Russian Aerospace Forces received two more Su-57 in late 2021

An Su-57 with bort number 52; it is likely to be one of the pair of production aircraft delivered to the VKS in Q4 2021. (Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant)

The third and fourth production Su-57 aircraft were delivered to the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) in late 2021. They were among 77 aircraft delivered to the Russian Armed Forces during the year. A note on the delivery of these two aircraft was originally included in a wider press release on the website of the Russian Ministry of Defence, released on 20 January 2022, and although the content was later removed, Russian news outlet TASS had already reported the story.

The first production Su-57 suffered a control malfunction and crashed on 24 December 2019 during a test flight at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant (KnAAZ). A subsequent production aircraft was transferred to the Russian MOD in November 2020 and it is thought to be currently at the state flight test centre at Akhtubinsk.