Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Russia spawn ambitious projects stealth fighter jet Sukhoi’s new type is nicknamed Skak Mat to compete with the military aerospace industry industri United States of America.
Reported Reuters, the prototype fighter jet was unveiled at the MAKS 2021 air show in Moscow, Russia.
The single-engine fighter jet is claimed to be a serious competitor to similar jets made by the US Lockheed Martin’s main weapon system manufacturer, the F-35.
According to the head of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), Yury Slusar, the plane is expected to undergo a flight test in 2023. If successful, then the production process will be boosted three years later.
UAC is the parent company of Sukhoi which has been around since the days of the Soviet Union. They plan to produce 300 Skak Mat jets in the next 15 years.
According to the claims of Russian aerospace company and defense equipment manufacturer, Rostec, the jet has the advantages of being difficult to track and low operating costs.
The head of Rostec, Sergei Chemezov, said the jet would be sold at a price of US$25 million to US$30 million (around Rp363 billion to Rp436 billion). Their target market is countries in the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
“Our goal is to keep operating costs per hour as low as possible, so that they are affordable in terms of sales and operations,” said Slyusar.
However, it also raises questions because the operational costs of stealth fighters such as the F-35 or Sukhoi Su-57 are quite high due to the sophisticated equipment installed on the aircraft.
Russia has launched several prototypes of advanced defense equipment in recent years, but the idea stuck and did not reach the production stage.
President Vladimir Putin’s government poured massive funds to produce military aircraft to new types of weaponry, both for domestic and export needs. Even so, most of their weapons technology still comes from the Soviet Union era.
Currently, Russia’s flagship fourth generation fighter jets are the Sukhoi Su-27 for the heavy class and the MiG-29 for the light class.
As for stealth fighter jets, they do not yet have aircraft with lightweight specifications such as the F-35.
“Lightweight fighter jets are increasingly in demand by many countries than heavyweight ones because they are cheaper and suitable for countries with a smaller area,” said Oleg Pantaleyev, head of the Aviaport analysis agency.
(ayp/ayp)
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