January 5, 2025: In late 2024 Russia sent one of their new Su-57 stealth fighters into Ukraine accompanied by an S-70 Okhotnik-B stealth drone. The Su-57 pilot was controlling the drone and tested the concept of drones acting as what the USAF calls Loyal Wingman for jet fighters. The SU-57 pilot lost control of the drone and shot it down to prevent it from being captured by the Ukrainians. The pilot then called for a missile strike on the S-70 wreckage to prevent anyone gathering wreckage and determining what the S-70 was built of. This did not work because Ukrainians were able to gather drone components that were blown far from the crash site as well as components still near the crash site despite the missile strike.

In 2020 Russia announced that its 20-ton jet-powered Okhotnik stealth drone successfully dropped unguided bombs from its internal bomb bay. This was not a prelude to Okhotnik dropping smart bombs or guided missiles, but rather the first step in using Okhotnik with unguided bombs and fire control systems that can put unguided bombs on target very effectively. Not as accurately as GPS guided bombs, but at much less cost per bomb. Russia made heavy use of these modern computerized fire control systems in Syria where Russia gave its latest GPS and laser guided smart bombs a lot of combat experience. While Russia was known to have such guided bombs and missiles, the West was surprised to discover how few of them the Russians had stockpiled.

Many details of how Russia uses its annual defense budget are still top-secret and that included how few of these modern guided bombs Russia actually purchased. Russia could not afford a large stockpile of such expensive weapons. The Syrian experience also revealed that Russia had kept up on developing computerized fire control systems for using unguided bombs. These types of fire control systems were increasingly common in Western air forces during the 1980s and 90s but were eclipsed as smart bombs and guided missiles largely replaced unguided bombs, at least in fighter-bombers, after 2001. American pilots still used these systems for the rare occasions that an F-16 was allowed to carry out a strafing mission with its autocannon. Currently such missions are avoided because they are too risky, especially when the F-16 can deliver a laser guided missile at a target while flying above any ground fire. Often these strafing attacks are about demoralizing the enemy rather than trying to kill them all.

The stealthy Okhotnik is also being tested to see if it can perform as a drone to accompany the Su-57, Russia’s first stealth fighter, on attack missions against well-guarded and vital targets like air defense systems.

The first Russian effort to create a stealth fighter produced the Su-57. It was not a success and Russia realized the Su-57 was neither effective nor affordable. The Su-57 could not compete with American F-22s and F-35s. These two stealth aircraft have been in combat and succeeded using their stealth and other new capabilities. Since the Su-57 could not compete, Russia tried something new, a more recent stealth design called Checkmate, or the Su-75. This aircraft was meant to avoid the mistakes made in developing the Su-57. So far, the Su-75 is an effort, not an accomplishment and the most optimistic Russian predictions have the aircraft entering service later in the decade. At the moment Su75 production plans are on hold because of the Ukraine war related economic sanctions.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine resulted in economic sanctions that stalled planned production and deployment of the Su-57. Russia kept trying and that led to a new design. This was revealed in 2021 as a new single engine stealth fighter called Checkmate was revealed. Sukhoi, the developer and manufacturer of the most successful current Russian fighters, displayed a mockup of the new single-engine Checkmate stealth fighter, which was meant to match the capabilities of the American F-35. Checkmate was developed by the same team that designed the Su-57, the Russian effort to match the American F-22. The Su-57 proved to be a failure as an F-22 clone and few are being built, and those only for the Russian Air Force. Export customers cancelled orders and accused Sukhoi and the Russian government of fraud and trying to sell an aircraft that does not work. Checkmate appears as a desperate move to salvage something from all the money spent on developing the Su-57.

So far Russia has revealed few details on Checkmate, and these include things like the aircraft being available in one and two seat versions, with the two-seater used as a trainer or an electronic warfare aircraft. There were also plans for an unmanned version, without a cockpit, and thus cheaper to build. This stealthy, delta wing S-70 drone has already been tested accompanying manned fighters but production is stalled because of the sanctions and reliability problems.

Checkmate is shaped more like the American YF-23, the loser in the competition to select a stealth fighter design. The YF-22 won and in 1991 became the F-22. Only two YF-23s were built as development aircraft and, given the amount of data obtained from defense industries by Russian hackers since then, that could have included detailed plans for the YF-23. Moreover, the two YF-23s eventually became museum aircraft and were available for anyone to photograph. Over the years many details of the YF-23 performance were published.

Russia used a similar approach when the U.S. had two competing designs for a new ground attack aircraft. The YA-10 won out over the YA-9 in 1973 and entered service in 1976. Russia adopted the YA-9 design and their Su-25 entered service five years later. The Su-25 was successful and over 1,024 were built, compared to 713 A-10s. Both aircraft were popular with the ground troops and are still in use after undergoing several upgrades.

Checkmate seeks to save a lot of time, effort and money adopting proven design concepts. The Su-57 was an overall disappointment but many of its features were successful, and these are apparently incorporated into the Checkmate design. In one respect Checkmate will not match the F-35 and that is the extensive software and data-fusion systems that all pilots report as remarkable and make the F-35 a truly unique aircraft, giving the pilot unique situational awareness of what is going on around him. The Russians have seen the Israelis F-35s in action and were impressed. They were also dismayed when they realized it would take them a long time to develop something equal to the current F-35 software systems. Meanwhile the Russians will have to improvise.

Despite all the tech Russia has available for Checkmate, they have much less money available to integrate it all into a new aircraft that will approach the F-35 in performance. Then again, Russia may just be trying to salvage what they can from their Su-57 debacle and find some satisfied export customers for their Su-75. Checkmate is expected to be a lot cheaper than the Su-57 and F-35 and, unlike the Su-57, deliver some of what was promised for earlier Russian stealth aircraft.