title: Benjamin Franklin

text: According to David Morgan, Franklin was a proponent of religion in general. He prayed to "Powerful Goodness" and referred to God as "the infinite". John Adams noted that he was a mirror in which people saw their own religion: "The Catholics thought him almost a Catholic. The Church of England claimed him as one of them. The Presbyterians thought him half a Presbyterian, and the Friends believed him a wet Quaker." Whatever else Franklin was, concludes Morgan, "he was a true champion of generic religion." In a letter to Richard Price, Franklin states that he believes religion should support itself without help from the government, claiming, "When a Religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and, when it cannot support itself, and God does not take care to support, so that its Professors are oblig'd to call for the help of the Civil Power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one."


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: In 1790, just about a month before he died, Franklin wrote a letter to Ezra Stiles, president of Yale University, who had asked him his views on religion:


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: On July 4, 1776, Congress appointed a three-member committee composed of Franklin, Jefferson, and Adams to design the Great Seal of the United States. Franklin's proposal (which was not adopted) featured the motto: "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God" and a scene from the Book of Exodus, with Moses, the Israelites, the pillar of fire, and George III depicted as pharaoh. The design that was produced was not acted upon by Congress, and the Great Seal's design was not finalized until a third committee was appointed in 1782.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Franklin sought to cultivate his character by a plan of 13 virtues, which he developed at age 20 (in 1726) and continued to practice in some form for the rest of his life. His autobiography lists his 13 virtues as:


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Franklin did not try to work on them all at once. Instead, he would work on one and only one each week "leaving all others to their ordinary chance." While he did not adhere completely to the enumerated virtues, and by his own admission he fell short of them many times, he believed the attempt made him a better man, contributing greatly to his success and happiness, which is why in his autobiography, he devoted more pages to this plan than to any other single point and wrote, "I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the example and reap the benefit."


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Franklin owned as many as seven slaves, including two men who worked in his household and his shop. He posted paid ads for the sale of slaves and for the capture of runaway slaves and allowed the sale of slaves in his general store. However, he later became an outspoken critic of slavery. In 1758, he advocated the opening of a school for the education of black slaves in Philadelphia. He took two slaves to England with him, Peter and King. King escaped with a woman to live in the outskirts of London, and by 1758 he was working for a household in Suffolk. After returning from England in 1762, Franklin became notably more abolitionist in nature, attacking American slavery. In the wake of "Somerset v Stewart", he voiced frustration at British abolitionists:


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Franklin, however, refused to publicly debate the issue of slavery at the 1787 Constitutional Convention.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: At the time of the American founding, there were about half a million slaves in the United States, mostly in the five southernmost states, where they made up 40% of the population. Many of the leading American foundersmost notably Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and James Madisonowned slaves, but many others did not. Benjamin Franklin thought that slavery was "an atrocious debasement of human nature" and "a source of serious evils." He and Benjamin Rush founded the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery in 1774. In 1790, Quakers from New York and Pennsylvania presented their petition for abolition to Congress. Their argument against slavery was backed by the Pennsylvania Abolitionist Society.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: In his later years, as Congress was forced to deal with the issue of slavery, Franklin wrote several essays that stressed the importance of the abolition of slavery and of the integration of African Americans into American society. These writings included:


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Franklin became a vegetarian when he was a teenager apprenticing at a print shop, after coming upon a book by the early vegetarian advocate Thomas Tryon. In addition, he would have also been familiar with the moral arguments espoused by prominent vegetarian Quakers in colonial Pennsylvania, such as Benjamin Lay and John Woolman. His reasons for vegetarianism were based on health, ethics, and economy:


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Franklin also declared the consumption of meat to be "unprovoked murder". Despite his convictions, he began to eat fish after being tempted by fried cod on a boat sailing from Boston, justifying the eating of animals by observing that the fish's stomach contained other fish. Nonetheless, he recognized the faulty ethics in this argument and would continue to be a vegetarian on and off. He was "excited" by tofu, which he learned of from the writings of a Spanish missionary to South East Asia, Domingo Fernández Navarrete. Franklin sent a sample of soybeans to prominent American botanist John Bartram and had previously written to British diplomat and Chinese trade expert James Flint inquiring as to how tofu was made, with their correspondence believed to be the first documented use of the word "tofu" in the English language.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Franklin's "Second Reply to "Vindex Patriae"", a 1766 letter advocating self-sufficiency and less dependence on England, lists various examples of the bounty of American agricultural products, and does not mention meat. Detailing new American customs, he wrote that, "[t]hey resolved last spring to eat no more lamb; and not a joint of lamb has since been seen on any of their tables … the sweet little creatures are all alive to this day, with the prettiest fleeces on their backs imaginable."


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: The concept of preventing smallpox by variolation was introduced to colonial America by an African slave named Onesimus via his owner Cotton Mather in the early eighteenth century, but the procedure was not immediately accepted. James Franklin's newspaper carried articles in 1721 that vigorously denounced the concept.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: However, by 1736 Benjamin Franklin, by then a prominent Boston citizen, was known as a supporter of the procedure. Therefore, when four-year-old "Franky" died of smallpox, opponents of the procedure circulated rumors that the child had been inoculated, and that this was the cause of his subsequent death. When Franklin became aware of this gossip, he placed a notice in the Pennsylvania Gazette, stating: "I do hereby sincerely declare, that he was not inoculated, but receiv'd the Distemper in the common Way of Infection ... I intended to have my Child inoculated.". The child had a bad case of flux diarrhea, and his parents had waited for him to get well before having him inoculated. Franklin wrote in his Autobiography: "In 1736 I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four years old, by the small-pox, taken in the common way. I long regretted bitterly, and still regret that I had not given it to him by inoculation. This I mention for the sake of parents who omit that operation, on the supposition that they should never forgive themselves if a child died under it; my example showing that the regret may be the same either way, and that, therefore, the safer should be chosen."


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Franklin is known to have played the violin, the harp, and the guitar. He also composed music, notably a string quartet in early classical style. While he was in London, he developed a much-improved version of the glass harmonica, in which the glasses rotate on a shaft, with the player's fingers held steady, instead of the other way around. He worked with the London glassblower Charles James to create it, and instruments based on his mechanical version soon found their way to other parts of Europe. Joseph Haydn, a fan of Franklin's enlightened ideas, had a glass harmonica in his instrument collection. Mozart composed for Franklin's glass harmonica, as did Beethoven. Gaetano Donizetti used the instrument in the accompaniment to Amelia's aria "Par che mi dica ancora" in the tragic opera "Il castello di Kenilworth" (1821), as did Camille Saint-Saëns in his 1886 "The Carnival of the Animals". Richard Strauss calls for the glass harmonica in his 1917 "Die Frau ohne Schatten", and numerous other composers used Franklin's instrument as well.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Franklin was an avid chess player. He was playing chess by around 1733, making him the first chess player known by name in the American colonies. His essay on "The Morals of Chess" in "Columbian Magazine" in December 1786 is the second known writing on chess in America. This essay in praise of chess and prescribing a code of behavior for the game has been widely reprinted and translated. He and a friend used chess as a means of learning the Italian language, which both were studying; the winner of each game between them had the right to assign a task, such as parts of the Italian grammar to be learned by heart, to be performed by the loser before their next meeting.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Franklin was able to play chess more frequently against stronger opposition during his many years as a civil servant and diplomat in England, where the game was far better established than in America. He was able to improve his playing standard by facing more experienced players during this period. He regularly attended Old Slaughter's Coffee House in London for chess and socializing, making many important personal contacts. While in Paris, both as a visitor and later as ambassador, he visited the famous Café de la Régence, which France's strongest players made their regular meeting place. No records of his games have survived, so it is not possible to ascertain his playing strength in modern terms.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Franklin was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 1999. The Franklin Mercantile Chess Club in Philadelphia, the second oldest chess club in the U.S., is named in his honor.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Franklin bequeathed £1,000 (about $4,400 at the time, or about $125,000 in 2021 dollars) each to the cities of Boston and Philadelphia, in trust to gather interest for 200 years. The trust began in 1785 when the French mathematician Charles-Joseph Mathon de la Cour, who admired Franklin greatly, wrote a friendly parody of Franklin's "Poor Richard's Almanack" called "Fortunate Richard". The main character leaves a smallish amount of money in his will, five lots of 100 "livres", to collect interest over one, two, three, four or five full centuries, with the resulting astronomical sums to be spent on impossibly elaborate utopian projects. Franklin, who was 79 years old at the time, wrote thanking him for a great idea and telling him that he had decided to leave a bequest of 1,000 pounds each to his native Boston and his adopted Philadelphia.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: By 1990, more than $2,000,000 had accumulated in Franklin's Philadelphia trust, which had loaned the money to local residents. From 1940 to 1990, the money was used mostly for mortgage loans. When the trust came due, Philadelphia decided to spend it on scholarships for local high school students. Franklin's Boston trust fund accumulated almost $5,000,000 during that same time; at the end of its first 100 years a portion was allocated to help establish a trade school that became the Franklin Institute of Boston, and the entire fund was later dedicated to supporting this institute.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: In 1787, a group of prominent ministers in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, proposed the foundation of a new college named in Franklin's honor. Franklin donated £200 towards the development of Franklin College (now called Franklin & Marshall College).


