MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. Russia’s fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jet crashed in the Khabarovsk Region in the Far East due to a technical failure of the aircraft control system, two sources in the defense industry told TASS on Tuesday.
"According to the preliminary information, the crash is due to a failure of the Su-57’s control system," one of the sources said.
As the other source noted, most likely, "the tail control failed."
Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation reported earlier on Tuesday that a Su-57 fighter aircraft had crashed during a test flight in Komsomolsk-on-Amur 111 km from the home airfield. The aircraft’s emergency system responded in the normal mode and the pilot ejected to safety. A special commission will establish the causes of the crash, the corporation said.
A source in military medical circles told TASS that the doctors had examined the pilot and found no injuries.
This is the first crash of Russia’s fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jet.
The Su-57 is a fifth-generation multirole fighter designed to destroy all types of air targets at long and short distances and hit enemy ground and naval targets, overcoming its air defense capabilities.
The Su-57 took to the skies for the first time on January 29, 2010. Compared to its predecessors, the Su-57 combines the functions of an attack plane and a fighter jet while the use of composite materials and innovation technologies and the fighter’s aerodynamic configuration ensure the low level of radar and infrared signature.
The plane’s armament will include, in particular, hypersonic missiles. The fifth-generation fighter jet has been successfully tested in combat conditions in Syria.