Why Russia continues to send Su-57s to Syria
Western intelligence was completely surprised when Russia just released images of the Su-57 stealth fighter performing maneuvers in the sky of Syria.
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New images of Su-57 operations in Syria. |
The footage was released in a one-minute video made by the Russian Defense Ministry's VKontakte page. "The flights were conducted to confirm the design features of the latest aircraft in a real combat situation," the short VKontakte report said.
During the new test flights, the Russian Air Force tested in practice the flight characteristics, intelligent information and control systems, the operation of all equipment systems, including weapons, in conditions of high temperature, complex terrain and other factors.
In total, during this exercise in Syria, the crews made more than 10 flights on two Su-57 stealth fighters, the Russian Air Force revealed.
Speaking about the continued appearance of the Su-57 in Syria, Vladimir Gutenev, a member of the Russian State Duma's Expert Council on the aviation industry, said that the deployment of the Su-57 fighter in Syria is a political message, with the task of maintaining and preventing flights from neighboring countries in case they illegally enter Syria.
| Clip of Su-57 performing in Syria. |
In addition, an equally important task is to test this aircraft along with its high-precision weapon system in real combat conditions and direct confrontation with the enemy.
The military source DEBKAfile notes that the "political message" of the Su-57 deployment at the Hmeymim airbase in Latakia is clear and understandable. This is a warning to the US and Israel about conducting flights in Syrian airspace. The message "Testing in combat conditions and direct confrontation" also shows that Moscow will not hesitate to use the Su-57 to attack.
