Su-75 Checkmate

Russia's "PowerPoint fighter" — a single-engine stealth jet pitched at export buyers who want fifth-generation capability cheaply and without American strings. Unveiled as a full-scale mockup in 2021 with Vladimir Putin in attendance, it has, years later, still never flown, lost the foreign funding it counted on, and signed no customer. Its honest entry in this Lexicon is a counter-story: how a stealth-fighter program can stay frozen at the mockup stage.

Overview

The Su-75 Checkmate (Light Tactical Aircraft / LTS; bureau designation T-75) is a single-engine, single-seat fifth-generation stealth fighter from Sukhoi and United Aircraft Corporation under Rostec, aimed squarely at the export market — pitched at roughly $25-30 million a copy against an F-35A's $80-110 million, for buyers wanting stealth without Washington's conditions. Russia unveiled a full-scale mockup at the MAKS 2021 air show with Putin present — and that is essentially where the program has remained. The defining fact, stated plainly: as of mid-2026 the Su-75 has never flown, its first-flight date has slipped repeatedly, it has no confirmed flying prototype, and it has no launch customer. Everything below the concept is a claim. It is the foil to Russia's twin-engine Su-57 Felon, which has actually flown and exported.

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