During Dubai Airshow 2025, Russia’s Su-57E prototype finally demonstrated in public how its side weapons bay operates, ending years of speculation about the fighter’s close-in air-to-air armament. The new sequence, released in a video published by UAC on 21 November 2025 and replayed during the flying display in Dubai, shows the export-configured T-50-9 opening a fuselage-side bay at the wing root, extending a missile on a launcher and then retracting it back into the airframe. This follows earlier UAC footage analyzed by Army Recognition ahead of the show, which focused on the forward internal bay loaded with two Kh-58UShK anti-radiation missiles, even though the same material already hinted that the side bays were also being exercised in flight. By shifting attention from the strike-optimised front bay to the quick-launch side bay and its short-range missile, the latest imagery offers a much clearer view of how the Su-57 is intended to combine stealth, suppression of enemy air defences and dogfight self-protection in a single load-out. Read Full Defense News At This Link.
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| At Dubai Airshow 2025, Russia’s Su-57E prototype publicly demonstrated its side weapons bay operation for the first time, showcasing the rapid deployment and retraction of a short-range air-to-air missile, confirming its advanced stealth and multi-role combat design (Picture Source: UAC) |