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: As the only person to have signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Treaty of Alliance with France in 1778, Treaty of Paris in 1783, and U.S. Constitution in 1787, Franklin is considered one of the leading Founding Fathers of the United States. His pervasive influence in the early history of the nation has led to his being jocularly called "the only president of the United States who was never president of the United States".


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Franklin's likeness is ubiquitous. Since 1928, it has adorned American $100 bills. From 1948 to 1963, Franklin's portrait was on the half-dollar. He has appeared on a $50 bill and on several varieties of the $100 bill from 1914 and 1918. Franklin also appears on the $1,000 Series EE savings bond.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: On April 12, 1976, as part of a bicentennial celebration, Congress dedicated a tall marble statue in Philadelphia's Franklin Institute as the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial. Many of Franklin's personal possessions are on display at the institute. In London, his house at 36 Craven Street, which is the only surviving former residence of Franklin, was first marked with a blue plaque and has since been opened to the public as the Benjamin Franklin House. In 1998, workmen restoring the building dug up the remains of six children and four adults hidden below the home. A total of 15 bodies have been recovered. The Friends of Benjamin Franklin House (the organization responsible for the restoration) note that the bones were likely placed there by William Hewson, who lived in the house for two years and who had built a small anatomy school at the back of the house. They note that while Franklin likely knew what Hewson was doing, he probably did not participate in any dissections because he was much more of a physicist than a medical man.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: He has been honored on U.S. postage stamps many times. The image of Franklin, the first postmaster general of the United States, occurs on the face of U.S. postage more than any other notable American save that of George Washington. He appeared on the first U.S. postage stamp issued in 1847. From 1908 through 1923, the U.S. Post Office issued a series of postage stamps commonly referred to as the Washington–Franklin Issues, in which Washington and Franklin were depicted many times over a 14-year period, the longest run of any one series in U.S. postal history. However, he only appears on a few . Some of the finest portrayals of Franklin on record can be found on the engravings inscribed on the face of U.S. postage.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The Sukhoi Su-57 (; NATO reporting name: Felon) is a twin-engine stealth multirole fighter aircraft developed by Sukhoi. It is the product of the PAK FA (, ) programme, which was initiated in 1999 as a more modern and affordable alternative to the MFI (Mikoyan Project 1.44/1.42). Sukhoi's internal designation for the aircraft is T-50. The Su-57 is the first aircraft in Russian military service designed with stealth technology and is intended to be the basis for a family of stealth combat aircraft.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: A multirole fighter capable of aerial combat as well as ground and maritime strike, the Su-57 incorporates stealth, supermaneuverability, supercruise, integrated avionics, and substantial internal payload capacity. The aircraft is expected to succeed the MiG-29 and Su-27 in the Russian military service and has also been marketed for export. The first prototype aircraft flew in 2010, but the program would experience a protracted development due to various structural and technical issues that emerged during trials, including the destruction of the first production aircraft in a crash before its delivery. After repeated delays, the first Su-57 entered service with the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) in December 2020. The fighter is expected to have a service life of up to 35 years.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: In 1979, the Soviet Union outlined a need for next-generation fighter aircraft intended to enter service in the 1990s. The programme became the I-90 (, ) and required the fighter to be "multifunctional" (i.e., multirole) by having substantial ground attack capabilities, and would eventually replace the MiG-29 and Su-27 in frontline tactical aviation service. Two subsequent projects were designed to meet these requirements: the MFI (, ) and smaller LFI (, ), with conceptual work beginning in 1983. Mikoyan was selected for the MFI and began developing its MiG 1.44/1.42. Though not a participant in the MFI, Sukhoi started its own programme in 1983 to develop technologies for a next-generation fighter, eventually resulting in the forward-swept wing S-32 experimental aircraft, later redesignated S-37 and then Su-47. Due to a lack of funds after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the MFI was repeatedly delayed and the first flight of the MiG 1.44/1.42 prototype did not occur until 2000, nine years behind schedule. Owing to the high costs, the MFI and LFI were eventually cancelled while the Russian Ministry of Defence began work on a new next-generation fighter programme; in 1999, the ministry initiated the PAK FA or I-21 programme, with the competition announced in April 2001. Because of Russia's financial difficulties, the programme aimed to rein in costs by producing a single multirole fifth-generation fighter that would replace both the Su-27 and the MiG-29. Further cost-saving measures include an intended size in between that of the Su-27 and the MiG-29 and normal takeoff weight considerably smaller than the MiG MFI's and the Su-47's .


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: Sukhoi's approach to the PAK FA competition differed fundamentally from Mikoyan's; whereas Mikoyan proposed for the three design bureaus (Mikoyan, Sukhoi, and Yakovlev) to cooperate as a consortium with the winning team leading the design effort, Sukhoi's proposal had itself as the lead designer from the beginning and included a joint work agreement that covered the entire development and production cycle, from propulsion and avionics suppliers to research facilities. Additionally, the two companies had differing design philosophies for the aircraft. Mikoyan's E-721 was smaller and more affordable, with normal takeoff weight of and powered by a pair of Klimov VK-10M engines with 10–11 tonnes (98.1–108 kN, 22,000–24,300 lbf) of thrust each. In contrast, Sukhoi's T-50 would be comparatively larger and more capable, with normal takeoff weight goal of and powered by a pair of Lyulka-Saturn AL-41F1 engines each with maximum thrust in the 14.5-tonne (142 kN, 32,000 lbf) class.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: In April 2002, the Ministry of Defence selected Sukhoi over Mikoyan as the winner of the PAK FA competition and the lead design bureau of the new aircraft. In addition to the merits of the proposal, Sukhoi's experience in the 1990s was taken into account, with the successful development of various Su-27 derivatives and numerous exports ensuring its financial stability. According to the Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Mikhaylov, flight tests were projected to begin in 2007. Mikoyan continued to develop its E-721 as the LMFS (, ) at its own expense.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The research and development programme of the PAK FA was called "Stolitsa" (). In 2002, Alexander Davidenko selected as the T-50's chief designer at Sukhoi. The Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association (NAPO) and Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAZ) would manufacture the new multi-role fighter, with KnAAZ performing final assembly at Komsomol'sk-on-Amur. Following a competition held in 2003, the Tekhnokompleks Scientific and Production Center, Ramenskoye Instrument Building Design Bureau, the Tikhomirov Scientific Research Institute of Instrument Design (NIIP), the Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant (UOMZ) in Yekaterinburg, the Polet firm in Nizhny Novgorod and the Central Scientific Research Radio Engineering Institute in Moscow were selected for the development of the PAK FA's avionics suite. In April 2004, NPO Lyulka-Saturn (now NPO Saturn) was signed as the contractor for the AL-41F1 engines with the development designation "izdeliye" 117.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: Sukhoi used existing airframes as testbeds for various subsystems and concepts; the Su-47 tested internal weapon bays, and Su-27M prototypes served as testbeds for the flight control system and engines. To reduce developmental risk and spread out associated costs, as well as to bridge the gap with extant fourth generation fighters, Sukhoi implemented some of the T-50's technology and features, such as propulsion and certain avionics, in an advanced derivative of the Su-27 called the T-10BM (, ), which was eventually procured by the Russian Ministry of Defence in 2009 and entered service as the Su-35S in 2014.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: In December 2004, the T-50's conceptual design and shape was complete and approved by the Ministry of Defence; government funding of the programme began in 2005 and drastically increased in 2006 when detailed design was underway. On 8 August 2007, Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Alexander Zelin was quoted by Russian news agencies that the programme's development stage was complete and construction of the first aircraft for flight testing would begin, with three flyable T-50 prototypes planned to be built by 2009. In 2009, the aircraft's design was officially approved. The T-50 was named Su-57 in July 2017.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: Since the early stages of the PAK FA programme, Russia sought after foreign partnerships on the project to increase funding for its development and also secure large export orders. On 18 October 2007, Russia and India signed a contract for Sukhoi and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to jointly develop a derivative of the PAK FA called the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA). In September 2010, India and Russia agreed on a preliminary design contract where each country was to invest $6 billion; a memorandum of understanding for the preliminary design was signed in December 2010, and the development of the FGFA was expected to take 8–10 years. By 2014, however, the Indian Air Force began voicing concerns over performance, cost, and workshare. India eventually left the partnership in 2018.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The T-50's maiden flight was repeatedly postponed from early 2007 after encountering unspecified technical problems. In August 2009, Alexander Zelin acknowledged that problems with the engine and in technical research remained unsolved. On 28 February 2009, Sukhoi general director Mikhail Pogosyan announced that the airframe was almost finished and that the first prototype should be ready by August 2009. On 20 August 2009, Pogosyan said that the first flight would be by year's end. Konstantin Makiyenko, deputy head of the Moscow-based Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies said that "even with delays", the aircraft would likely make its first flight by January or February, adding that it would take five to ten years for commercial production. Flight testing was further delayed when Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov announced in December 2009 that the first trials would begin in 2010. The first taxi test was successfully completed on 24 December 2009, and the maiden flight of the first prototype aircraft, T-50-1, occurred on 29 January 2010. Piloted by Sukhoi test pilot Sergey Bogdan, the aircraft's 47-minute maiden flight took place at KnAAPO's Dzemgi Airport in the Russian Far East. Construction of the prototypes would progress slower than initially planned; by the end of October 2013, the test programme had amassed more than 450 flights across five aircraft.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: A total of ten flying and three non-flying T-50 prototypes would be built for preliminary flight tests and state trials. Initially, the program was planned to have up to six prototypes before the start of serial production; however testing would reveal that the initial prototypes did not have adequate fatigue life, with early structural cracks forming in the airframe. The aircraft subsequently underwent a structural redesign, with changes including increased composite material usage, reinforced airframe to meet full life cycle requirements, elongated tail "sting", and slightly greater wingspan; the sixth flyable prototype was the first of the redesigned "second stage" aircraft, with the five initial prototypes consequently considered "first stage" vehicles and requiring additional structural reinforcements in order to continue flight tests. The last two flying prototypes were test articles of production Su-57 aircraft with full mission systems on board. While the "second stage" structural redesign reduced the weight growth from the required strengthening of the "first stage" design, the normal takeoff weight still increased to approximately . Issues and accidents during the testing resulted in repeated delays to the programme, with the delivery of the first production aircraft pushed back from 2015 to 2020.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The procurement plans for the PAK FA have been considerably scaled back and delayed from original plans. In 2011, the Ministry of Defence had planned on buying the first 10 aircraft for evaluation after 2012 and 60 production standard aircraft after 2015. These plans were refined under the State Armament Programme from 2011 to 2020 (GPV-2020), with serial production hoped to begin in 2016; the Ministry of Defence was planning to acquire 52 aircraft by 2020, and another 150–160 by 2025. Additionally, export orders for 250–300 FGFA were expected to begin in 2017.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: Plans were greatly cut down in 2015 as a result of technical obstacles encountered during testing, India's unclear commitment to the partnership, and Russia's economic downturn due to Western sanctions after its annexation of Crimea and the drop in oil prices. Russian Deputy Minister of Defence Yury Borisov stated in 2015 that the Russian Air Force would slow production, reduce its initial order to 12 fighters, and operate large fleets of upgraded fourth-generation fighters such as the Su-35S and the Su-30SM. In 2017, Borisov stated that the PAK FA would most likely enter service in 2018 and be part of the new State Armament Programme from 2018 to 2027 (GPV-2027). On 30 June 2018, an order for 12 aircraft was agreed, while deliveries to the Russian Armed Forces was pushed back again to 2019 with the first aircraft planned to join fighter regiments at the Lipetsk Air Center. At the same time, Borisov praised the Su-35S, stating that it was comparable to the Su-57 except for the stealth features while being more affordable.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: Due to the substantially higher cost of the Su-57 compared to the Su-35S and Su-30SM, the design was placed on hold for mass production until the need arises. On 22 August 2018, during the International Military-Technical Forum «ARMY-2018», the Defence Ministry and Sukhoi signed the first contract for delivery of two serial Su-57 fighters scheduled for 2019 and 2020 respectively. In January 2019, the Ministry of Defence announced they hoped to conclude a second contract for 13 more aircraft in 2020.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: However, on 15 May 2019, the acquisition plan drastically changed when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that 76 aircraft would be purchased and delivered to the Aerospace Forces by 2028. This came after the negotiations were able to lower the price of the Su-57 and equipment by 20%. The contract for the 76 aircraft was formally signed on 27 June 2019 at the International Military-Technical Forum «ARMY-2019». The same month, General Director of Tactical Missiles Corporation (KRTV) Boris Obnosov reported, a contract for serial production of ammunition for Su-57 fighters was signed, and is being inducted. Serial production of the aircraft began in July 2019, with the first production aircraft scheduled to be delivered by the end of the year; following the crash of the first production aircraft, the Russian Aerospace Forces took delivery of its first Su-57 in December 2020. By May 2022, four more aircraft were delivered, and production has progressed slower than planned.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: In 2004, Sukhoi anticipated that the Su-57 could become the basis for a family of combat aircraft for the Russian Aerospace Forces, similar to the Su-27 family. Under the program name "Megalopolis" (), the company is developing a new variant, designated Su-57M, that augments the base Su-57 design with improved mission systems, reliability and maintenance enhancements, incorporation of electromechanical drives, and the new NPO Saturn "izdeliye 30" engines. The formal contract was signed in 2018, although preliminary work had begun earlier. In 2020, flight test of the improved variant was planned to begin in 2022, with serial production in the mid-2020s. The second flying T-50 prototype was used to test the new "izdeliye" 30 engine starting in 2017; the third prototype was configured for teaming tests with the Okhotnik UCAV in 2018. Additionally, work is underway to make a variant of the aircraft that can operate on aircraft carriers.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: Sukhoi has also used technology from the Su-57 to produce a mockup of a more affordable lightweight single-engine aircraft, designated as the LTS (, ). At the 2021 Moscow Air Show (MAKS-2021), Sukhoi revealed its LTS mockup, named Checkmate, which shares many systems with the Su-57, including radar, main weapons bay, vertical stabilizers, and wings.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: , international sanctions on Russia's defence industries may hamper development of the Su-57, as Russia could not import semiconductors and high-tech machining equipment from the European Union. Potential export sales of Russian products -including military aircraft- also stalled because Russia cannot trade using U.S. dollars.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The UAC reported that an upgraded Su-57 aircraft made its first flight on October 21 2022. It is yet unclear whether this airframe represents a Su-57M, as the "second-stage engine" (alluding to the "Izdeliye" 30) was reportedly not mounted. The flight was carried out by Russian test-pilot Sergey Bogdan.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The Su-57 is a fifth-generation multirole fighter aircraft and the first operational stealth aircraft for the Russian armed forces. In addition to stealth, the fighter emphasizes supermaneuverability in all aircraft axes, capacious internal payload bays for multirole versatility, and advanced sensor systems such as active phased-array radar as well as the integration of these systems to achieve high levels of automation. In the Su-57's design, Sukhoi cited the Lockheed Martin F-22 as the baseline for a supermaneuverable stealth fighter, but addressed what the bureau considered to be the limitations, such as the inability to use thrust vectoring to induce roll and yaw moments, a lack of space for weapons bays between the engines resulting in insufficient payload, and complications for stall recovery if thrust vectoring fails.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The aircraft has a wide blended wing body fuselage with two widely spaced engines and has all-moving horizontal and vertical stabilisers, with the vertical stabilisers canted for stealth; the trapezoid wings have leading edge flaps, ailerons, and flaperons. The aircraft incorporates thrust vectoring and large leading edge root extensions that shift the aerodynamic center forward, increasing static instability and maneuverability. These extensions have adjustable leading–edge vortex controllers (LEVCONs) designed to control the generated vortices and can provide trim and improve high angle of attack behaviour, including a quick stall recovery if the thrust vectoring system fails. To air-brake, the ailerons deflect up while the flaperons deflect down and the vertical stabilisers toe inward to increase drag. Although the majority of the structural materials are alloys with 40.5–44.5% aluminum alloys and 18.6% titanium alloys, the aircraft makes extensive use of composites, with the material comprising 22–26% of the structural weight and approximately 70% of the outer surface.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: Designed from the outset as a multirole aircraft, the Su-57 has substantial internal payload capacity that allows the carriage of multiple large air-to-surface ordnance. Weapons are housed in two tandem main weapons bays in the large ventral volume between the widely spaced engine nacelles and smaller side bays with bulged triangular-section fairings near the wing root. Internal weapons carriage eliminates drag from external stores and enables higher performance compared to external carriage, as well as preserving the stealth shaping.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The high degree of static instability (or relaxed stability) in both pitch and yaw, advanced KSU-50 flight control system, and canted thrust vectoring nozzles make the Su-57 departure-resistant and highly maneuverable in all axes and enables the aircraft to perform very high angles of attack maneuvers such as the Pugachev's Cobra and the bell maneuver, along with doing flat rotations with little altitude loss. The aerodynamics and engines enable it to achieve speeds of Mach 2 and fly supersonic without afterburners (supercruise) giving a significant kinematic advantage and extends the effective range of missiles and bombs over previous generations of aircraft. Combined with a high fuel load, the fighter has a supersonic range of over , more than twice that of the Su-27. An extendable refueling probe is available to further increase its range.