Su-75 Checkmate: Specs, Price and Status of Russia’s Light Stealth Fighter in 2026

The Sukhoi Su-75 Checkmate is Russia’s answer to the F-35: a single-engine, low-cost stealth fighter aimed squarely at the export market. Unveiled with great fanfare in 2021, it promised fifth-generation features at a fraction of Western prices. Five years later, the big question is simple: when will it actually fly?

What is the Su-75?

The Checkmate, also called the Light Tactical Aircraft (LTS), was presented as a non-flying mockup at the MAKS air show near Moscow in July 2021, with President Vladimir Putin in attendance. Sukhoi pitched it as a multirole stealth fighter that smaller air forces could afford to buy and operate, filling the gap below the twin-engine Su-57.

Claimed specs

According to Rostec and Sukhoi, the Su-75 is designed to reach Mach 1.8, with a range of about 2,900 km and a maximum payload of around 7,400 kg spread across internal bays and external hardpoints. Its main weapons bay can hold several missiles to keep the radar signature low. Power is meant to come from a single engine derived from the Su-57’s new-generation powerplant, and maximum takeoff weight is put at about 26 tonnes. All of these figures are design claims, not tested performance.

Price: the main selling point

Rostec chief Sergei Chemezov has said the jet should cost around $25-30 million per aircraft, far below the F-35’s price. Combined with lower operating costs, that is the heart of the sales pitch. Russia has named India, Vietnam, Argentina and Iran as possible buyers, along with countries in Africa and the Middle East, and has even suggested India could join the program.

Years of delays

The Su-75’s first flight has repeatedly slipped, from 2023 to 2024, then to 2025, and then to 2026. Western sanctions have cut access to components and machine tools, the war in Ukraine has pulled resources toward combat aircraft that Russia needs now, and the United Arab Emirates, once seen as a likely partner, stepped back. At the 2025 Dubai Airshow, Sukhoi’s chief test pilot Sergey Bogdan said the first flight article was being finalized, but by mid-2026 reports indicated it was still being built.

Does it have a future?

The concept is sound: many air forces want a stealthy fighter without the cost, politics or restrictions of buying American. But buyers rarely commit to an aircraft that has not flown, especially from a supplier under heavy sanctions. Until the Checkmate gets airborne and shows that Russia can build it in numbers, it will remain more of a marketing campaign than a real competitor to the F-35, China’s J-35 or Türkiye’s KAAN.

Featured image: Mztourist / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons