The Russian Ministry of Defense has released images of second production-version of Su-57 fighter jet.

The latest Russian-5th generation “stealth” combat aircraft, codenamed “Felon” by NATO, was showed at the assembly line at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Factory (part of the Sukhoi Aircraft Company within the United Aircraft Corporation).

Nevertheless, the first production-version Su-57 fighter jet crashed in December 2019 in a forest area in Russia’s Far Eastern Khabarovsk Territory.

Currently, the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Factory is modernizing its production capacities to launch the continuous assembly line for the latest Su-57 fifth-generation fighter jets, the Corporation announced on Wednesday.

“In Komsomolsk-on-Amur, the production capacities have been upgraded and retooled, which allows us to fulfill the defense procurement plan successfully and on schedule… Under the defense procurement plan, we are planning to deliver 76 Su-57 aircraft platforms to the Defense Ministry by 2028,” Sukhoi CEO Ilya Tarasenko reported to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during his visit to the enterprise.

The Russian defense minister earlier said that the ministry had signed a contract on 76 Su-57 fifth-generation fighter jets. The plans are to deliver all newest Su-57 fighters to the Defense Ministry by 2028, according to official data.

The Felon took to the skies for the first time on January 29, 2010. Compared to the Su-27 family of fighter aircraft, the Su-57 combines the functions of an attack plane and a fighter jet while the use of composite materials and innovation technologies and the fighter’s aerodynamic configuration ensure the low level of radar and infrared signature.