Sukhoi Su-57 vs Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor: A comparison between two 5th Generation Stealth fighter jets | Military Equipment

Sukhoi Su-57,  Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, Military Equipment, Fifth-Generation Aircraft

Sukhoi Su-57 and Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor are the crucial components of Russian and American military industries respectively. Both fighter jets are well known for their stealth, performance, and combat capabilities. The current article provides a comparison of both jets in order to provide in-depth insight into the key military equipment of both countries.

Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor

F-22 Raptor is a twin-engine and single-seat stealth fighter developed for US Airforce. This air superiority fighter has capabilities like electronic warfare, ground attack, and signal intelligence. The last fighter jet was delivered in 2012 after the program was limited to 186 operational production aircraft. The unit cost of a fighter jet is believed to be 150 million USD.  F-22 Raptor is 18.92 meters long and has a wingspan of about 13.56 meters. It uses high-speed trapezoidal wing having wing area of about 78m².  F-22 has a loaded weight of about 29410 kg and an empty weight of 19700 kg (Lockheed Martin, 2020).

F-22 Raptor is powered by 2 Pratt and Whitney turbofan engines (F119-PW-100). These engines can produce 156 KN and 116 KN thrust, with and without afterburner respectively. The range of F-22 is over 2960 km. The maximum speed of this fighter jet is 2410 km/h and its supercruise speed is 1960 km/h. The combat radius of F-22 is 852 km. The fighter jet has a ferry range of about 3220 km and flying altitude of the aircraft is above 65000 feet. High altitude and a cruise speed of F-22 increase the effectiveness of weapons and sensors systems, and enhance the fighter's survivability against ground defences like surface-to-air-missiles (Jeyan, 2016).

F-22 contains tricycle landing gear (retractable), 4 empennage surfaces, and delta wings having a reverse trailing edge. Flight control surface contains leading-edge flaps, rudders on the vertical stabilizers, ailerons, flaperons, and horizontal tails for ailerons deflect up, speed brake function, flaperons down, and rudders outwards for enhancing drag (Rainey & Kohn, 2017).

The ability of jet to sustain supersonic flights without the use of afterburners, makes it intercept target which subsonic jets may not pursue due to lack of speed. The utilization of internal bays allows the jet to maintain higher performance as compared to other combat-configured fighters because of lack of parasitic drag from any external source. High strength materials like titanium alloys and composites are used in the structure to withstand heat and stress of supersonic flight. 

Glass cockpit of F-22 contains all-digital flight equipment. Wide field of view is offered by the monochrome head-up display. Information is displayed on six colour LCD panels. Pair of throttles and force-sensitive side-stick controller act as primary flight controls. Integrated avionics combine and filter sensor fusion, external systems, radar data, and other sensors into a common view that in turn enhances the situational awareness of pilot. AN/ALR-94 electronic warfare setup, AN/AAR-56 ultraviolet and infrared Missile Launch Detector, TRW Communication/Navigations/Identification suite, and AN/APG-77 AESA Radar are the main strengths of F-22. The radar has a range of between 200 and 240 kilometres (Lockheed Martin, 2020).

Moreover, the fighter jet contains ALR-94 system that is a passive radar detector having thirty antennas blended into fuselage and wings for RWR (Radar Warning Receiver) coverage. Its range is 250+ nautical miles that can confine radar emissions to narrow beam of 2^o in order to enhance the stealth of a fighter jet. The narrow beam radar has a range of about 400 kilometres.

The F-22 fighter jet has one main bay at the bottom of the fuselage, and 2 small bays on fuselage’s sides. The main bay is capable of accommodating 6 LAU-142/A launchers which can launch beyond-visual-range missiles. The side bays can contain LAU-141/A launcher to launch short-range missiles. Internal accommodation of armaments can minimize the additional drag and improves the stealth capability of aircraft. The F-22 is also capable of carrying air-to-surface bombs having JDAM guidance and Small Diameter Bombs (Fleeman, 2000).

Sukhoi Su-57

SU-57 is a Russian fifth-generation aircraft that fulfils air-to-ground and anti-air roles. SU-57 is a first stealth aircraft of Russia that has a combination of stealth, advanced sensors and weapons, and improved speed (Mizokami, 2020).

Sukhoi Su-57 is a twin-engine and single-seat aircraft that has been under development since 2002. The estimated cost of the fighter jet is 42 million USD (Russian Aviation, 2019). Russia is likely to produce 13 Su-57s (other than prototypes) by 2020. The mass production of this fighter jet may start from the year 2021 onwards where at least 76 fighter jets are likely to be produced (McDermott, 2020).

Height of Su-57 is 5.45 meters and its length is about 22 meters. The wingspan of the fighter jet is 14.8 meters. The maximum take-off weight of the jet is 35,480 kg and it can carry a payload of up to 1000 kg. The manoeuvring load factor of the plane is 9g. Saturn izdeliye 30 twin engines generate thrust between 105 and 155 Kn. But, the first batch of Su-57s is likely to be powered by the AL-41F1 afterburning turbofan engine that can produce a thrust of up to 290 kN (Mizokami, 2020).