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The first aircraft in Russian military service to emphasize stealth, the Su-57 employs a variety of methods to reduce its radar signature. Similar to other stealth fighters such as the F-22, the aircraft aligns the planform edges to reduce its radar cross-section (RCS); the leading and trailing edges of the wings and control surfaces and the serrated edges of skin panels are carefully angled to reduce the number of directions the radar waves can be reflected. Weapons are carried internally in weapons bays within the airframe and antennas are recessed from the surface of the skin to preserve the aircraft's stealthy shape, while radar absorbent material (RAM) coatings absorb radar emissions and reduce the reflection back to the source. The infrared search-and-track sensor housing is turned backwards when not in use and its rear is also treated with RAM. To mask the significant RCS contribution of the engine face, the walls of the inlet ducts are coated with RAM and the partial serpentine ducts obscure most of the engines’ compressor face and inlet guide-vanes (IGV); the remaining exposed engine face is masked by a slanted blocker grid placed in front of the IGV at a distance of 0.7—1.2 times the diameter of the duct, similar in principle to the method on the Boeing F/A-18E/F. The aircraft canopy is coated with 70–90 nm thick metal oxide layers with enhanced radar wave absorbing to minimize the radar return of the cockpit by 30% and protect the pilot from the impact of ultraviolet and thermal radiation. The production tolerances are significantly tighter than previous Russian fighters in order to improve stealth characteristics.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The combined effect of airframe shape and RAM of the production aircraft is estimated to have reduced the aircraft's RCS to a value thirty times smaller than that of the Su-27. Sukhoi's patent for the T-50 stealth features cites an intention to reduce average RCS to approximately 0.1 to 1 m, compared to the Su-27's RCS of approximately 10 to 15 m. The Su-57's design emphasizes frontal stealth, with RCS-reducing features most apparent in the forward hemisphere; the shaping of the aft fuselage is less optimized for radar stealth compared to American stealth designs such as the F-22 and F-35, likely as a result of cost reduction as well as the Russian doctrine of operating the aircraft within the umbrella of friendly integrated air defense systems. As with other stealth fighters, the Su-57's low observability measures are chiefly effective against high-frequency (between 3 and 30 GHz) radars, usually found on other aircraft. The effects of Rayleigh scattering and resonance mean that low-frequency radars, employed by weather radars and early-warning radars are more likely to detect the Su-57 due to its size. Such radars are also large, susceptible to clutter and are less precise.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The Su-57 is powered by a pair of NPO Lyulka-Saturn "izdeliye" 117, or AL-41F1, augmented turbofans. The engine is a highly improved and uprated variant of the AL-31 and produces 9 tonnes (88.3 kN, 19,840 lbf) of dry thrust, 14.5 tonnes (142.2 kN, 31,970 lbf) of thrust in afterburner, and 15 tonnes (147.1 kN, 33,070 lbf) of thrust in "special" emergency power. The engines have full authority digital engine control (FADEC) and are integrated into the flight control system to facilitate maneuverability and handling. The AL-41F1 is closely related to the Lyulka-Saturn "izdeliye" 117S engine, or AL-41F1S, used by the Su-35S, with the latter's separate engine control system being the key difference.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The aircraft employs thrust vector control (TVC) where the vectoring nozzles' rotational axes are each canted at an angle, similar to the nozzle arrangement first employed on the Su-30MKI and also used on Su-35S. The nozzles themselves vector in only one plane; the canting allows roll and yaw moments by vectoring each nozzle differentially, thus enabling the aircraft to produce thrust vectoring moments about all three aircraft axes, pitch, yaw and roll. The engine inlet incorporates variable intake ramps for supersonic efficiency and retractable mesh screens to prevent engine damage from foreign object debris ingestion especially when operating in short, austere runways. In 2014, the Indian Air Force openly expressed concerns over the reliability and performance of the AL-41F1; during the 2011 Moscow Air Show (MAKS-2011), a Su-57 suffered a compressor stall that forced the aircraft to abort takeoff.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The planned Su-57M will be equipped with a new engine from NPO Saturn in the mid-2020s under the development designation "izdeliye" 30. The engine is designed with an estimated thrust of 11 tonnes (107.9 kN, 24,300 lbf) dry and 17.5 tonnes (171.7 kN, 38,600 lbf) in afterburner. In addition to improved performance, reliability, and costs compared to the AL-41F1, the new powerplant will also reduce the aircraft's radar and infrared signature with glass-fibre plastic IGVs and a new nozzle with serrated flaps.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The Su-57 has two tandem main internal weapon bays each approximately long and wide and two side weapon bays with triangular section fairings under the fuselage near the wing root. The main bays have two types of ejection launchers made by Vympel, the UVKU-50L for missiles weighing up to and the UVKU-50U for ordnance weighing up to ; the side bays use the VPU-50 launch rails.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: For air-to-air combat, the Su-57 carries four beyond-visual-range missiles in its two main weapons bays and two short-range missiles in the side bays. The primary medium-range missile is the active radar-homing R-77M ("izdeliye" 180), an upgraded R-77 variant with AESA seeker, dual-pulse motor, and conventional rear fins. The short-range missile is the infrared-homing ("heat seeking") R-74M2 ("izdeliye" 760), an upgraded R-74 variant with reduced cross-section for internal carriage. A clean-sheet design short-range missile designated K-MD ("izdeliye" 300) is being developed to eventually replace the R-74M2. For longer ranged applications, the "izdeliye" 810 missile, a further development of the R-37M, can be carried with two in each main weapons bay.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: For striking surface targets, the aircraft can carry the KAB-250 or KAB-500 precision guided bombs in its main bays. Internal weapons also include the Kh-38M air-to-ground missile, Kh-35U (AS-20 "Kayak") anti-ship missile, Kh-58UShK (AS-11 "Kilter") anti-radiation missile, and Kh-59MK2 cruise missile. For missions that do not require stealth, the Su-57 can carry stores on its six external hardpoints which can use most Russian tactical fighter weapons. New hypersonic missile with characteristics similar to the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal ALBM is also being developed for the Su-57. The missile is to have intra-body accommodation and smaller dimensions to allow it to be carried inside the Su-57's main bays.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The aircraft has a 9A1-4071K (GSh-30-1) 30 mm autocannon with 150 cartridges mounted internally near the right LEVCON root. The weapon has an effective range of against aerial targets and against surface targets.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The Su-57 has a glass cockpit with no analogue gauges; information is displayed on two main multi-functional LCD displays similar to the arrangement of the Su-35S. Supplementing the primary display is a smaller multi-functional display and digital control panel. The cockpit has a wide-angle (30° by 22°) head-up display (HUD). Primary controls are the joystick and a pair of throttles, with all major functions controlled with hands on throttle and stick (HOTAS). The aircraft uses a two-piece canopy, with the aft section sliding forward and locking into place. The canopy is treated with metallized coatings to reduce the aircraft's radar signature.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The aircraft uses the NPP Zvezda K-36D-5 ejection seat and the SOZhE-50 life support system, which comprises the anti-g and oxygen generating system. The pilot is equipped with ZSh-10B helmet which mounts the NSTsI-50 digital display system, which enhances pilot situational awareness through pupil tracking and allows engagement of targets at high angles off-boresight. The oxygen generating system provides the pilot with unlimited oxygen supply. The life support system enables pilots to perform 9-g maneuvers for up to 30 seconds at a time, while the ejection seat and the new PPK-7 flight suit allows safe ejection at altitudes from 0 to and instrument airspeeds from 0 to ; the system also includes a survival kit to assist the pilot after ejection.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: One of the main technical goals of the PAK FA programme is to achieve total integration of avionics systems, or sensor fusion, increase the pilot's situational awareness and reduce workload. Integration of the Su-57's onboard systems is controlled by an IUS (, ), with its computer system developed by GRPZ from Ryazan. The main avionics systems are the "Sh-121" () multifunctional integrated radio electronic system (MIRES) and the "101KS "Atoll"" () electro-optical system. In a departure from prior Sukhoi aircraft, the IUS systems integration was performed by Sukhoi itself rather than RPKB of Ramenskoye. The integrated avionics suite, called IMA BK (, ), uses fibre optic channels and runs on over 4 million lines of code.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The Sh-121 consists of the N036 Byelka radar system and L402 Himalayas electronic countermeasures (ECM) system. Developed by Tikhomirov NIIP Institute, the N036 consists of the main nose-mounted N036-1-01 X band active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, or in Russian nomenclature, active phased array radar (, ), with 1,514 T/R modules and two side-looking N036B-1-01 X-band AESA radars with 404 T/R modules embedded in the cheeks of the forward fuselage for increased angular coverage. The nose antenna is tilted backwards for stealth. Moreover, the side-looking radar could enable the Su-57 to employ beaming tactics while still able to guide its own missile. The suite also has two N036L-1-01 L band transceivers on the wing's leading edge flaps that are not only used to handle the N036Sh Pokosnik (Reaper) friend-or-foe identification system but also for electronic warfare purposes. Processing of the X- and L-band signals by the N036YeVS and GRPZ Solo-21 computers enable the system's information to be significantly enhanced. The L402 Himalayas ECM suite made by the Kaluga Research Radio Engineering Institute uses both its own arrays and the N036 radar system, with one of its arrays mounted in the dorsal sting between the two engines. Redundant radio telephone communication and encrypted data exchange among various aircraft and also command centers (ground and sea-based and airborne) are provided by the S-111 system, developed by Polyot.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The UOMZ 101KS "Atoll" electro-optical system consisted of the 101KS-V infrared search and track (IRST), 101KS-O directional infrared counter measures (DIRCM), 101KS-U ultraviolet missile approach warning sensors (MAWS), 101KS-P thermal imager for low altitude flight and landing, and 101KS-N navigation and targeting pod. The IRST turret is mounted on the starboard side in front of the cockpit and can track multiple targets simultaneously. When not in use, the receiver is turned backwards and its rear is treated with RAM to preserve stealth. Additionally, the Su-57 is the first fighter to mount a DIRCM system, with one turret mounted behind the canopy and another mounted under the cockpit. The aircraft is capable of deploying countermeasures such as flares and radar decoys, as well as single-use programmable ECM transmitters. The dispensers for these countermeasures are mounted in the tail boom between the engines.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: For in-flight navigation, the Su-57 uses the BINS-SP2M inertial navigation system developed by Concern Radio-Electronic Technologies (KRET). The system can also integrate with GLONASS, and is controlled by the IVS-50 computing system. In 2016, KRET announced it is developing a multifunctional video processing system called "Okhotnik" (Hunter) to increase the Su-57's target detection range as well as to improve automatic detection and tracking of targets. A monitoring system allows real-time assessment of the aircraft's condition and predict the remaining 'life' of the composite parts of the aircraft by transmitting information through optical fibers, with sensitivity to mechanical influences, woven into the structure. This allows a more efficient maintenance and repair process. The Su-57 could also serve as a testbed for advanced AI and man-unmanned teaming technologies intended for use in a future sixth-generation fighter program. The aircraft has also tested autonomous flight without pilot input.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: Even before the first flight of the T-50 prototype, several subsystems were tested on other aircraft for validation and risk reduction; an Su-27M was used to test the AL-41F1 engine on 21 January 2010, while another tested the KSU-50 flight control system. The T-50 prototype conducted its first high speed taxi run on 21 January 2010 and had its maiden flight several days later on 29 January 2010. First supersonic flight occurred on 14 March 2011 at a test range near Komsomolsk-on-Amur.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The Su-57 tests consisted of preliminary trials PI (, ) conducted by Sukhoi at the Gromov Flight Research Institute (LII) () at Zhukovsky, as well as two stages of joint state trials GSI (, ) conducted by the Ministry of Defence at the 929th State Flight Test Centre (GLITs) () at Akhtubinsk. The completion of GSI-1 resulted in the acceptance of the aircraft's airworthiness, and the completion of GSI-2, which tests the mission systems and armaments, clears the Su-57 for operational service. The preliminary trials and state trials occurred with some overlap with each other.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: Early flight tests revealed that the initial T-50 design had problems with structural strength and fatigue; when the first two prototypes were showcased publicly in MAKS-2011, the airframes cracked despite flying with a restrictive 5–"g" limit, which necessitated grounding and structural reinforcing for over a year as well as a “second stage” structural redesign. Of the ten flying and three non-flying T-50 prototypes, the three non-flying prototypes tested static flight loads, one each for "first stage" and "second stage" structures, and avionics integration. The first two flying prototypes tested flight characteristics and basic mechanical systems, and thus had no mission systems. Testing of mission systems such as the radar and electronic warfare suite began from the third prototype onwards, with each subsequent aircraft having slight variations in the arrangement of avionics and sensor systems. The final pre-production aircraft were equipped with full mission systems and tested the overall integrated avionics.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: By February 2014, the first phase of preliminary trials, PI-1, had concluded; in the same month, the 929th GLITs received its first T-50 at Akhtubinsk for further testing and GSI state trials. However, severe issues were discovered during PI-1; in addition to the structural issues, the aircraft suffered from engine problems, including the AL-41F1 compressor stall during the MAKS-2011 airshow. In June 2014, the fifth prototype was severely damaged by an in-flight fire and written off, and an incomplete "first stage" airframe was finished using parts salvaged from the fifth prototype. Both preliminary and state trials were delayed by the fire and the structural redesign; the second phase of preliminary trials, PI-2, ran from 2014 to 2019 and mainly used structurally reinforced "first stage" aircraft while GSI-1 was halted until 2016 in order to wait for the updated "second stage" airframes. Armament trials were also delayed, with external weapon trials starting in May 2014 and internal trials starting in March 2016. GSI-1 was finished on 8 February 2018 with formal signing in May 2018. After more than 3,500 flights, GSI-2 was planned to be completed by 2019, but this was pushed to 2020, partly because of the crash of the first production aircraft in December 2019.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: As the Su-57 is gradually being inducted into Russian military service, Sukhoi is testing upgrades for the improved Su-57M variant. First flight of the "izdeliye" 30 engine occurred on 5 December 2017 with the second prototype (T-50-2, bort no. 052). Prototypes were also used for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) teaming tests with the Okhotnik UCAV, with a video of flight tests released by the Ministry of Defence on 27 September 2019. On 28 June 2020, TASS, with reference to anonymous sources within the military-industrial complex, reported that a 'swarm' teaming experiment had been conducted with a group of Su-35s and an Su-57 acting as a command and control aircraft. The networked information exchange significantly increases the efficiency of combat missions. Reportedly, the experiment was conducted in "real combat conditions."


