For the first time in over 15 years since the Su-57 Felon took to the skies, Russia has officially pulled back the curtain on one of its most closely guarded secrets: the stealth fighter’s internal weapons bays loaded with live ordnance. In a slick promotional push ahead of the Dubai Airshow (November 17–21), the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) dropped jaw-dropping footage and photos of the T-50-9 prototype soaring with its bays wide open, revealing a lethal mix of air-to-air and anti-radiation missiles tucked neatly inside. This isn’t just another airshow teaser — it’s a calculated flex of Russia’s fifth-generation combat capability, and the timing couldn’t be more deliberate.
The star of the show is T-50-9, the eighth flying prototype of the Su-57 program, sporting the bort number “059 Blue.” Freshly repainted in a sleek, operational-style camouflage to mimic frontline jets, this airframe is no museum piece. It’s packed with the full mission suite found on serial-production Su-57s, including the advanced 101KS Atoll electro-optical system for threat detection and targeting. Better yet, T-50-9 is cleared to fire live weapons — making it one of the most combat-representative prototypes in the fleet. As it gears up for its Dubai debut, UAC’s Telegram channel lit up with crystal-clear imagery: the Su-57 streaking through the sky, side bays cracked open to reveal a pair of R-74M2 short-range infrared-guided missiles, while the forward main bay proudly displays two Kh-58UShK anti-radiation missiles — silent hunters designed to home in on and destroy enemy radar emitters.
This marks a major milestone. While leaked photos from October 18 briefly showed the aft main bay open on another airframe, and last year’s Airshow China gave us a peek at the starboard side bay on T-50-7, never before has Russia released official high-resolution imagery of the Su-57’s internal weapons carriage in flight — and certainly not with actual munitions loaded. The forward main bay, now on full display, confirms what analysts have long suspected: the Su-57 is engineered for deep-strike stealth missions with a versatile, low-observable payload.
Let’s break down the arsenal. The Su-57 boasts four internal weapons bays: two tandem main bays nestled between the engines and two smaller, canoe-shaped side bays at the wing roots. The side bays use specialized VPU-50 launch rails and are tailored for the compact R-74M2 — an evolved descendant of the legendary R-73 Archer, but with folded fins to fit snugly inside the stealth envelope. These are dogfight kings: heat-seeking, high-off-boresight capable, and lethal within visual range.
The main bays? That’s where the real firepower lives. Measuring roughly 4.4 meters long by 0.9 meters wide, they’re served by Vympel’s UVKU-50U and UVKL-50L ejector racks, allowing the Su-57 to haul heavier and longer-range weapons without breaking stealth. In this demo loadout, we see the Kh-58UShK, a supersonic anti-radiation missile with a wideband passive seeker, folding wings, and a range exceeding 200 km — perfect for SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) missions. A standard internal air superiority configuration would swap those for four R-77M active radar-guided missiles — two per main bay — giving the Felon beyond-visual-range punch while keeping its radar signature minimal.
Of course, when stealth isn’t a factor, the Su-57 can go full “beast mode” like the F-35 or J-20, slinging weapons on six external hardpoints. But the internal carriage is what sets fifth-gen fighters apart — and Russia just proved its system works in flight.
The T-50-9’s upcoming performance at Dubai will be its third international outing, following T-50-4’s appearances at Airshow China 2024 and Aero India 2025. But this time, Russia is sending a message with hardware, not just hype. The prototype’s live-fire capability, integrated avionics, and now-proven internal weapons integration signal that the Su-57 is moving beyond development limbo into operational maturity. Export customers — think Algeria, India (via potential Su-57E), or even Middle Eastern powers — will be watching closely.
This reveal comes at a pivotal moment. With the Su-57 now in low-rate production and deployed in limited numbers with the Russian Aerospace Forces, UAC is under pressure to drum up foreign interest. The Dubai Airshow is the perfect stage: high visibility, deep-pocketed buyers, and a chance to counter Western narratives about program delays. By showing the weapons bays in action, Russia is saying, “This isn’t vaporware. It’s real, it’s stealthy, and it’s ready.”
One lingering question: why now? After years of secrecy, the sudden transparency feels strategic. Is it confidence in the design? A response to China’s GJ-11/J-20 teaming demo? Or a bid to secure export deals before competing platforms like the Turkish KAAN or South Korean KF-21 mature? Whatever the motive, the Su-57 just stepped out of the shadows — weapons hot and bays open.
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