Russia's "General" debuts in Dubai, the Su-75, priced at 30 million per unit, will challenge the United States in the fighter jet market

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - With a laser light show, a mirrored ceiling and a fragrance launch, Russia's new fighter jet caused a stir when it made its debut abroad.

A prototype of the Su-75 "Checkmate" (a verb, referring to 'checkmate' in chess) was displayed at the Dubai Air Show, which runs from November 14 to November 18, 2021. Although the light tactical aircraft appeared at the Moscow International Aviation and Space Exhibition in July 2021, the Su-75 "Checkmate" has never been shown outside of Russia before.

Su-75 at the Moscow Air Show

According to the two companies, UAC and Sukhoi, which is part of Rostec, which is jointly developing the aircraft, a prototype is ready for flight tests (right now this 'prototype' is not flyable, it's more of a static demonstrator). The prototype is housed in a special theater hut where its capabilities are being demonstrated to the public in Dubai.

According to a press release, the aircraft’s key features are low visibility, low cost per flight hour, open architecture and high cost-performance.

Currently, the hourly maintenance cost of the F-35 is as high as $36,000 to $33,000, and this is still reduced to $44,000 in 2018. Lockheed Martin has promised to reduce these costs to around $25,000 by 2025. This has led to many countries being unable to afford it, and even the US Air Force has many complaints about it.

Sergey Chemezo, head of Russian state-owned Rostec, told reporters the platform's base price would be between $30 million and $35 million. By comparison, the U.S. F-35A Joint Strike Fighter costs just under $80 million.

By lot 14 (the contract was finalized in 2020 and deliveries began in 2022), the take-off price of the F-35A is US$77.9 million, the vertical take-off and landing F-35B is only US$101.3 million, and the F-35C is US$94.4 million.

Thanks to the United States' strong industrial capabilities, the F-35 is not expensive, which further highlights its high maintenance cost.

Russian companies plan to use technology to continue cutting costs. For example, a demonstration at the air show highlighted the predictive analytics system built into the aircraft as one way the system will increase efficiency and save money.

The fighter is powered by an engine that produces 24,000 pounds (10.8862169 tons) of dry thrust in afterburner mode and 39,000 pounds (17.6901024 tons) with afterburner.

The "Product 30" (right side in the picture) is compared with the AL-41F1 (left side in the picture). The use of a serrated edge structure is one of the measures to improve stealth performance. Both the Su-75 and Su-57 will use the Product 30 engine in the future, but it has not yet been successfully developed, so the AL-41 engine is used first - this situation is similar to that of my country's J-20.

The indicators of Product 30 are generally believed to be similar to those of the F-22's engine F119, which is the data mentioned above.

The synopsis reads: “Due to its high thrust-to-weight ratio (T/W)… the aircraft has an unrivalled global thrust-vectoring engine and impressive take-off and landing capabilities.”

The Su-75 can reach Mach 1.8 and requires "less" space for takeoff and landing. In addition, according to the presentation, the aircraft will be able to work with unmanned platforms, and there are plans to develop an unmanned version of the aircraft.

The S-70 Hunter drone is considered Russia's "loyal" wingman and has flown in coordination with the Su-57.

The fighter jet is considered a competitor to Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jet, which the United States is preparing to sell to the UAE (although this matter is still under debate, after all, it involves the issue of Israel).

Meanwhile, the Chinese delegation to the air show displayed China's L-15 strike fighter trainer, the first time the aircraft was exhibited internationally.

L-15AW trainer/attack aircraft and its weapons at the Dubai Air Show

According to a brochure from China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation, “It is a multifunctional platform with high performance, high reliability and high cost performance.”

The L-15 uses two AI-322 turbofan engines from the Ukrainian company Motor Sich (the acquisition failed, but the business is still going on). The jet can reach a top speed of about 620 miles (997.79328 kilometers) per hour. The two-seater has a wingspan of more than 30 feet (9.144 meters) and a fuselage weight of more than 17,000 pounds (7.7110703 tons) - the maximum take-off weight is more than 23,000 pounds (10.4326245 tons). According to a company brochure, it is also equipped with sensors such as radar, tactical data links, targeting pods and radar reconnaissance pods.

AI-322 was developed by Ukraine based on AI-222-25 after the fallout between Russia and Ukraine.

“The aircraft’s proven technology, reliable systems and redundant design make its safety record second to none in its class,” the brochure reads.

China has also been developing other advanced fighter jets. The fifth-generation stealth fighter J-20 "Vigorous Dragon" was reportedly flown at an air show in China earlier this fall.