Russia to showcase Sukhoi Su-57E fighter jet at LAAD in Brazil
Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state export agency, has announced its participation in LAAD 2025, the largest defense event in Latin America, which will be held from April 1 to 4 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Among the products to be showcased is the Sukhoi Su-57E stealth fighter jet, the country’s most advanced aircraft. However, despite the announcement, the presence of the aircraft in Brazil has not been confirmed.
Since LAAD is a trade fair held in pavilions and not at airports or military bases, it is not common for exhibitors to bring aircraft for demonstrations in the city.
Most likely, the Russian aircraft will be displayed at the agency’s stand, including another fighter, the Su-35, the IL-76MD-90A military cargo plane, and the Mi-171Sh and Ka-52E helicopters.
“The main goal of Rosoboronexport’s participation in LAAD 2025 is to discuss technological cooperation projects with countries in the Latin American region. Today, the main global trend in the production of weapons and military equipment – ‘strategic autonomy’ – has been determined through the development of the national defense industry, thanks to which by 2030 the share of projects in the field of technology transfer in the world arms market will increase by 95% and reach 40% of the total,” explained the agency’s CEO Alexander Mikheev.
Strategic partnerships
After the military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia stayed away from several defense events, but returned to participate in exhibitions such as the Zhuhai Airshow in China and the Aero Expo 2025 in Bangalore, India. In these cases, the Su-57 was one of the aircraft in aerial demonstrations.
The Putin government has been seeking foreign customers for its military aircraft and, above all, strategic partnerships in order to generate resources to develop other projects.
So far, these initiatives have not yet generated significant sales. The Su-57E, for example, would have only one foreign customer, Algeria, whose government even announced an agreement in this regard.
In Latin America, Russia had a more favorable period for exports, when it equipped some armed forces mainly with helicopters. Brazil, in fact, operated the Mi-35 model, but withdrew them from service early.
In addition to Venezuela, a Russian ally, Peru also has Russian combat aircraft, the MiG-29 fighter and the Su-25 attack aircraft.
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Ricardo Meier
Creator of the website that started in 1996 as a magazine. He also writes on Brazilian websites AUTOO, MOTOO and MetrôCPTM.
