Russia’s first fifth-generation fighter jet will receive the designation Su-57, the commander of the country’s air force said on Friday.
Billed as an answer to the U.S. F-22 Raptor stealth fighter, the Russian jet had been known as the T-50 and PAK FA during its development by aircraft maker Sukhoi.
“The decision is made,” General Colonel Viktor Bondarev told the Defense Ministry’s television station, Zvezda. “The plane has been given its name, like a newborn child.”
The Su-57 flew for the first time in 2010 and deliveries of the first batch of 12 aircraft to the Russian military are expected to begin in 2019.
