Oh No! Coping Hard.

Before I say anything, get a load of the background of the author))

Harrison Kass is a Senior Defense Editor at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, he joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison has degrees from Lake Forest College, the University of Oregon School of Law, and New York University’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. He lives in Oregon and regularly listens to Dokken.

And so, the guy with degree in ... Law and with the record of listening to Dokken (not that I have anything against George Lynch) and who wouldn't understand the first thing about radar, reduction of physical fields--yes, this is what "stealth" is, in reality it is LO--Low Observable, but fanboys use "stealth" moniker long ago completely discredited in form it was sold by the US military pornography industry to gamers. So, Harrison Kass unloads his technological expertise on us.

Key Points and Summary – The Su-57 Felon was meant to anchor Russia’s fifth-generation air power and compete with America’s F-22 and F-35 and China’s J-20. -Instead, it has become a symbol of Russia’s industrial limits. Fewer than 20 serial jets exist, production crawls at two to four per year, and its long-promised Izdeliye-30 engines remain delayed, leaving the Su-57 reliant on upgraded fourth-generation powerplants.

The "opening salvo" of this "analysis" reveals immediately the level of "expertise" of this media resource and its contributors. I have news for the crowd of hard-copers at this resource. 

1. By different estimates, Russian Air Force operates around two regiments (40+) combat SU-57s, I stress--not prototypes, but fully combat ready serially-produced aircraft. Production continues.

2. J-20 is not even the fifth-generation fighter, because it runs on good ol' SU-27 powerplant which is nowhere near the powerplant of SU-35/SU-57, is incapable of supercruise but AL-41 F1 is. 

3. There is another bummer for this amateur--SU-75 Checkmate is getting ready for tests and that means only one thing--AL-51 powerplant is also getting ready. 

4. In conclusion--comparing the advanced netcentric LO technology of SU-57 which boasts an unrivaled combat record in highly hostile environment compared to obsolete F-22 (Combat score--one Chinese air balloon) and a lame duck of overpriced piece of junk such as F-35--that's coping. Hard one. 

But in the end, it is impossible to explain to a listener of Dokken (he considers putting this on his CV as a merit, Good Lord, what am I going to do--put Alan Holdsworth on mine?) and ambitious nobody that the secret in any modern combat aircraft is in fact that it is a WEAPON SYSTEM and its weapons suite is what defines it, together with other tactical-technical characteristics. Here, where the USAF is left to merely observe--it doesn't have anything comparable to combat performed AAM R-37 missile (with a range of up to 400 kilometers) and upcoming new generation of AAM with the range of 500+ kilometers. Both missiles being genuinely hypersonic. But what do I know. Evidently lack of any military and engineering background of Mr. Kuss is considered to be proper qualifications in parroting butt-hurt propaganda. He should cope harder. Or watch Top Gun: Maverick.