Su-57 nearly crashed, suspected to be due to testing of a new engine.

Military forums such as Defence and Sina have just published information stating that a prototype of the Su-57 stealth fighter jet has experienced a rather serious incident.

Specifically, during a test flight on Wednesday, October 11th, at 4:00 AM (local time), a prototype of the 5th-generation Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter (serial number unknown) experienced a relatively serious incident.

The incident caused the aircraft to shake and lose control, posing a high risk of crashing; however, the experienced test pilot managed to bring the fighter jet back to base safely, narrowly escaping disaster.

The Russian Air Force is expected to temporarily suspend further test flights of the Su-57 until the exact cause of the technical fault is thoroughly identified and repaired.

The Sukhoi-Su-57 stealth fighter prototype of the Russian Air Force.

This is reportedly not the first time the highly anticipated fighter jet of the Russian Air Force has experienced technical problems; however, this is a relatively sensitive time because Moscow has just unveiled the "standard 5th generation" engine for the Su-57.

This engine (whose designation is unknown) has very distinct external characteristics when compared to the AL-31FN or AL-41F1S engines currently equipped on the Flanker family of fighter jets.

This raises the question of whether the Su-57 in question was fitted with a new type of engine and whether a technical malfunction occurred shortly after its maiden flight.

If that's the case, then the prospect of completing the Su-57 program by 2019 is still quite distant.

A new generation jet engine for the Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter.

Following the incident, Russian media suggested that the Ministry of Defense should thoroughly finalize the Su-57 before accepting it into service to avoid a situation where the cost escalates many times over while technical issues remain unresolved, as was the case with the F-35. Clearly, Russia's financial resources cannot compare to those of the US to constantly address and fix problems.

It's even possible that it will take another 10 years for this fifth-generation fighter jet to be truly perfected. If that's the case, Russia's PAK FA program will be 30 years behind the F-22, and may even fall behind other stealth fighter models such as China's J-20 or Japan's F-3.

According to Baodatviet