In the past few months, Russia has been aggressively pitching the Su-57 stealth fighter to India, particularly since the jet's appearance at Aero India 2025 in Bengaluu Moscow has offered extensive technology transfer, local production in partnership with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and integration of Indian-made weapons into the aircraft. As exporting a fifth-generation aircraft is being seen as a stopgap measure, while India develops its own programme, Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), Russia has even expressed willingness to support the country's indigenous fifth-generation fighter ambitions.
Now, according to media reports, images appeared on the Telegram channel, Fighterbomber, run by military aviation blogger Ilya Tumanov, considered to be a reliable source of Russian tactical aviation and who has close ties with the Russian Aerospace Forces, have shown a two-seat version of the fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 Felon, which is primarily aimed at exporting.
Sukhoi Su-57 is traditionally a single-seat aircraft. However, according to a report in The War Zone, a redesigned forward fuselage featuring a tandem two-seat cockpit configuration, resembling that of the Sukhoi Su-30 Flanker family, is one of the major features of the aircraft that was seen in the Telegram images.
"The two-seat modification is intended primarily for export,” as per another Russian military commentary Telegram channel Voyevoda Veshchayet.
It is to be noted that a two-seater variant of the fifth-generation fighter was what India wanted under the now-cancelled Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), aka Prospective Multirole Fighter (PMF), programme between India and Russia.
It remains unclear how much progress Russia had made on developing a twin-seat PMF variant to meet India’s requirements, though the end product would likely have somewhat resembled the two-seat Sukhoi Su-57 Felon that now appears to be undergoing testing, according to the TWZ report.
The two-seat variant of the fighter is considered important because foreign air forces buying the aircraft may not possess the advanced training ecosystem and simulator infrastructure available to Russian pilots. A twin-seat version would make training pilots easier, making the aircraft more practical and attractive for export customers.
"Will India - which has favoured a two-seat configuration from the very outset and is currently engaged in intense debate regarding a second attempt to acquire the Su-57 - now be enticed by this development?," OSINT analyst and China military aviation researcher who goes by the X handle Rupprecht_A asked in a tweet.
The reveal comes amid reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12 and 13.