Dubai AirShow 2019: Russia is able to sell fifth-generation Su-57 PAK FA T-50 fighter aircraft to Turkey.

Russia will be able to sell its fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jets to Turkey only when the initial domestic demand for such jets is satisfied, chief of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev said at Dubai Airshow 2019.

Sukhoi Su-57 PAK FA T-50 fifth generation fighter aircraft at MAKS 2019 AirShow near Moscow, Russia. (Picture source Air Recognition)

"The issue of possible supplies of Su-57 to Turkey will be considered only after the Russian army’s initial demand for the fifth-generation fighter jets is satisfied," he said, adding that Russia was ready to consider a possibility of selling Su-35 fighter jets to Turkey if Ankara was interested in that.

The topic of Turkey’s possible purchase of Russian fighter jets surfaced after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Moscow on August 27. He demonstrated interest to the Sukhoi combat aircraft when together with Russian President Vladimir Putin they were visiting the MAKS-2019 aerospace show outside Moscow. He said he did not rule out that Turkey could buy Russian Su-35 and Su-57 jets if the United States refused to supply F-35.

In August 2018, it was announced by the Russian Defense Ministry department of information and mass communications reports that the first mass-produced fifth-generation Su-57 PAK FA (Future Air Complex for Tactical Air Forces, factory code name T-50) fighter aircraft will be fielded to troops in 2019.

The Su-57 is Russia’s fifth-generation multirole fighter. The aircraft is designed for destroying all types of air targets, land-based and waterborne assets, monitoring the airspace far from the basement, taking out headquarters, command posts, and control systems of the enemy. The fighter can use a variety of both guided and unguided weapons, including short-, medium- and long-range air-to-air missiles, different families of guided air-to-surface missiles, and 250, 500 and 1500 kg guided air bombs (the latter from external suspension).

The maximum combat weight of the aircraft is 10 tons. The radar signature is reduced by the shape of the craft and the use of reflecting and radar absorbing materials in the frame and coating as well as by employment of EW systems.