MOSCOW -- Russia has reportedly deployed two T-50 PAK FA fighter jets to Syria.
Wael Al Hussaini, who monitors Syrian and Russian military developments, released footage on his social media account Feb. 21of what appeared to be two T-50 PAK FA prototype jets arriving to Russia's Hmeymim airbase in Latakia, Syria.
The T-50's military designation, once the jet is serially-produced, is Su-57.
The Russian government has not yet commented on the reports. Sputnik International quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying, "This is [a question] for the Defense Ministry. The president is the commander-in-chief, but this issue is still more within the responsibility of the Defense Ministry."
The deployment of the PAK FA to Syria is a notable step in the aircraft's development. Earlier this month, Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov noted that the aircraft are entering combat trials, which were assumed to be planned to take place in Russia, given that the aircraft is not officially in Russian service yet. If confirmed, the deployment to Syria means the jet will see some form of operational use, but it is unclear precisely what their role will be.
So far, a number of prototypes have been built and Russia will sign an agreement for the 'pilot batch' of 12 jets sometime in 2018. These, once produced, will still operate on the 'first stage' engine as the jet's main engine, the Type 30, is still under development. A prototype made a test flight with one of the Type 30 engines back in December.
In January, Tass Russian News Agency interviewed Tactical Missiles Corporation CEO Boris Obnosov, who stated that the Su-57 had begun conducting flights with its air-launched weapons onboard.
He said, "Tense work is underway. The entire set of precision weapons for this aircraft, both inside the fuselage and on an external sling, is being developed by the Corporation’s enterprises. We have switched to practical flights and I believe that we will see the result in the imminent future."
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