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The manufacturing of the first prototype for Russia's new fifth-generation combat aircraft, the Su-75 "Checkmate," is officially underway.
Vadim Badekha, the Chief Executive Officer of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC)—a branch of the state-owned aerospace conglomerate Rostec—confirmed this progress during a recent interview with the TASS news agency.
Badekha highlighted that returning to the single-engine fighter market is a crucial milestone for the Russian aviation industry, which has largely stepped away from this specific military sector over the past few decades in favour of heavier, twin-engine designs.
Historically, the Soviet Union manufactured tens of thousands of single-engine warplanes, establishing a strong global legacy in light fighter design.
Addressing questions regarding the timeline for delivering the Su-75 to the armed forces, the UAC chief noted that advancing the Checkmate to the active prototyping phase marks a significant step toward reviving that heritage.
Additional open-source tracking indicates that while the aircraft was initially unveiled to the public in 2021 with hopes of a rapid development cycle, current industry projections estimate that the prototype will likely make its maiden flight between late 2026 and 2027.
The Checkmate program was fundamentally designed to provide nations with an accessible path to upgrade their aging fleets of fourth-generation aircraft.
Because it utilises a single-engine configuration—borrowing heavily from the advanced stealth technologies and propulsion systems already developed for Russia's heavier Su-57 jet—the aircraft is expected to have substantially lower procurement and lifecycle maintenance costs.
UAC representatives assert that the jet will retain full fifth-generation capabilities but without the steep financial barriers associated with competitor platforms on the current market.
With a projected unit cost of roughly $25 to $30 million, an estimated combat payload of over 7,000 kilograms, and an unrefueled range approaching 3,000 kilometres, developers believe the Su-75 will offer a highly competitive price-to-performance ratio that will strongly appeal to both the Russian Ministry of Defence and international export clients.
