UAC, Russia's Defense Ministry to Sign Contract for Su-57 Planes By End of Summer

Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and the Russian defense ministry plan to sign a contract for the firth batch of Su-57 fighter jets by the end of this summer, probably at the 2018 Army forum, UAC President Yuri Slyusar said on Sunday.

"By the end of the summer, I think probably at the Patriot Park (in Moscow’s region, the venue for the 2018 Army forum on August 21-26 - TASS), we will sign contracts for the first batch with the defense ministry. Regular supplies will start next year," he said in an interview with the Deistvuyushchiye Litsa (Political Actors) program on the Rossiya-1 television channel.

The Russian fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jet features stealth technology with the broad use of composite materials, is capable of maintaining supersonic cruising speed and is furnished with the most advanced onboard radio-electronic equipment, including a powerful onboard computer (the so-called electronic second pilot), the radar system spread across its body and some other innovations, in particular, armament placed inside its fuselage.

These planes are expected to arrive for the troops in 2019. The pilot batch will comprise 12 Su-57 planes.