Top speed of Su-57 is 2600 km/h. Supercruise speed of the Su-57 is 2222 km/h as compared to 1960 km/h of F-22. Su-57 has a radius of operation of about 1750 km, a maximum range of 3500 km, and a ferry range of 5500 km (Deagel, 2020).

The glass cockpit of Su-57 contains two main LCD multi-functional displays. Three other small control panel displays are also placed around the cockpit. Wide-angle (30^o x 20^o) HUD (head-up-display) is provided in the cockpit. Pair of throttles and joystick are the primary control points of the fighter jet (Trimble, 2010). The special coating on canopy contributes to the stealth capability of the fighter jet.

Sh-121 MIRES (multifunctional integrated radio-electronic system) and 101KS electro-optical system are among the major avionics systems in the fighter jet. Sh-121 contains L402 Himalayas electronic countermeasure setup and N036 Byelka radar setup. Su-57 can track 60 aerial targets and can engage 16 targets simultaneously.  The two main internal weapon bays of Su-57 are arranged in tandem and each bay carries four K-77M radar-guided missiles (beyond visual range) and two K-74M2 infrared-guided missiles (short-range) (Mizokami, 2020).

Aerodynamics of Su-57 allow it to achieve speed up to 2 Mach. The design of Su-57 takes care of things to avoid limitations reported in American F-22. For example, F-22 is unable to utilize thrust directing to cause roll and yaw moments. Su-57 also manages stall recovery in a better way, if thrust directing fails, as compared to F-22 (Sweetman, 2013).  But, the airframe of Su-57 incorporates the alignment of planform edge to decrease its radar cross-section in a similar fashion as in F-22. The trailing and leading edges of control surfaces and wings are angled in a way to decrease the number of directions in which waves of radar may be reflected.

Weapons are held internally within the weapon bays. The inlet ducts of the engine are coated with radar absorption material and the remaining exposed face of the engine is masked using radar blocker that also contributes to the overall stealth capability of the fighter jet (Martin, 2020).

Conclusions

It can be believed, on the basis of above-discussed details, that F-22 emphasizes more on stealth and manoeuvrability as compared to Su-57 which focusses more on manoeuvrability and speed. The blended design of wings in Su-57 helps increase the internal volume for fuel, weapons, and avionics. Su-57 has higher range, combat radius, and maximum take-off load value. Better stealth capabilities of F-22 may help it gain the initial advantage before it comes within the visual range of its adversary. But, the better speed of Su-57 with more than acceptable stealth capabilities can be helpful during a dogfight. Moreover, the unit price of Su-57 is another advantage that provides a cost-effective solution to the requirement of stealth capabilities within any fighter jet.

Sources

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Fleeman, E. (2000). Technologies for Future Precision Strike Missile Systems - Missile/Aircraft Integration. Retrieved 29 July 2020, from https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/p010403.pdf

Jeyan, M. (2016). Comparative study of F-22 Raptor and Chengdu J-20. Instrumentation Science & Technology, 2(1), 121-124.

Lockheed Martin. (2020). F-22 Raptor. Retrieved 29 July 2020, from https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/f-22.html

Martin, G. (2020). Fifth-generation fighter options. Defence Review Asia, 14(2), 12.

McDermott, R. (2020). Moscow Plans Additional Modifications to Its Fifth-Generation Su-57 Fighter. Retrieved 30 July 2020, from https://jamestown.org/program/moscow-plans-additional-modifications-to-its-fifth-generation-su-57-fighter/

Mizokami, K. (2020). Russia’s Su-57 Stealth Fighter Could Soon Have a Robot in the Cockpit. Retrieved 30 July 2020, from https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a32587169/su-57-unmanned/

Mizokami, K. (2020). Stealth Death Match: Russia's Su-57 vs. F-22 Raptor (Who Dies?). Retrieved 30 July 2020, from https://news.yahoo.com/stealth-death-match-russias-su-190000330.html

Rainey, S., & Kohn, A. (2017). F-22 FLIGHT TEST PROGRAM UPDATE. Retrieved 29 July 2020, from https://web.archive.org/web/20140717014716/http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/docs/f-22-emd-paper.htm

Russian Aviation. (2019). NATO assigns new reporting name for Su-57 5th generation jet fighter. Retrieved 30 July 2020, from https://www.ruaviation.com/news/2019/11/1/14330/?h

Sweetman, B. (2013)." New Moves. Aviation Week & Space Technology, 43-44.

Trimble, S. (2010). Sukhoi reveals T-50 cockpit layout and (maybe) static airframe. Retrieved 30 July 2020, from https://web.archive.org/web/20131215084254/http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2010/03/sukhoi-reveals-t-50-cockpit-la/