Why Russian fighter jets show visible body rivets compared to US jets

Russian fighter jets can show visible body rivets, a contrast often noted versus U.S. aircraft. The explanation provided is that designs such as the Sukhoi Su-57 use visible rivets to lower manufacturing costs and speed up repairs in frontline conditions. By comparison, U.S. jets are described as hiding fasteners under complex coatings to achieve “absolute” radar stealth. The summary attributes American fifth-generation performance to flush fasteners covered in specialized coatings, enabling reported radar cross-section figures for the F-35 of between 0.001 and 0.005 square metres. In the article’s account, the Su-57’s larger frontal profile, estimated at about 0.1 to 0.5 square metres, allows engineers to use standard mechanical fasteners on non-critical fuselage surfaces without undermining its primary tactical role. It frames the visible rivets as an engineering tradeoff rather than a stealth failure.