MOSCOW, August 14. /TASS/. The fifth-generation Sukhoi Su-57 fighter jet’s two-seater version makes it possible to implement one of the sixth-generation technologies and use it as an airborne command post for unmanned aerial vehicles, Director of the Sukhoi Design Bureau (part of the state-run United Aircraft Corporation, UAC) Mikhail Strelets said.

"The presence of a second operator’s cockpit allows us to implement one of the key sixth-generation technologies - namely, controlling unmanned aerial vehicles as an airborne command post," Strelets said in an interview with the Military Acceptance program on the Zvezda television channel.

He emphasized that this is particularly important for controlling artificial intelligence-enabled systems such as the Okhotnik, as well as swarm or group systems. Meanwhile, the other pilot can focus entirely on carrying out the primary combat mission. The director of the Sukhoi Design Bureau added that one of the functions of the new version of the Su-57 fighter will be to test combat artificial intelligence, which is currently being developed by the design bureau specialists.