Russian officials have confirmed that the Su-75 Checkmate fighter jet, developed by the state-owned company Rostec, will enter the flight-testing phase as early as next year.
The information was shared by The War Zone, which attended the Dubai Airshow 2025 and spoke with Sergey Chemezov, head of Rostec. The aircraft was first unveiled in 2021 and, according to Chemezov, is still under development.
“We need some time to get the actual prototype ready for test flights. Basically, we are almost at the flight-test stage and will soon begin production,” the head of Rostec said through a translator.
Meanwhile, Sergey Bogdan, Sukhoi’s chief test pilot, gave an interview to Russia’s state-run Channel One on Tuesday and said he expects this to happen as early as the beginning of 2026.
“The aircraft is already on the assembly line, it is being finalized, and there are schedules in place. Therefore, God willing, this should happen soon.”
It is worth noting that the first flight of a pre-production prototype of the Su-57 occurred in 2010 and took roughly a decade before serial production officially began.
“Generally, it takes 10 to 15 years to create a proper aircraft. You can have a baby in nine months, but the journey to an airplane will take a little longer than that,” Chemezov said on Tuesday regarding the ongoing work on the Su-75.
At the same time, Chemezov’s statements suggest that the fighter has reached a high level of maturity in its basic design, but it will still take some time before it can be put into large-scale production, which should happen sometime in the next decade.
Some data on Sukhoi ‘s fighters from ROE. Su-57E, LTA Checkmate. 1/2#DAS25 pic.twitter.com/pI1LsecrVq
— Michael Jerdev (@MuxelAero) November 19, 2025
Photo: Jamie Hunter / X @MuxelAero. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
