F-47 vs Su-57: How America’s New Fighter Compares With Russia’s Felon

The Su-57 is Russia’s only stealth fighter, and it is the aircraft most often set against American designs in online comparisons. Measured against the F-47 the comparison is lopsided in both directions: the Su-57 exists and has been used in a war, but it is a fifth-generation design built in small numbers, while the F-47 is a sixth-generation aircraft that will not fly until 2028.

This article compares the published figures, explains where the Russian jet is strong and weak, and looks at why the two are unlikely ever to meet.

The short answer

The F-47 is designed to a higher standard of stealth and to a longer range than the Su-57, and it belongs to a later generation. Western analysts generally rate the Su-57 as the least stealthy of the world’s fifth-generation fighters, though it is fast, agile and well armed.

The practical difference is industrial. Russia has struggled to build the Su-57 in quantity, and the war in Ukraine and sanctions have made that harder. The United States has not yet flown the F-47, but it has the money and the factories to build it.

F-47 and Su-57 side by side

For the American aircraft see what the F-47 is. We have compared the Russian jet with today’s American fighter in F-35 vs Su-57.

Stealth: the widest gap

Published estimates put the Su-57’s frontal radar cross-section between 0.1 and 1 square metre, hundreds of times larger than the figures usually quoted for the F-35. The causes are visible in photographs: partly exposed engine faces, round nozzles, a framed canopy and panel gaps that reflect uneven build quality.

Russia’s designers made a deliberate choice. They gave priority to agility, speed and sensors, and accepted a larger signature. The F-47 takes the opposite approach, with a tailless layout and what the Air Force calls all-aspect, broadband low observability, as we explain in F-47 stealth explained.

Engines and performance

The Su-57 is a powerful aircraft. Its twin AL-41F1 engines have thrust-vectoring nozzles, and Russia claims a top speed of Mach 2 and supersonic cruise. A new engine, the AL-51F1, has been in flight testing for years and is meant to bring more thrust and better fuel economy, but production aircraft are still being delivered with the older type.

The F-47 has an engine problem of its own. Its adaptive NGAP engine is not expected before 2030, two years after first flight. Both programmes show that the engine is the hardest part of a modern fighter. In manoeuvrability the Su-57 may well keep an edge, since nothing is known about how the F-47 turns.

Sensors and weapons

The Su-57’s sensor suite is ambitious: a nose radar with side-looking arrays, additional L-band antennas in the wing leading edges and an infrared search-and-track system. Its weapons include the R-77M and the very long-range R-37M air-to-air missiles and the Kh-69 cruise missile, which it has fired at targets in Ukraine from inside Russian airspace.

Nothing comparable has been published for the F-47. Its likely main weapon is the AIM-260, described in what weapons the F-47 will carry, and it is designed to direct armed drones. Russia has tested the same idea with the S-70 Okhotnik, a large stealth drone, one of which was shot down by Russian forces over Ukraine in 2024 after it went out of control.

Numbers and industry

Russia ordered 76 Su-57s in 2019 for delivery by 2027 to 2028. Independent estimates of the number actually in service in 2026 range from 20 to 30 at the low end to about 50. At least one was damaged on the ground by a Ukrainian drone strike in 2024. Algeria is the only confirmed export customer and has received its first aircraft.

The F-47 plan is for at least 185 aircraft, with about $5 billion requested for development in fiscal 2027 alone, as set out in how much the F-47 will cost. Russia’s fighter programmes have not had funding on that scale.

Would they ever meet?

Probably not. The F-47 is being built for the Pacific and for China’s air force, which is larger and more modern than Russia’s; see F-47 vs J-20. In Europe, the aircraft facing the Su-57 are F-35s, Typhoons and Rafales. The comparison is mostly useful as a measure of how far the leading air powers have moved apart.

Frequently asked questions

Is the F-47 better than the Su-57?

It is designed to be far stealthier and longer-ranged and is a generation newer. The Su-57 is in service now, while the F-47 has not yet flown.

Is the Su-57 a sixth-generation fighter?

No. It is a fifth-generation fighter. Russia has discussed sixth-generation concepts but has shown no aircraft.

How many Su-57s does Russia have?

Russia does not publish a figure. Estimates for 2026 range from about 20 to 50 aircraft in service, out of 76 ordered.

Is the Su-57 stealthy?

It has a reduced radar signature, but analysts rate it well below American stealth fighters. Estimates of its frontal radar cross-section range from 0.1 to 1 square metre.

Has the Su-57 been used in combat?

Yes, mainly to launch long-range missiles at Ukraine from Russian airspace. It has no verified air-to-air combat record.

Which countries have bought the Su-57?

Algeria is the only confirmed export customer.