Russia's top secret $155m Su-57 stealth fighter crashes just days before it is due to enter service - Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter.jpg

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The Sukhoi Su-57 fighter crashed in a ball of flames and was 'fully destroyed'

It crashed in remote Siberian woodland after the pilot escaped in an ejector
seat

Russia's air force has ordered 76 of the £120m planes to be delivered by 2028

A state-of-the-art Russian fighter jet has crashed on a training mission just
days before the first of the aircraft was due to be delivered to Putin's air
force.

The Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter crashed in a ball of flames in the far east of
Russia and was 'fully destroyed', officials said.

It crashed in remote Siberian woodland after the pilot flew it away from a city
and bailed out to safety with his ejector seat.

Russia's air force has ordered 76 of the $155 million (£120million) planes,
which are intended to rival America's F-22 Raptor stealth fighters - to which
they are similar.

The Su-57 is also similar to the Chinese J-20 jet, which is alleged to have been
built using stolen US plans obtained by Chinese hackers.

The stricken aircraft was a test plane not one of those due to be passed to the
air force, according to news agency RIA Novosti.

Residents of Dzyomgi village, some seven miles north of Komsomolsk-on-Amur,
heard a 'strong roar', believed to be the moment the warplane got into trouble.

The plane had taken off from a military airfield close to a village.

Investigators are examining whether the was a 'technical malfunction' or pilot
error, say reports. One source said there had been a failure of the hi-tech
plane's 'control system'.

'A special commission will investigate the causes of the crash,' said a
spokesman for United Aircraft Corporation which owns the plant.

'The emergency escape system functioned as required, the pilot ejected, he is
alive,' said the spokesman.

Ten of the jets have already been built at Sukhoi's plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur
for pre-production tests and combat evaluation.

Some of them have been flown in combat during Russia's military campaign in
Syria, and the remainder are due to be delivered by 2028.

The unnamed pilot radioed he was in trouble and took the plane away from
Komsomolsk-on-Amur and surrounding suburbs and villages, say reports.

One report said he was 'not injured' but others said he had been taken to
hospital.

The single-seat, twin-engine multirole aircraft is equipped with advanced
avionics and a variety of high-precision weaponry.

According to TASS, the fifth-generation Su-57 fighter is designed to destroy all
types of air, ground and naval targets.

The aircraft has a supersonic cruising speed, carries armament inside its
fuselage, features stealth coating and the latest onboard equipment.

It is reputed to have high manoeuvrability but most data on the warplane remains
top secret.



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