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: On 21 February 2018, two Su-57s performed their first international flight as they were spotted landing at the Russian Khmeimim air base in Syria. The aircraft were deployed along with four Sukhoi Su-35 fighters, four Sukhoi Su-25s, and one Beriev A-50 AEW&C aircraft. Three days later two more Su-57s were reported to have arrived in Syria. The deployment was criticised by some experts as overly risky, especially after reports of drone attacks at Khmeimim air base, as well as having limited value due to the short duration of only several days. As the deployment overlapped with Russia's Defender of the Fatherland Day, the purpose may have been to support the president's state-of-the-nation speech. Additionally, deployment of the aircraft in a combat theatre may serve to enhance the aircraft's marketing. On 1 March 2018, the Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu stated that the two Su-57s had spent two days in Syria and successfully completed a trials program, including combat trials during which parameters of weapons work were monitored. On 25 May 2018, the Defence Ministry disclosed that during the February 2018 deployment to Syria, a Su-57 fired a cruise missile in combat, likely a Kh-59MK2. On 18 November 2018, the Defence Ministry posted an extended video of the fighters' flights, and announced that Su-57 performed 10 flights during its deployment to Syria. However, the video did not specify when the test flights took place.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: On 18 December 2019, the Chief of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov said that Russian Defence Ministry has once again tested the Su-57 in Syria, and all tasks have been successfully fulfilled.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: On 25 December 2020, the Russian Defence Ministry announced that the Su-57 had entered service upon the delivery of the first production aircraft to one of the aviation regiments of the Southern Military District.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: In May 2022, Russian sources claimed that Su-57 fighters were used two or three weeks after the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, striking targets with missiles outside of the zone of activity of Ukrainian air defenses, just like other Russian aircraft that are also restricted mainly to Russian airspace.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: In June 2022, RIA Novosti reported four Su-57s working in a network were used in SEAD role over Ukraine to identify and destroy Ukrainian air defense systems. The source also noted that its low radar visibility was demonstrated in combat.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: On 19 October 2022, Russian army general Sergey Surovikin, commander of all Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine, stated the Su-57 has been used both in air-to-air and air-to-ground role during the war in Ukraine and that it has scored kills in both roles. Subsequently, some Russian sources claimed the Su-57 shot down a Ukrainian Su-27 with a long-range R-37 missile. However, no evidence for these claims have surfaced.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: In the early stages of the PAK FA programme, India had planned to be one of the largest foreign customers by procuring the FGFA derivative. It originally planned on buying 166 single-seat and 48 two-seat fighters, but later changed it to 214 single-seat fighters, and later reduced its purchase to 144 fighters by 2012. In April 2018, India pulled out of the FGFA project, which it believed did not meet its requirements for stealth, combat avionics, radars and sensors by that time. Indian Air Force Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa, during an interview with Russian Ministry of Defence's official newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star), stated that the Su-57 is currently not being considered for the service, but the combat aircraft can be evaluated once it joins active service with the Russian Air Force. The General Director of the United Aircraft Corporation Yuri Slyusar however denied the previous reports saying "the topic is not closed" and that Russia and India are still discussing the creation of the fifth-generation fighter. However, in October 2019, the Indian Air Force Chief of Air Staff RKS Bhadauria stated that the country will not be importing stealth fighters like the Su-57, and will instead focus on indigenous efforts such as the HAL AMCA.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: Sukhoi states that the main export advantage of the PAK FA is its lower cost than current US fifth generation jet fighters. Russia was reported to be offering the PAK FA for South Korea's next generation jet fighter. South Korea's defence procurement agency stated that the Sukhoi PAK FA was a candidate for the Republic of Korea Air Force's next-generation fighter (F-X Phase 3) aircraft; however, Sukhoi did not submit a bid by the January 2012 deadline. In 2013, Russia offered Brazil participation and joint production in a next-generation fighter based on the Su-57. Instead of Russian Su-57 and French Rafale, Brazil signed an agreement with the Swedish Saab Group to locally produce 36 Gripen E fighters for the Brazilian Air Force.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: In May 2019, as Turkish participation in the F-35 program was in doubt due to Turkey's procurement of the S-400 missile system, CEO of Rostec Sergey Chemezov said that Russia was ready to cooperate with Turkey on the export and local production of the Su-57. On 14 September 2019, an Su-57 took part in the 2019 Technofest festival held in Istanbul. However, on 7 February 2020, President Erdogan announced that the replacement of the F-35 will not be Russian Su-57, but instead will be the Turkish domestic fifth-generation aircraft TF-X fighter.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: On 27 December 2019, Algeria reportedly signed a contract for 14 aircraft as part of large military deal that also includes the purchase of Su-34 and Su-35 fighters. The decision was reportedly taken in summer 2019, when Algerian delegation personally inspected the Su-57 at the MAKS-2019 air show. Once Sukhoi fulfill domestic delivery commitment, Algeria set to receive the first Su-57E in 2028.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: It has been reported that Vietnam may become a customer of the Su-57. The country is expected to acquire the fighters to replace its aging fleet of 11 Su-27s. On 9 July 2021, Vietnam announced its intention to buy Su-57 aircraft, but it is critical of the aircraft's workmanship.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: Russia has offered Su-57E fighters to the United Arab Emirates during IDEX 2021. During the 2019 Dubai Air Show, Chemezov talked about the possibility of "localization" of portions of the Su-57 supply chain within other countries that decide to buy those jets, including "…United Arab Emirates, India or Turkey…", depends on the capabilities of the defense industrial base of the customer in question. However, the UAE has refrained from signing a contract with Russia to avoid CAATSA sanctions from the United States.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: In 2021, Iraqi military leadership including its inspector for the Iraqi Ministry of Defence Imad Al-Zuhairin stated the country's interest in the Su-57.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: Su-57 is the first production variant for the Russian Aerospace Forces. Flight testing began with the T-50 prototype in 2010, and serial production began in 2019. A total of three regiments, 76 aircraft, are planned with the first aircraft delivered in December 2020.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: Su-57E is the export version of Su-57. On 28 March 2019, The aircraft first promoted to international customers during the 2019 Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition. The aircraft was officially unveiled at the MAKS-2019 air show on 28 March 2019. Rosoboronexport is marketing the aircraft as "Perspective multirole fighter" (PMF).


