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Russian Su-57 Fighter’s New ‘Himalayas’ Electronic Warfare Complex Provides Unique Defence Capability
The first squadron of Su-57 next generation heavyweight fighters is set to enter service in the Russian Air Force by the end of 2020, after the fighters were put into
militarywatchmagazine.com
The first squadron of Su-57 next generation heavyweight fighters is set to enter service in the Russian Air Force by the end of 2020, after the fighters were put into mass production in July 2019 with 76 ordered. Initial batches of Su-57 jets will be fifth generation fighters - albeit with several advanced capabilities ahead of rival American and Chinese platforms from laser defence systems and three dimensional thrust vectoring engines to rear and cheek mounted AESA radars and hypersonic ballistic missiles. It is expected, however, that later variants will integrate a range of technologies which will classify it as a sixth generation fighter - ranging from laser weapons to advanced artificial intelligence. Such enhancements will become particularly vital as the U.S. Air Force and Navy move to induct their first sixth generation fighters into frontline service in the 2030s.
One promising new feature currently under development for the Su-57 is the ‘Himalayas’ electronic warfare system, and while baseline variants of this have been integrated onto fighter prototypes since 2014 the system has come a long way since. One outstanding feature of the Himalayas is that it is not stored in a single area on the Su-57’s fuselage - but the fighter has instead been designed to accommodate parts of the system distributed across its airframe including on the wings. This reportedly allows the Russian next generation fighters to better interfere with enemy targeting systems and protect itself from missile attacks coming almost all angles and positions.
Russian media reports indicate that the Himalayas system has a very long reach exceeding the effective use radius of Western air to air missiles such as the AIM-120D AMRAAM, which makes it much easier to neutralise such attacks using non-kinetic means. The electronic warfare complex is one of a number of new technologies designed to improve the Su-57’s survivability, with the fighter oriented heavily towards reliance on more active means of defence rather than stealth. As of yet it remains uncertain how ‘stealthy’ the Su-57 will be, as all aircraft seen flying so far have been advanced prototypes which are generally built using cruder methods than those in serial production and as a result have much higher radar cross sections.
