Russia's Su-57 Fighter Has 'Crashed and Burned' in China…At Least on Social Media

What You Need to Know: Russia's Su-57 stealth fighter is making its debut at China's Zhuhai Airshow to attract international buyers, but instead of admiration, the aircraft has faced ridicule on Chinese social media.

-Event attendees were able to inspect the fighter up close, exposing numerous visible screws and poor fuselage panel joints that detracted from the Su-57’s intended stealth image.

-Comparisons to China's own J-20 Mighty Dragon highlighted these perceived flaws. While the aircraft will likely attract attention when it flies at the airshow, the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) now faces a PR challenge as photos and criticism of the Su-57 circulate online.

Russia’s Su-57 Stealth Fighter Mocked at China’s Airshow

Russia continues to seek buyers for its Sukhoi Su-57 (NATO reporting name Felon) fifth-generation stealth fighter, and that explains why it sent a prototype to China, where it will be demonstrated at the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, which will begin on November 12 outside the city of Zhuhai in the Guangdong province.

As previously reported, this is the first time that the Sukhoi Su-57 has been presented at the biennial airshow. The Kremlin likely expected that its highly-touted fifth-generation fighter would turn heads. It didn't count on Chinese social media, where the fighter was highly scrutinized and ridiculed.

"The oversight on the russian part was that they failed to organize a no-access zone for spectators, and the Chinese event visitors could freely come up unprecedentedly close to the Su-57 model demonstrated at the exhibition," Defense Express reported.

The Su-57 Was Ready for Its Close-up

The aircraft was photographed in ways that Russia's adversaries might have once only dreamt of, and soon armchair pundits and aviation buffs weighed on every shortcoming they could spot.

"What especially catches the eye is the huge number of bolts holding together fuselage panels but this is no news, as previous models had the same look. A whole different matter is that the quality of joints fails to meet any reasonable expectations," the Daily Express added.

The result is that the aircraft didn't appear particularly stealthy on the ground, even as it was a prototype and not a serial production aircraft. Yet, commentators on TikTok were also quick to compare the Su-57 to China's domestically-built Chengdu J-20 Mighty Dragon.

"Lots of screws: Closer look at Russia's 5th generation Su-57 fighter jet at China's Zhuhai Airshow," wrote open source military news site Clash Report on X, sharing many of the same complaints as those on TikTok.

If the goal of sending the Su-57 was to raise awareness, get headline, and more importantly turn heads, then mission accomplished! The biennial airshow and aerospace trade expo doesn't kick off for a week and already the Su-57 is getting plenty of attention. While many of the attendees will still get to see the aircraft in flight – at least that's the current plan – and to see a static mock-up, which likely doesn't have the obviously apparent bolts and gaps, the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) still has some bad PR to deal with in the meantime.

Master showman P.T. Barnum (and not Elizabeth Taylor as many believe) may have famously quipped "There's no such thing as bad publicity," but plenty of celebrities and politicians would argue to the contrary. As goes military hardware, the publicity that the Su-57 has so received could only get worse if the Felon literally crashed and burned!

Author Experience and Expertise: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.

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