The Felon revealed!

In a first, close up video emerged yesterday of two Sukhoi SU-57 Felon, fifth generation stealth fighters, as they appeared at a Chinese military airshow in Zhuhai.

Described as prototypes, they turned out to be quite the dogs dinner of poor construction, witness marks between control surfaces and exposed fasteners and panel gaps.

There was also revealing imagery of previously unseen weapon bays.

While it may be argued that these are prototypes and that is to be expected, it also attests to a lack of general understanding of the build standards needed for true stealth capability.

Given the alarming rate at which SU-34s have been falling out of the skies in the Ukraine theatre, and losses in the Su-33/35 variants too, it does not bode well for the general stealth or survivability of frontline RF aircraft.