The advertising slogan for the project is “turn the chessboard”-a literal translation of the Russian idiom meaning to change the rules of the game. However, Russia’s Industry Minister Denis Manturov subsequently agreed that it would be appropriate to designate it the Su-75. Since the unveiling, numerous publications have referred to the fighter as the Su-75, a designation which was not explicitly given at the time.

The 75 is also an inversion of the digits from the designation of the Su-57, which is to be complemented by the new LTS. The fighter was revealed with the designation LTS (Lightweight Tactical Aircraft) and the English nickname the “Checkmate.” The number “75” was painted on the side-because “the numbers seven and five are lucky for Sukhoi,” says Alexey Bulatov, the deputy chief designer of the project. The fighter is promised to make its maiden flight in 2023, and in 2027, full-scale production may start. In early 2020, Sukhoi started the detailed design work and completed a model aircraft in May 2021. Nevertheless, the development work had been set in motion and Rostec, to which the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) belongs, decided to continue the project without a foreign partner. The project, however, did not go any further. The head of Rostec Corporation Sergey Chemezov announced the signing of the appropriate contract later that year.

But in a way it is a homecoming, because the stimulus that directly pushed Russia to develop the aircraft came from the Emirates.Īt IDEX 2017 in Abu Dhabi, Russia and the UAE signed an agreement to cooperate in the development of a next-generation light fighter. Sukhoi’s single-engine fighter, the sensation of MAKS 2021 in July, makes its international debut in Dubai.

Russian checkmate fighter jet