Russia’s Su‑57 Jet Displays Internal Bay Carrying Two KH‑58 Missiles For Stealth Strike Role
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United Aircraft Corporation released new footage on Nov. 9 showing a Su-57 with its forward internal bay open and two large anti-radiation-type missiles inside. The display suggests a maturing suppression-of-enemy-air-defenses role carried internally, while promotional timing before Dubai Airshow 2025 keeps export buzz and upgrade claims in the spotlight.
On the 9th of November, 2025, United Aircraft Corporation released promotional footage showing, for the first time, the Su-57’s forward internal bay opened with missiles inside. The clip arrives days before Dubai Airshow 2025 and follows months of messaging from Rostec about stepped-up deliveries and upgrades. It also lands amid leaked documents circulating online about potential export activity, keeping the Su-57 in the spotlight. The content is operationally relevant because it confirms a suppression-of-enemy-air-defenses loadout carried internally while the jet simultaneously shows short-range missiles externally, a notable mix for a low-observable design. The footage features the test airframe T-50-9 “509,” rehearsing dynamic passes with the bay doors cracked open.
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Russia released new footage of the Su‑57 showing its forward internal bay loaded with two KH‑58 anti‑radiation missiles, underscoring the fighter’s stealth air‑defense suppression role ahead of the Dubai Airshow 2025 (Pictures Source: UAC / Rostec)
What the footage shows matters more than the aerobatics. The forward main bay is populated by two Kh-58UShK anti-radiation missiles sized and adapted for internal carriage on the Su-57, long-body weapons with folding surfaces mated to the Vympel UVKU-50 family of ejectors. Test-stand imagery and prior technical notes have pointed to UVKU-50U/50L catapult units purpose-built to throw heavy stores cleanly into the airstream from the Felon’s deep, tandem bays; seeing two Kh-58s nested in the frontal compartment validates that architecture in flight configuration. This is the first public, unmistakable look into that bay, after years in which only the side “dog-tooth” bays were photographed clearly.
Equally striking is what rides outside: a pair of R-74/R-74M2 short-range air-to-air missiles hung externally during the demo sequence. That choice trades some signature discipline for display safety and narrative clarity, visually telegraphing a combined SEAD and self-protection posture. In operational terms, the pairing hints at a Su-57 that can open an ingress “window” against modern emitters while still retaining a credible within-visual-range deterrent, even if optimal stealth would normally keep such rounds in the side bays. For airshow rehearsals and promotional reels, however, the message is clear to prospective customers and observers alike: the Felon can carry what it needs for DEAD/SEAD while remaining maneuverable and pilot-friendly at show altitudes.
Strategically, the timing is no accident. The video dropped on November 9, just ahead of Dubai Airshow, where Moscow is seeking renewed foreign interest for the Su-57 amid sanctions and supply-chain stress. The leak set attributed to the “Black Mirror” group, unverified but widely circulated, has stoked talk of export dialogues with Iran, Algeria and Ethiopia; Russia’s showcase of internal carriage for an anti-radiation mission profile is thus aimed at air forces facing dense, modernized SAM environments. For Iran, it underlines a pathway to organic DEAD capacity beyond legacy Kh-58 employment on older airframes; for Algeria, it dovetails with longstanding desires to field a credible fifth-generation deterrent against layered North African IADS; for Ethiopia, it advertises political signaling as much as capability, an aspirational anchor around which Moscow can frame industrial offsets and training pipelines.
Technically, two Kh-58UShK in the forward bay tell us about volume, interfaces and sequencing. The UShK variant’s modular, folding geometry and UVKU-50 ejector integration indicate the bay can host heavy ARMs without fouling the doors at partial-open settings, a prerequisite for “peeking” releases during high-AoA or transient G. It also signals a maturing weapons-management logic for internal carriage of long-body stores, something earlier glimpses of the Su-57 never conclusively demonstrated. If the external R-74s were strictly a display artifact, a combat-optimized load on the same airframe would likely move those SRMs into the side bays, freeing the wings and restoring the aircraft’s low-observable contour while keeping the two-ARM frontal load ready to prosecute emitters cued by onboard and offboard sensors.
The operational and geopolitical subtext runs in parallel. By making the front-bay Kh-58 configuration explicit, UAC is advertising a core mission: first-wave SEAD against radar-equipped adversaries. In a world where Ukraine, the Middle East and North Africa all feature contested electromagnetic terrain, a stealth-shaped fighter that can internally lug heavy ARMs speaks to the next decade’s early-entry playbook. For NATO planners and regional rivals, the signal is that Russia is hard-selling a package that couples low-observability shaping with heavy internal strike stores and enough close-in AAM presence to dissuade opportunistic intercepts, a concept tailored to saturate defenses, tear open corridors and complicate IADS recovery cycles. The venue, Dubai, ensures that message reaches precisely the procurement audiences Moscow needs.
Russia’s narrative scaffolding around the Felon continues: Rostec and UAC talk of incremental weapons-system and engine updates, while using dramatic bay-open fly-bys as proof-of-life for internal-carriage maturity. Combined with the publicity bounce from the leak-driven export chatter, the open-bay Kh-58 imagery and external R-74s present a curated but telling snapshot of where the program wants to be seen, capable of internal SEAD loadouts and flexible enough to tailor signature for the mission or the market moment.
This first public confirmation of a twin-Kh-58 load in the Su-57’s forward bay shifts the conversation from speculation to capability signaling: the Felon is being positioned as a stealth-shaped SEAD/DEAD spear with export ambitions to match, and the decision to show it now, on 9 November, via UAC’s own channels, sets the tone for Dubai and beyond. Prospective buyers and adversaries alike should read the display as intent to operationalize heavy internal ARM carriage, with the external R-74s a theatrical flourish rather than doctrine; the real story is inside the bay.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
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United Aircraft Corporation released new footage on Nov. 9 showing a Su-57 with its forward internal bay open and two large anti-radiation-type missiles inside. The display suggests a maturing suppression-of-enemy-air-defenses role carried internally, while promotional timing before Dubai Airshow 2025 keeps export buzz and upgrade claims in the spotlight.
