Airfield Hit Deep Behind Russian Lines

The Ukraine Defense Intelligence Agency (GUR) announced on Sunday that it had destroyed one of Russia’s most advanced Su-57 fighter jets in a drone attack on the Akhtubinsk airfield about 589 km (365 mi) inside Russia. 

The agency displayed before and after satellite images of the field that it says show the aircraft damaged after the strike.

The popular pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Fighterbomber claimed that shrapnel from a multiple drone strike on Saturday damaged the jet. Forbes, in a Sunday interview, cited Ukrainian intelligence spokesman Andrjy Yusov as saying there is also preliminary evidence a second Su-57 was damaged. If confirmed, this would be the first successful strike by Ukraine on a Su-57 and if lost, the first one destroyed during combat action.

The Su-57 is a fifth-generation, supersonic twin-engine stealth fighter considered to be Russia’s answer to the U.S. Air Force’s F-22 Raptor. The GUR also posted the Su-57 can carry KH-59 and KH-69 cruise missiles which can be launched as standoff weapons from Russian airspace to strike targets inside Ukraine.

The significance of the strike is twofold. First, it is unclear exactly how many Su-57s are currently deployed by Russia. According to the 2024 World Air Forces Directory, there are currently 14 Su-57s in active service and another 75 on order. If two of them are in fact damaged and one possibly destroyed, Russian air superiority is placed at risk.

Second, according to criticism leveled by Fighterbomber, the strike underscores what is perceived to be a weakness in Russian leadership – slow decision-making and a disregard for protecting its air power assets. This is because Russian air units typically park aircraft in plain view on ramps with no shelter, and the only time aircraft are moved is during active operations. This makes them potentially more vulnerable to the type of strikes that were just experienced. In contrast, Ukrainian aircraft are flown frequently and randomly from multiple fields, making them less vulnerable to drone strikes.

FMI: https://gur.gov.ua/en.html