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: Su-57M is an upgraded variant of the base Su-57 under the program name "Megapolis", and incorporates improved mission systems, reliability and maintenance enhancements, new flight control actuators, and the Saturn izdeliye 30 engines. Flight testing is planned to begin in 2022, and serial production is planned for the mid-2020s.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: Sukhoi/HAL FGFA was a planned version of Su-57 for Indian Air Force but India withdrew from the FGFA programme in 2018 before any prototype was built. The FGFA was intended to be the primary export version of the PAK FA and was to differ in 43 ways with improvements to stealth, supercruise, sensors, networking, and combat avionics. There were conflicting reports on the FGFA, with India detailing numerous improvements over the baseline PAK FA, while Mikhail Pogosyan, the head of United Aircraft Corporation, said in 2013 that the PAK FA and the FGFA will use "identical onboard systems and avionics". India has refrained from signing a deal with Russia citing concerns of aircraft's stealth, radar and supercruise capability in 2014 and ultimately withdrew from the programme in 2018.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: In 2008, UAC president Alexei Fedorov has said that any decision on applying fifth-generation technologies to produce a smaller fighter (comparable to the F-35) must wait until after the development of the PAK FA is completed.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: A naval version of the Su-57 was proposed for the Project 23000E or "Shtorm" supercarrier. Models of the aircraft carrier project are showing Su-57 on board, with folding wings and stabilators. The Su-57 should be able to use the takeoff ramp as well as the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System. The draft of the future state armament program (GVP) for 2024–2033 includes the development of a new carrier-based fighter based on the Su-57, albeit with deep modifications.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: The aircraft is used as a testbed for integration with UAVs as well as various subsystems (including weapon, control and navigation systems) being developed for Russia's future sixth-generation combat system, both in manned and unmanned version. In January 2019, it was reported the third flyable Su-57 prototype (bort. no 053) is being used for interaction with the Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik UCAV, and testing of its avionics systems.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: In July 2021, it was officially announced that a two-seater variant of the Su-57 was under development, to be used for training pilots and for ensuring the control of the Sukhoi S-70 Okhotnik UCAV. This variant was also mentioned at the Army-2022 forum in August 2022.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: On 10 June 2014, the fifth flying prototype, aircraft T-50-5, was severely damaged by an engine fire after landing. The pilot managed to escape unharmed. The aircraft was subsequently written off, and its salvageable parts were cannibalized to finish the sixth "first stage" prototype, which was then given the fifth prototype's bort number and its designation changed from T-50-6-1 to T-50-5R. However, official accounting still considers the two aircraft to be the "same" one.


