The movie-going public got its first look at Russia’s newest multi-role combat aircraft with the release of Top Gun: Maverick, as the CGI generated adversaries of Mav and Rooster at climax of the movie. The Su-57 is claimed to have entered service with Russian in December of 2020, though reading between the lines of this book there seems to be a lot of teething problems yet to solve before it could be considered truly ready for prime time.

The author lays out very nicely the protracted development of the Su-57, starting with the MiG MFI program, through the PAK FA competition, concept development programs, and includes content on the MiG 1.44, the Su-47 Berkut, and short discussions of the upgraded Su-57M and the Su-70 unmanned aircraft.

From the roll-out of the prototype T-50s to the delivery and description of each aircraft on charge, the evolution of the aircraft is nicely documented with colored photos (over 170) and rich details. Included are nice close-ups of the various sensors and anticipated armaments.

For anyone interested in Russian aircraft this is a nice, compact resource, and the modeler will find it a helpful reference.

Thanks to the team at Key Publishing for another nice history and reference source, and to Casemate for the opportunity to review it.