in the way of hard evidence about its service in the war in Ukraine — aside from the reported shooting down of a Russian S-70 Okhotnik-B flying-wing uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV), in circumstances that remain somewhat unclear.
Overall, the Su-57 program has made only very slow progress, hampered by a lack of investment in the form of foreign orders. A significant blow was struck by India’s withdrawal from the program, with that country’s investment having been considered vital to speed development. The same had been true in the late 1990s when India’s purchase of the Su-30MKI Flanker essentially secured the development of the multirole version of this fighter, which was only later acquired by Russia.
In terms of domestic orders, the Russian Aerospace Forces only began to receive series-built Su-57s in 2022, part of an order for 76 aircraft — a notably small production run.
While at least six aircraft were delivered to the Russian Aerospace Forces in 2022, more than 10 were handed over in 2023 before numbers tailed off again in 2024, when likely only two or three more were received. It’s unclear if any examples of the Su-57 have been delivered to Russia this year.
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent international sanctions against Russia have had the combined effect of slowing down the pace of Su-57 deliveries and limiting export prospects to all but the staunchest Kremlin allies. After all, any country that receives Russian weapons can expect to be on the receiving end of U.S. sanctions. In an effort to counter this, Russia has also offered a degree of local production of the Su-57, specifically with the hope of securing sales from India and the United Arab Emirates. The Dubai Airshow appearance is almost certainly calculated to try and reinvigorate interest from these two nations in particular.
At the same time, while demonstrating the Su-57’s already celebrated agility and its gradually expanding weapons options, the long-promised advanced Su-57M version has made little progress. The Su-57M is powered by the new AL-51F1 (izdeliye 30) turbofan engine, replacing the current AL-41F-1. It promises increased thrust, lighter weight, and lower operating costs. However, a lack of interest from Russia has done little to help the Su-57Ms’ chances on the export market.
Recent reports based on an apparent leaked official document relating to Su-57 (and other Sukhoi) exports also pointed to official interest in the Felon from Algeria. This document, the leak of which was attributed to the Black Mirror hacktivist group, was, however, several years old and appears to have described possible export orders, rather than reflecting any kind of firm deals. It is also notable that most of the possible export deals in the document related to the Su-35 Flanker, rather than the more advanced Su-57.
Regardless, the UAC is clearly aiming to make a big splash with the Felon at the Dubai Airshow, where it seems that the planned Su-57 flying display will demonstrate a high level of maneuverability coupled with a heavy missile load — a common sales tactic for multirole fighters. It’s also possible that more previously secretive aspects of the design could be revealed in more detail, as the campaign to secure lucrative export sales is ramped up.
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