Newest Avionics Package to Be Installed on Russia’s Cutting-Edge Checkmate Fighter

Image credit: EPA

The newest avionics package will be installed aboard Russia’s next-generation single-engine fighter, codenamed Checkmate. Vladimir Mikheyev, Adviser to the First Deputy CEO of the Radio-Electronic Technologies Group (KRET, a subsidiary of the state-owned Rostec), told TASS from the MAKS-2021 international air show, which took place from July 20 to July 25.

According to him, all of the information required by the pilot will be shown on a panoramic display with a touch screen and a head-up display.

The Ramenki Instrument-Making Design Bureau (part of KRET) has created the newest onboard avionics suite, which comprises an advanced large-format head-up display, a panoramic airborne display, and a multi-functional display panel. According to Mikheyev, the gadgets are on par with and even outperform the avionics suite of the US F-35 multirole fighter.

“These instruments serve as the foundation for designing and testing things for the most recent domestic Su-57 and MiG-35D combat planes, as well as prototypes for the Checkmate light tactical fighter, which was presented at the MAKS-2021 air show. These improvements are the next stage in the development of Russian avionics and are no less advanced than equivalent gadgets placed on US F-35 aircraft,” he said.

The sophisticated large-format head-up display shows important piloting data as well as information about the air situation onto the aircraft’s windscreen. “Data about targets and missile weapons that are suited for use in a specific circumstance are projected onto the windshield,” Mikheyev explained.

The 25-inch panoramic airborne display with a touch screen, for its part, displays comprehensive data on the status of the aircraft’s systems and weapons, the route, and the plane’s position along the flight path. This display has a high resolution, allowing it to display any high-quality graphic picture.

The multi-functional color display panel with a touch screen is intended to present information and enter any command data necessary into the onboard radio-electronic equipment.

Rostec, Russia’s state-owned technology firm, presented the Checkmate, the country’s latest domestic single-engine fighter, during the MAKS-2021 international air show in the Moscow suburb of Zhukovsky. Rostec’s new plane was developed on its own initiative and is based on the Su-57 fifth-generation fighter.

The new single-engine fighter uses stealth technology and has an inboard compartment for airborne air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons. The fighter will be able to strike up to six targets at once and carry a payload of more than seven tonnes.