The Su-75 Checkmate was launched with great fanfare and lofty expectations. Promised as Russia’s response to pricey Western stealth aircraft, it was supposed to bring cutting-edge technology at a fraction of the cost. First revealed to the world at the MAKS 2021 airshow, the Checkmate soon landed in the headlines.
The pitch was straightforward: a stylish, stealthy, and budget-friendly fifth-generation fighter for nations unable or unwilling to stretch their budgets to that of an F-35 or a Eurofighter Typhoon. But as of late 2025, such bold dreaming still waits mostly on the ground.
On paper, the Checkmate checks many boxes. It’s being developed as a single-engine, light tactical stealth fighter, with a Mach 1.8 top speed and a combat radius of roughly 3,000 kilometers. It will supposedly deliver over seven tons of ordnance, held in its internal bay, to maintain its stealth profile. It’s likely to feature many of the same air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles available on Russia’s more mature fighters, such as the Su-35 and Su-57.
The jet’s angular airframe and V-tail configuration are designed to minimize radar visibility, and the avionics package is said to feature AI-based systems to enhance pilot situational awareness and response time. Sukhoi asserted that the Checkmate was Russia’s first fighter entirely designed on supercomputer simulations—an effort to accelerate development and save money in a notoriously costly sector.
But it wasn’t all about the specifications. Sukhoi positioned the Checkmate as an intelligent purchase. The unit cost was projected at between $25 million and $30 million, and the cost of flying allegedly hovered at around $6,000 per hour. That’s amazingly low in an era when defense expenditures are increasingly tight and expensive. Even plans existed for various versions: one-seater version, two-seater version, and even an unmanned version—expanding its reach to various types of purchasers.
But it hasn’t been going according to plan. The initial flight, initially planned for 2023, has slipped more than once and is now due only in 2025. Mass production? Don’t hold your breath until at least 2027. Although Sukhoi and United Aircraft Corporation officials maintain the program is on track, doubts are rising. The obstacles are not just technical, financial, and political.
The Ukrainian war has had a two-fold effect. On the positive side, a lower-cost, quicker-to-make fighter would be able to plug a strategic hole. On the negative, the war has bled resources, siphoning off both money and engineers to address more urgent military requirements. Mature projects such as the Su-35 and Su-34 are given priority, putting experimental fighters such as the Su-75 on the back burner.
The Checkmate was supposed to benefit from foreign backing. At one point, the United Arab Emirates showed strong interest and looked like a key development partner. But over time, that interest cooled. Missed deadlines, international sanctions, and Abu Dhabi’s efforts to maintain ties with Western defense suppliers all played a role in pulling them away. While other countries like India have been polite about their interest, nothing concrete has come of those talks.
Sanctions have only been making it more difficult. With imports of high-tech components now unavailable, Russia’s defense sector is struggling to get hold of essential parts—particularly electronics. Analyses of recent missile debris indicate that most Russian systems were based on imported Western components, and it isn’t easy to replace them locally.
Despite that, Russia still parades the Checkmate around defense expos, presenting offers for co-production, technology transfers, and substantial discounts. It’s a technique borrowed from other large fighter programs—share the work, reduce the costs, and let the customers feel like they have a stake. But so far, the potential customers’ reaction has been cool at best. Without a functioning prototype in the air, the majority of customers are loath to buy. Glimpses of setbacks with the Su-57 haven’t helped instill faith either.
Fundamentally, the Checkmate remains a bold message to the world: that Russia wishes to upset the existing stealth fighter order. But currently, it is a vision overburdened by a combination of international politics, economic constraints, and industrial hurdles. Whether it is an export success story or a cautionary tale of ambition gone wrong will have less to do with what is promised and everything to do with what is actually constructed.