For the first time in history, Russia’s state-of-the-art Su-57 fighter jet was hit

The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine released satellite images of the damaged Su-57 fighter jet at the Akhtubinsk air base.

The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine announced this.

The strike took place 589 kilometers from the front line at the Akhtubinsk air base, where Russia’s latest Su-57 fighter jets are based.

They are part of the 929th State Flight Test Center of the Russian Defense Ministry, which tests new aircraft systems, onboard radars, and weapons.

It is highly probable that the damaged aircraft is not a production Su-57 fighter but its third or ninth flight prototype T-50, which the center uses.

According to published annual photographs of the airfield, aircraft with number 053 and aircraft with number 510 were based there, and the latter is used as a flying laboratory.

It should be noted that the center uses aircraft for integration work and testing new radar equipment, weapons, and other systems.

If the flying laboratory was destroyed, the Russian Aerospace Forces would lose a precious aircraft that allowed them to integrate new weapons that are also used against Ukraine.

In turn, mass-produced Su-57 aircraft are carriers of Kh-69 cruise missiles, which have recently become more actively used against Ukraine, and the destruction of one of these carriers will reduce the overall intensity of their use.

Today, the Russian Aerospace Forces has 22 production Su-57 aircraft, which are actively used by the enemy.

The Kh-69 cruise missile is an analog of the French-British Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG. It has a small radar cross-section, which makes it difficult for radar stations to detect. The missile’s maximum range is stated to be more than 500 km.

Militarnyi previously reported that during a large-scale combined strike from May 14 to 15 in the temporarily occupied Crimea, two Russian MiG-31 fighter jets were destroyed.