title: Sukhoi Su-57

text: On 24 December 2019, the first serial Su-57 (bort number "01 blue") crashed 110–120 km away from the Dzyomgi Airport, Khabarovsk Krai, during the final stage of its factory trials due to a control system malfunction. The pilot ejected and was recovered by helicopter. According to TASS, the test flight took place at an altitude of 8,000 meters when the malfunction occurred, causing the airplane to enter a rapid spiral descent. When all attempts to stabilize the airplane into a horizontal flight using the manual flight control system failed, the pilot ejected at an altitude of 2,000 meters.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Commonwealth Secretariat, which focuses on intergovernmental aspects, and the Commonwealth Foundation, which focuses on non-governmental relations amongst member states. Numerous organisations are associated with and operate within the Commonwealth.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The Commonwealth dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories. It was originally created as the British Commonwealth of Nations through the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference, and formalised by the United Kingdom through the Statute of Westminster in 1931. The current Commonwealth of Nations was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949, which modernised the community and established the member states as "free and equal".


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The head of the Commonwealth is Charles III. He is king of 15 member states, known as the Commonwealth realms, while 36 other members are republics, and five others have different monarchs.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: Member states have no legal obligations to one another but are connected through their use of the English language and historical ties. The Commonwealth Charter defines their shared values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, as promoted by the quadrennial Commonwealth Games.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: Queen Elizabeth II, in her address to Canada on Dominion Day in 1959, pointed out that the Confederation of Canada on 1 July 1867 had been the birth of the "first independent country within the British Empire". She declared: "So, it also marks the beginning of that free association of independent states which is now known as the Commonwealth of Nations." As long ago as 1884 Lord Rosebery, while visiting Australia, had described the changing British Empire, as some of its colonies became more independent, as a "Commonwealth of Nations". Conferences of British and colonial prime ministers occurred periodically from the first one in 1887, leading to the creation of the Imperial Conferences in 1911.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The Commonwealth developed from the imperial conferences. A specific proposal was presented by Jan Smuts in 1917 when he coined the term "the British Commonwealth of Nations" and envisioned the "future constitutional relations and readjustments in essence" at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, attended by delegates from the Dominions as well as the United Kingdom. The term first received imperial statutory recognition in the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, when the term "British Commonwealth of Nations" was substituted for "British Empire" in the wording of the oath taken by members of parliament of the Irish Free State.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: In the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference, the United Kingdom and its dominions agreed they were "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". The term "Commonwealth" was officially adopted to describe the community.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: These aspects to the relationship were formalised by the Statute of Westminster in 1931, which applied to Canada without the need for ratification, but Australia, New Zealand, and Newfoundland had to ratify the statute for it to take effect. Newfoundland never did as due to economic hardship and the need for financial assistance from London, Newfoundland voluntarily accepted the suspension of self-government in 1934 and governance reverted to direct control from London. Newfoundland later joined Canada as its tenth province in 1949. Australia and New Zealand ratified the Statute in 1942 and 1947 respectively.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: Although the Union of South Africa was not among the Dominions that needed to adopt the Statute of Westminster for it to take effect, two laws—the Status of the Union Act, 1934, and the Royal Executive Functions and Seals Act of 1934—were passed to confirm South Africa's status as a sovereign state.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: After the Second World War ended, the British Empire was gradually dismantled. Most of its components have become independent countries, whether Commonwealth realms or republics, and members of the Commonwealth. There remain the 14 mainly self-governing British overseas territories which retain some political association with the United Kingdom. In April 1949, following the London Declaration, the word "British" was dropped from the title of the Commonwealth to reflect its changing nature.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: Burma (Myanmar since 1989) and Aden (now part of the Republic of Yemen) are the only states that were British colonies at the time of the war not to have joined the Commonwealth upon independence. Former British protectorates and mandates that did not become members of the Commonwealth are Egypt (independent in 1922), Iraq (1932), Transjordan (1946), Palestine (part of which became the state of Israel in 1948), Sudan (1956), British Somaliland (which united with the former Italian Somaliland in 1960 to form the Somali Republic), Kuwait (1961), Bahrain (1971), Oman (1971), Qatar (1971), and the United Arab Emirates (1971).


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The postwar Commonwealth was given a fresh mission by Queen Elizabeth II in her Christmas Day 1953 broadcast, in which she envisioned the Commonwealth as "an entirely new conception – built on the highest qualities of the Spirit of Man: friendship, loyalty, and the desire for freedom and peace". Hoped-for success was reinforced by such achievements as climbing Mount Everest in 1953, breaking the four-minute mile in 1954, and a solo circumnavigation of the globe in 1966.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: After the Second World War, the British treasury was so weak that it could not operate independently of the United States. The loss of defence and financial roles, furthermore, undermined Joseph Chamberlain's early 20th-century vision of a world empire that could combine Imperial preference, mutual defence, and social growth. In addition, the United Kingdom's cosmopolitan role in world affairs became increasingly limited, especially with the losses of India and Singapore. While British politicians at first hoped that the Commonwealth would preserve and project British influence, they gradually lost their enthusiasm, argues Krishnan Srinivasan. Early enthusiasm waned as British policies came under fire at Commonwealth meetings. Public opinion became troubled as immigration from non-white member states became large-scale.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: On 18 April 1949, Ireland formally became a republic in accordance with the Irish Republic of Ireland Act 1948; in doing so, it also formally left the Commonwealth. While Ireland had not actively participated in the Commonwealth since the early 1930s, other dominions wished to become republics without losing Commonwealth ties. The issue came to a head in April 1949 at a Commonwealth prime ministers' meeting in London. Under the London Declaration, India agreed that, when it became a republic in January 1950, it would remain in the Commonwealth and accept the British Sovereign as a "symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and as such the Head of the Commonwealth". Upon hearing this, King George VI told the Indian politician Krishna Menon: "So, I've become 'as such'". Some other Commonwealth countries that have since become republics have chosen to leave, while others, such as Guyana, Mauritius and Dominica, have remained members.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The London Declaration is often seen as marking the beginning of the modern Commonwealth. Following India's precedent, other nations became republics, or constitutional monarchies with their own monarchs. While some countries retained the same monarch as the United Kingdom, their monarchies developed differently and soon became essentially independent of the British monarchy. The monarch is regarded as a separate legal personality in each realm, even though the same person is monarch of each realm.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: Planners in the interwar period, like Lord Davies, who had also taken "a prominent part in building up the League of Nations Union" in the United Kingdom, in 1932 founded the New Commonwealth Society, of whose British section Winston Churchill became the president. This new society was aimed at the creation of an international air force to be an arm of the League of Nations, to allow nations to disarm and safeguard the peace.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The term 'New Commonwealth' gained usage in the UK (especially in the 1960s and 1970s) to refer to recently decolonised countries, predominantly non-white and developing. It was often used in debates about immigration from these countries. The United Kingdom and the pre-1945 dominions became informally known as the 'Old Commonwealth', or more pointedly as the 'white Commonwealth', in reference to what had been known as the 'White Dominions'.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: At a time when Germany and France, together with Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, were planning what later became the European Union, and newly independent African countries were joining the Commonwealth, new ideas were floated to prevent the United Kingdom from becoming isolated in economic affairs. British trade with the Commonwealth was four times larger than its trade with Europe. In 1956 and 1957 the British government under Prime Minister Anthony Eden considered a "Plan G" to create a European free trade zone while also protecting the favoured status of the Commonwealth. The United Kingdom also considered inviting Scandinavian and other European countries to join the Commonwealth, so that it would become a major economic common market.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: At the time of the Suez Crisis in 1956, in the face of colonial unrest and international tensions, French prime minister Guy Mollet proposed to British prime minister Anthony Eden that their two countries be joined in a "union". When that proposal was turned down, Mollet suggested that France join the Commonwealth, possibly with "a common citizenship arrangement on the Irish basis". These ideas faded away with the end of the Suez Crisis.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: Under the formula of the London Declaration, Charles III is the head of the Commonwealth. When the monarch dies, the successor to the crown does not automatically become the new head of the Commonwealth. However, at their meeting in April 2018, Commonwealth leaders agreed that Prince Charles should succeed his mother Elizabeth II as head after her death. The position is symbolic, representing the free association of independent members, the majority of which (36) are republics, and five have monarchs of different royal houses (Brunei, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Tonga).


