In some respects this makes the Checkmate a spiritual successor to aircraft like the MiG-21, MiG-23 and Su-17/20/22 family, and for the Russian aerospace industry it marks a return to the single-engined fighter configuration for the first time in more than 40 years. The Sukhoi Checkmate uses a single-engined configuration and technology from the Su-57 and Su-35, coupled with advanced model-based computer-driven design and manufacturing techniques, in order to drive down costs. The aircraft’s appearance at Dubai would tend to suggest that it is, indeed, the mock-up of a real design, intended as a low-cost alternative to the Su-57 for export customers, and perhaps as a useful adjunct to that aircraft for the Russian Aerospace Forces, sacrificing combat radius and payload for significantly lower operating costs.
This led many analysts to question whether the Checkmate was a real but nascent combat aircraft, or whether it was little more than a heavily hyped publicity stunt, rolled out for a domestic audience? This was, in itself, surprising, since with modern design and manufacturing techniques, building a new airframe is relatively cheap, and using the wing, nose and tailfins from a much larger existing fighter would seem likely to impose significant weight and drag penalties. First unveiled at the MAKS 2021 air salon in Moscow in July, Checkmate is something of an enigma.Īppearing straight out of left field, with little warning and no obvious requirement, the aircraft shown at Moscow was clearly a mock-up, albeit one which used major sub-assemblies from an existing Sukhoi Su-57 airframe.
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