US-Russia 5th Generation Fighter Jet Market Competition Intensifies... "Russia's Checkmate Threatens F-35"

Global Interest Grows After Ru Checkmate Prototype Unveiling
Rated Superior Performance at One-Quarter the Price of F-35

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Russia's recently unveiled 5th-generation light fighter jet, the 'Checkmate,' is being evaluated as having a higher cost-effectiveness compared to its competitor, the U.S. F-35 fighter jet, intensifying the competition in the fighter jet market between the two countries. It has been analyzed that the recent urgent approval by the U.S. Biden administration to sell the F-35 to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which had not previously been allowed, was due to concerns over losing market share to Russia in this competition.

On the 9th (local time), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the Biden administration's urgent approval in April to sell the F-35 to the UAE was because of the fighter jet competition with Russia. The UAE hinted at the possibility of importing Russia's 5th-generation light fighter Checkmate and strengthened cooperation by forming a partnership to develop lightweight fighter jets with Russia, which forced the U.S. to allow the sale.

According to WSJ, the U.S. had stated it would not sell the F-35 to the UAE to maintain air superiority in the Middle East for its key ally Israel. However, when the UAE opposed this and notified that it was considering importing Russia's Checkmate, the U.S. urgently approved the sale of the F-35 to the UAE in November last year, bypassing congressional approval.

It is analyzed that this was due to concerns that if the UAE proceeded with importing the Checkmate, not only neighboring Arab League countries such as Saudi Arabia but also emerging countries with high demand for new fighter jets like India, Vietnam, and Argentina would rush to secure orders for the Checkmate.

The Checkmate, developed by Russia's state-owned defense company Rostec, is a stealth light fighter jet with an estimated unit price of about 30 million USD (approximately 34 billion KRW). This is only a quarter of the unit price of 120 million USD for the F-35 sold by the U.S. Lockheed Martin.

WSJ, citing aircraft analysts, explained, "Russia's Checkmate is not only cheaper than the F-35 but also has a single engine, unlike the twin-engine F-35, and is smaller in size, which is evaluated to provide superior stealth capabilities." Due to its high cost-effectiveness, WSJ reported that emerging countries, currently facing economic difficulties exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, are showing greater interest in the Checkmate than in the F-35.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.