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The Sukhoi Su-57 “Felon” fighter jets were the newest supersonic stealth jets in the entire Russian fleet. Two of the only twelve in existence had been stationed at the remote Vostochny Cosmodrome for testing.
Their testing mission was a brand-new capability to carry the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal “Dagger” missile.
In desperation to stop what the Russians thought was the defection of an Antonov AN-124 carrying a Persona satellite, the test aircraft had been ordered aloft along with the other conventional fighter jets.
The American satellite was unable to detect the Su-57s from orbit, though it could see the other five jets they were flying with.
But once it was launched from the Su-57, the Dagger missile didn’t trust to stealth but rather to speed.
In the first two-point-seven seconds, the m