On the 9th of November, 2025, United Aircraft Corporation released promotional footage showing, for the first time, the Su-57’s forward internal bay opened with missiles inside. The clip arrives days before Dubai Airshow 2025 and follows months of messaging from Rostec about stepped-up deliveries and upgrades. It also lands amid leaked documents circulating online about potential export activity, keeping the Su-57 in the spotlight. The content is operationally relevant because it confirms a suppression-of-enemy-air-defenses loadout carried internally while the jet simultaneously shows short-range missiles externally, a notable mix for a low-observable design. The footage features the test airframe T-50-9 “509,” rehearsing dynamic passes with the bay doors cracked open.
Russia released new footage of the Su‑57 showing its forward internal bay loaded with two KH‑58 anti‑radiation missiles, underscoring the fighter’s stealth air‑defense suppression role ahead of the Dubai Airshow 2025 (Pictures Source: UAC / Rostec)
What the footage shows matters more than the aerobatics. The forward main bay is populated by two Kh-58UShK anti-radiation missiles sized and adapted for internal carriage on the Su-57, long-body weapons with folding surfaces mated to the Vympel UVKU-50 family of ejectors. Test-stand imagery and prior technical notes have pointed to UVKU-50U/50L catapult units purpose-built to throw heavy stores cleanly into the airstream from the Felon’s deep, tandem bays; seeing two Kh-58s nested in the frontal compartment validates that architecture in flight configuration. This is the first public, unmistakable look into that bay, after years in which only the side “dog-tooth” bays were photographed clearly.
Equally striking is what rides outside: a pair of R-74/R-74M2 short-range air-to-air missiles hung externally during the demo sequence. That choice trades some signature discipline for display safety and narrative clarity, visually telegraphing a combined SEAD and self-protection posture. In operational terms, the pairing hints at a Su-57 that can open an ingress “window” against modern emitters while still retaining a credible within-visual-range deterrent, even if optimal stealth would normally keep such rounds in the side bays. For airshow rehearsals and promotional reels, however, the message is clear to prospective customers and observers alike: the Felon can carry what it needs for DEAD/SEAD while remaining maneuverable and pilot-friendly at show altitudes.
Strategically, the timing is no accident. The video dropped on November 9, just ahead of Dubai Airshow, where Moscow is seeking renewed foreign interest for the Su-57 amid sanctions and supply-chain stress. The leak set attributed to the “Black Mirror” group, unverified but widely circulated, has stoked talk of export dialogues with Iran, Algeria and Ethiopia; Russia’s showcase of internal carriage for an anti-radiation mission profile is thus aimed at air forces facing dense, modernized SAM environments. For Iran, it underlines a pathway to organic DEAD capacity beyond legacy Kh-58 employment on older airframes; for Algeria, it dovetails with longstanding desires to field a credible fifth-generation deterrent against layered North African IADS; for Ethiopia, it advertises political signaling as much as capability, an aspirational anchor around which Moscow can frame industrial offsets and training pipelines.
Technically, two Kh-58UShK in the forward bay tell us about volume, interfaces and sequencing. The UShK variant’s modular, folding geometry and UVKU-50 ejector integration indicate the bay can host heavy ARMs without fouling the doors at partial-open settings, a prerequisite for “peeking” releases during high-AoA or transient G. It also signals a maturing weapons-management logic for internal carriage of long-body stores, something earlier glimpses of the Su-57 never conclusively demonstrated. If the external R-74s were strictly a display artifact, a combat-optimized load on the same airframe would likely move those SRMs into the side bays, freeing the wings and restoring the aircraft’s low-observable contour while keeping the two-ARM frontal load ready to prosecute emitters cued by onboard and offboard sensors.
The operational and geopolitical subtext runs in parallel. By making the front-bay Kh-58 configuration explicit, UAC is advertising a core mission: first-wave SEAD against radar-equipped adversaries. In a world where Ukraine, the Middle East and North Africa all feature contested electromagnetic terrain, a stealth-shaped fighter that can internally lug heavy ARMs speaks to the next decade’s early-entry playbook. For NATO planners and regional rivals, the signal is that Russia is hard-selling a package that couples low-observability shaping with heavy internal strike stores and enough close-in AAM presence to dissuade opportunistic intercepts, a concept tailored to saturate defenses, tear open corridors and complicate IADS recovery cycles. The venue, Dubai, ensures that message reaches precisely the procurement audiences Moscow needs.
Russia’s narrative scaffolding around the Felon continues: Rostec and UAC talk of incremental weapons-system and engine updates, while using dramatic bay-open fly-bys as proof-of-life for internal-carriage maturity. Combined with the publicity bounce from the leak-driven export chatter, the open-bay Kh-58 imagery and external R-74s present a curated but telling snapshot of where the program wants to be seen, capable of internal SEAD loadouts and flexible enough to tailor signature for the mission or the market moment.
This first public confirmation of a twin-Kh-58 load in the Su-57’s forward bay shifts the conversation from speculation to capability signaling: the Felon is being positioned as a stealth-shaped SEAD/DEAD spear with export ambitions to match, and the decision to show it now, on 9 November, via UAC’s own channels, sets the tone for Dubai and beyond. Prospective buyers and adversaries alike should read the display as intent to operationalize heavy internal ARM carriage, with the external R-74s a theatrical flourish rather than doctrine; the real story is inside the bay.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.
