The PAK-FA prototype in real life.
The Sukhoi Su-57 (Russian: Су-57), known internally in Sukhoi as T-50, is a twin-engine jet fighter being developed by Sukhoi for the Russian Air Force. The Su-57, a fifth generation jet fighter, is intended to be the successor to the MiG-29 and Su-27 in the Russian inventory. The Su-57 is currently undergoing Russian Air Force trials and is expected to have a service life of about 30–35 years.
Battlefield 4
The Su-50 is a vehicle featured in Battlefield 4. It was first seen in the Paracel Storm multiplayer trailer.
Multiplayer
The Su-50 appears as the Russian Ground Forces stealth fighter. It is the counterpart to the USMC F-35 and the PLA J20.
The main role of the stealth fighter is air superiority over a map. As such, it is armed with a variety of anti-air missiles, while ground attack weapons are very limited. As with both Stealth and Attack Jets, all aircraft have built in Air Radar specialization by default.
All the stealth jets perform equally in terms of turning and acceleration. Similar to Battlefield 3, flying to close to the ground will cause aircraft to put out the landing gear, which can make maneuvers close to the ground difficult. Afterburners are enabled by pressing the sprint button, which works like the sprint and boost of other vehicles -- making the vehicle faster, but less maneuverable.
The main weapon of stealth jets are the cannons. The cannons are the main weapon of choice when attacking other aircraft such as enemy stealth, attack planes and choppers if flying high enough or in an opening. The difference between the guns is dependent on the situation, the 20mm does less damage then the other two but makes up in rate of fire and does more damage over time then the other two against jets. The 25mm does slightly more damage against helicopters in terms of damage over time. The 30mm hits harder, but with a much lower rate of fire. In terms of velocity the 20/25mm have the same velocity, while the 30mm is slower then the other two.
Secondary weapons are four choices of missiles, three three of which are anti-air, with one being anti-ground. The Heatseeker is the standard "fire and forget missile" in which once fired no guidance is needed and the missile we go after that target unless obstructed or diverted by IR Flares. Passive Radar missiles require a user to maintain lock on a target for the missile to hit, this can work well at long range, but can be less effective at close range. Guided Missile are the stealth jet's only dedicated anti-ground vehicle weapon, once selected a player can lock onto enemy vehicles, including gadget vehicles like the M224 Mortar and EOD Bot, and fire one or two missiles at the target. These are most effective on maps with many ground vehicles. Lastly are Active Radar missile in that they will guide to a target once fired, they are free-fire missiles and can work as a long range missile with correct release and luck.
Battlefield 4 SU-50 Flight and Combat Demonstration-0
With regards to countermeasures, IR flares deflect oncoming missiles; ECM makes missiles harder to detect and makes the vehicle disappear off of air radar (useful for engaging enemy players who use air radar and getting the jump on a player); Extinguisher can be used to repair a disabled jet.
As upgrades go, gyro Stabilizer helps get the plane under control much easier. Auto-loader decreases reload time and increases overheat time. Proximity scan has limited usefulness due to the fact that it detects ground vehicles and has limited range. Stealth increases lock on time for enemies targeting the user.
Comparison
Before the Battlefield 4: China Rising expansion came out, the Su-50 has the best maneuverability in the class, capable of performing unrealistic maneuvers including g-force as large as 14G, causing the imbalance aerial gameplay. Then, it got quickly patched after the expansion. Without the outstanding maneuverability, Su-50 heavily suffers the disadvantage of its bloated shape, making it a relatively easy target when engaging dogfight.
Gallery
Trivia
- Battlefield 4 was released prior to the Russian Air Force designating the jet as Su-57. As such, its in-game name is speculative "Su-50", based on the T-50 name.
- In the "Paracel Storm" Multiplayer Trailer, the Su-50 is piloted by US forces instead of the Russian faction. The American counterpart to the Chinese J-20 (also seen in the trailer) would be the F-35.
- During Gamescom 2013, the icon used to represent the Su-50 was that of the F/A-18 from Battlefield 3. This was likely a placeholder.
- There was a glitch that gave the Su-50 a greater turning ability in comparison to the other two stealth jets. After several subsequent patches, all three stealth jets now have the same turning speed.
- In the vehicle-respawn selection screen, if the Su-50 is being piloted by another player, one can see that the Su-50's cockpit appear to have a physical gun-sight, but is not present when piloting the aircraft live while in first-person and opts the use of an electronic "Heads-up display" (H.U.D) instead (refer to image).