While this is true, the government in this analogy may wish to allow this project to be sold externally so that the organisations can recover expenses and maybe even make money that contributes to tax.
No issues there. However, we are talking about an alleged '5th-gen' or 'stealth' platform. So who else in the world can afford this program? Actually -- more than we think.
Would Russia allow Sukhoi to sell the -57 program to US? Any US defense contractor would love to have the -57 in their portfolio. Russia cannot -- financially -- afford the program but we can. We can even improve on it and make the platform more than the 'alleged' status it is today. So even though we can afford it, the Russian government will not allow such a sale. China, France, the UK, Germany, and a few more European countries would definitely be interested. But this is not the same as allowing Boeing selling upgraded '4th-gen' platforms to allies but having potential adversaries access to Russia's 'stealth' project.
If they let it die the way you suggest, it puts other military contractors in an uneasy state, fearing any domestic failure would be total project failure.
First...Am not suggesting that the Russian government and Sukhoi 'let it die'. We can be %100 assured that both entities want the project to come to a successful conclusion. So I did not 'suggest' anything. I only made an observation based upon my personal experience.
Second...Precisely because of the limited clientele of military oriented projects, all defense contractors knew the risks before they got involved. Defense projects have limited utility and when a project is so specialized like a fighter aircraft or a tank, the benefits of having an assured stream of income because of that limited utility and specialized need by that client weighs on whether to get into defense contracts in the first place.
In the end, defense contracts are subsidiaries of whatever else the company have in its portfolio. Sukhoi also make civilian aircrafts and provides other aviation industry related services. Sukhoi will continue.
I have no problems proven wrong if the -57 project survives
AND progresses. The operative word here is '
AND'. Sukhoi cannot continue the R/D on the jet forever. When the F-22 was selected, how it was chosen and the politics involved are for a different debate, Northrop shelved its YF-23 and moved on to something else. Boeing's X-32 program was also shut down. The civilian business world is filled with similar situations. Without an assured stream of income, the money will begin to decline and eventually the board will have to make a hard decision for that project that have no income.
So when I commented/speculated that the -57 project is essentially dead, I was not being 'mean' to or even 'trolling' our Russian forum members. That was a harsh observation that have solid real world support.
