In an interview with the Military Acceptance programme on the Zvezda TV channel, Mikhail Strelets, director of the Sukhoi Design Bureau, revealed the following.
The twin-seat Su-57D is primarily intended for two main tasks:
Training pilots to operate the stealth fighter in special modes, something that is not possible using ground-based simulators.
Facilitating the use of sixth-generation technologies, such as operating as an airborne command post for controlling unmanned aerial vehicles. The primary pilot focuses on flying the mission profile, while the second pilot manages highly intelligent systems such as the S-70 Okhotnik, drone swarms and group-control systems.
The Su-57D will also facilitate the development of combat artificial intelligence, which Russia is currently working on.
Operating in Special Modes
One of the reasons stated for developing the Su-57D twin-seat variant is:
“Training pilots to operate the stealth fighter in special modes, something that is not possible using ground-based simulators.”
I am not sure what “special modes” alludes to.
If I were to guess, it would involve the networking of disparate systems that would be difficult to simulate on the ground.
One such mode could involve controlling a stealth drone operating deep in adversary territory, streaming target coordinates — possibly of a moving target — and relaying them to a precision-strike weapon system on the ground, such as the Iskander, or in the air, such as the Su-34.
The second pilot could manage the drone and other highly autonomous systems while the primary pilot concentrates on flying the mission and maintaining situational awareness.
Incidentally, Ukraine's Defence Intelligence Directorate recently reported recovering a Russian S-71M “Monokhrom”, a stealthy unmanned aircraft associated with the Su-57. The S-71 can reportedly perform both reconnaissance and strike missions, with the latter involving a kamikaze variant. The aircraft recovered by the Ukrainians was presumably the strike variant, which would explain why it was not recovered for reuse.
The Ukrainians found an NVIDIA Jetson Orin computer module in the S-71M, which they claim may indicate the use of AI. This provides an interesting indication of the increasingly sophisticated autonomous systems that could potentially be integrated into such a manned-unmanned architecture.
Perhaps this is what “special modes” refers to.
Su-57, S-71 Integration: Lethal Upgrade
On February 9, 2026, Russia's UAC delivered a large batch of Su-57s which, according to a UAC press release, were “in a new technical configuration.”
“The aircraft have received upgraded onboard systems and a new weapons complex.”
It is likely that the fresh batch of Su-57s delivered added the capability to carry the air-launched stealthy combat UAV designated S-71, a weapon first unveiled during Army 2024.
The S-71 is an air-launched UAV that can be tasked with target identification, marking or destruction. Deploying and controlling a Su-57 carrying an S-71 variant would have required an upgrade of its onboard systems.
The S-71 began captive-carry trials in April 2024 at Russia’s Flight Research Centre in Zhukovsky, with test flights involving the Su-57 fighter.
You can read more details about the S-71 in my Thumkar blog post below:
On January 17, 2026, it was reported that an S-71K “Carpet” demonstrated its effectiveness for the first time by successfully destroying the highly mobile M142 HIMARS multiple-launch rocket system.
The cruise missile–drone hybrid has been developed by GosMKB Raduga JSC and can be used by 4++ generation multirole fighters, including the Su-35S and Su-30SM/SM2, as well as Su-34 NVO fighter-bombers.
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