ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE: Sputnik / Vladimir Astapkovich
A Su-57 5th-generation fighter jet crashed in a forest area in Russia’s Far Eastern Khabarovsk Krai (region) on December 24. The pilot ejected and received no injures. He was evacuated by a Mi-8 helicopter.
The incident happened near the city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, 111 km away from the base airfield, during manufacturer’s trials. According to the Eastern Military District’s press service, none of military units in the region have Su-57 fighter jets in service.
The incident is being investigated by a specially established comission. The human factor and a technical malfunction are among the main versions.
The estimated cost of a single serial Su-57 is approximately 2 billion rubles ($32 million). According to reports in Russian media, the crashed Su-57 may have been one of the 10 jets created to various flight tests.
Other sources claim that the crashed Su-57 may have been the first serial Su-57 produced for the Russian military. The first serial Su-57 that is intended to be delivered to the Russian Armed Forces by the end of 2019. If the delivery of the first serial Su-57 to the Russian Armed Forces is deplayed, this will become the confirmation of this version.
The Russian Aerospace Forces should receive a total of 76 Su-57 fighters by 2028.
In 2018 and 2019, Su-57 jets were tested in combat conditions in Syria:
