The Problem: Russia has very few Su-57 Felon fighters due to production problems. Moscow. is reportedly expanding its production capabilities for the Sukhoi Su-57 fighter, aiming to increase output at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant (KnAAZ).

The Solution: Despite earlier production delays and limited use in combat, Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) is building new facilities and modernizing existing ones to achieve serial production of the Su-57. This expansion includes new hangars and testing facilities, with significant state funding and investment.

The Bigger Problem: However, it remains to be seen if Russia can ramp up production quickly enough to make the Su-57 a significant factor in its air combat capabilities.

Is Russia Finally Producing More Su-57 Fighters?

Earlier this year, the aerospace giant Lockheed Martin announced it had produced the 1,000th F-35 Lightning II – a significant milestone for the fifth-generation stealth fighter, which came just months before it reached full-scale production, meaning even more will roll off the assembly lines for years (even decades) to come. Few post-World War II aircraft have reached the four-digit production figure, and no other stealth fighter has come anywhere close. In fact, all of the aircraft combined wouldn't reach half that number.

Yet, Russia has vowed to produce hundreds of its Sukhoi Su-57 (NATO reporting name Felon), and this month, it reported that Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) expanded its facilities at Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant (KnAAZ).

"The inauguration of these new facilities coincides with the 90th anniversary of the plant," Dylan Malyasov wrote for the Defence-Blog on Thursday. "The newly launched facilities include a dedicated building for testing the aircraft’s fuel system and the completion of the first phase of a hangar designed for the testing and integration of onboard radio-electronic equipment."

The new facilities should help the UAC, a subsidiary of the state-owned military-industrial conglomerate Rostec, reach serial production of the Su-57 – the aircraft that Malysaov described as "central to Russia's future air combat capabilities."

To date, Russia has failed to employ the Su-57 in any major combat operation in Ukraine, and it has been reported to have only fired a few missiles toward Ukrainian territory while safely in Russian airspace. Given that Kyiv's military has received the F-16 Fighting Falcons, and continues to operate the U.S.-made Patriot air-defense system it could be argued that no skies within striking distance of those platforms can truly be described as "safe" – even if Russia has suggested its aircraft is more advanced than the F-35 and F-22 Raptor.

Too Few Too Matter

While the capabilities of the Su-57 vs. the F-35 and F-22 aircraft have been debated ad nauseam, the fact remains that Russia hasn't produced the Su-57 in significant numbers for it to truly matter. Clearly, UAC is looking to rectify that fact.

"Modernizing and expanding the production capabilities of the Komsomolsk-on-Amur plant is part of a multi-year investment program involving significant state funding and the corporation’s own resources," said UAC CEO Yuri Slyusar. "This initiative has resulted in the creation of a cutting-edge, large-scale, high-tech production facility for the manufacture of the most advanced aviation systems."

The Russian aerospace firm has further called for the expansion of the Su-57 production line and it could build additional facilities, which the Defence-Blog indicated could include "a hangar for system testing and ground trials of the Su-57. The strategic goal is to expedite the integration of this new facility, as the next phase will involve the reconstruction of an existing hangar used for aircraft systems testing."

A timeline hasn't been laid out, but the Kremlin has apparently made this a priority.

"Our objective is to bring this facility online as quickly as possible," said Alexander Pekarsh, director of the UAC branch at KnAAZ. "The expansion of the plant's capacities will also include the construction of a third phase of galvanic production, supported by state investment, along with a major reconstruction of other facilities."

It will now be for Russia to prove it can build the facilities to produce the Su-57 faster than it has built the aircraft. It may be like waiting for Godot if that play were written by Leo Tolstoy.

Author Experience and Expertise: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].

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