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.

Development

Russia unveiled the Checkmate as a mockup at MAKS 2021, promising a first flight in 2023. That date then slipped to 2024, to 2025, and to "early 2026" — and still no flight or real prototype has been confirmed. The reasons are structural: Western sanctions choked access to advanced chips and machine tools; the UAE, courted as a partner, paused its involvement and with it "critical" funding; and the full-scale war in Ukraine redirected Russia's defence-industrial base toward immediate needs. Russia continues to insist a flight is imminent and has at times claimed prototype assembly is under way — but the consistent pattern is announcement without delivery. (One reconciliation: an occasional "Dubai 2021" debut claim is outweighed by the sourcing placing the unveiling at MAKS 2021 in Moscow.)

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