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The main decision-making forum of the organisation is the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), where Commonwealth heads of government, including (amongst others) prime ministers and presidents, assemble for several days to discuss matters of mutual interest. CHOGM is the successor to the Meetings of Commonwealth Prime Ministers and, earlier, the Imperial Conferences and Colonial Conferences, dating back to 1887. There are also regular meetings of finance ministers, law ministers, health ministers, etc. Members in arrears, as special members before them, are not invited to send representatives to either ministerial meetings or CHOGMs.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The head of government hosting the CHOGM is called the chair-in-office (CIO) and retains the position until the following CHOGM. Since the most recent CHOGM, in Rwanda in 2022, the chair-in-office has been the president of Rwanda.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The 26th CHOGM was initially to be held in Kigali, Rwanda, in June 2020. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was rescheduled to be held there in the week of 21 June 2021 before again being postponed to 25-26 June 2022. It was accompanied by meetings of a Commonwealth Youth Forum, a Commonwealth Women's Forum and a Commonwealth People's Forum.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The Commonwealth Secretariat, established in 1965, is the main intergovernmental agency of the Commonwealth, facilitating consultation and co-operation among member governments and countries. It is responsible to member governments collectively. The Commonwealth of Nations is represented in the United Nations General Assembly by the secretariat as an observer. The secretariat organises Commonwealth summits, meetings of ministers, consultative meetings and technical discussions; it assists policy development and provides policy advice, and facilitates multilateral communication among the member governments. It also provides technical assistance to help governments in the social and economic development of their countries and in support of the Commonwealth's fundamental political values.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The secretariat is headed by the Commonwealth secretary-general, who is elected by the Commonwealth heads of government for no more than two four-year terms. The secretary-general and two deputy secretaries-general direct the divisions of the Secretariat. The present secretary-general is Patricia Scotland, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, from Dominica, who took office on 1 April 2016, succeeding Kamalesh Sharma of India (2008–2016). The first secretary-general was Arnold Smith of Canada (1965–75), followed by Sir Shridath Ramphal of Guyana (1975–90), Chief Emeka Anyaoku of Nigeria (1990–99), and Don McKinnon of New Zealand (2000–2008).


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: Initially, Commonwealth countries were not considered to be "foreign" to each other as their citizens were British subjects. Citizenship laws have evolved independently in each Commonwealth country. For example, in Australia, for the purpose of considering certain constitutional and legal provisions no distinction is made between Commonwealth and foreign countries: in the High Court case of "Sue v Hill", other Commonwealth countries (specifically, the United Kingdom) were held to be 'foreign powers'; similarly, in "Nolan v Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs", the nationals of other Commonwealth realms were held to be 'aliens'.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: Nevertheless, some members treat resident citizens of other Commonwealth countries preferentially to citizens of non-Commonwealth countries (see Commonwealth citizen). The United Kingdom and several others, mostly in the Caribbean, grant the right to vote to Commonwealth citizens who reside in those countries.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The closer association amongst Commonwealth countries is reflected in the diplomatic protocols of the Commonwealth countries. For example, when engaging bilaterally with one another, Commonwealth governments exchange high commissioners instead of ambassadors. In non-Commonwealth countries in which their own country is not represented, Commonwealth citizens may seek consular assistance at the British embassy although it is for the embassy to decide, in its discretion, whether to provide any. Other alternatives can also occur such as the consular services agreement between Canada and Australia that began in 1986.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The criteria for membership of the Commonwealth of Nations have developed over time from a series of separate documents. The Statute of Westminster 1931, as a fundamental founding document of the organisation, laid out that membership required dominionhood. The 1949 London Declaration ended this, allowing republican and indigenous monarchic members on the condition that they recognised King George VI as "Head of the Commonwealth". In the wake of the wave of decolonisation in the 1960s, these constitutional principles were augmented by political, economic, and social principles. The first of these was set out in 1961, when it was decided that respect for racial equality would be a requirement for membership, leading directly to the withdrawal of South Africa's re-application (which they were required to make under the formula of the London Declaration upon becoming a republic). The 14 points of the 1971 Singapore Declaration dedicated all members to the principles of world peace, liberty, human rights, equality, and free trade.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: These criteria were unenforceable for two decades, until, in 1991, the Harare Declaration was issued, dedicating the leaders to applying the Singapore principles to the completion of decolonisation, the end of the Cold War, and the end of apartheid in South Africa. The mechanisms by which these principles would be applied were created, and the manner clarified, by the 1995 Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme, which created the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which has the power to rule on whether members meet the requirements for membership under the Harare Declaration. Also in 1995, an Inter-Governmental Group was created to finalise and codify the full requirements for membership. Upon reporting in 1997, as adopted under the Edinburgh Declaration, the Inter-Governmental Group ruled that any future members would have to have a direct constitutional link with an existing member.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: In addition to this new rule, the former rules were consolidated into a single document. These requirements are that members must accept and comply with the Harare principles, be fully sovereign states, recognise King Charles III as head of the Commonwealth, accept the English language as the means of Commonwealth communication, and respect the wishes of the general population with regard to Commonwealth membership. These requirements had undergone review, and a report on potential amendments was presented by the Committee on Commonwealth Membership at the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. New members were not admitted at this meeting, though applications for admission were considered at the 2009 CHOGM.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: New members must "as a general rule" have a direct constitutional link to an existing member. In most cases, this is due to being a former colony of the United Kingdom, but some have links to other countries, either exclusively or more directly (e.g., Samoa to New Zealand, Papua New Guinea to Australia, Namibia to South Africa, Bangladesh to Pakistan and Singapore to Malaysia). The first member to be admitted without having any constitutional link to the British Empire or a Commonwealth member was Mozambique in 1995 following its first democratic elections and South Africa's re-admission in 1994. Mozambique was a former Portuguese colony. Mozambique's controversial entry led to the Edinburgh Declaration and the current membership guidelines.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: In 2009, Rwanda became the second Commonwealth member admitted not to have any constitutional links to Britain. It was a Belgian trust territory that had been a district of German East Africa until World War I. Consideration for Rwanda's admission was considered an "exceptional circumstance" by the Commonwealth Secretariat. Rwanda was permitted to join despite the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) finding that "the state of governance and human rights in Rwanda does not satisfy Commonwealth standards", and that it "does not therefore qualify for admission". CHRI commented that: "It does not make sense to admit a state that already does not satisfy Commonwealth standards. This would tarnish the reputation of the Commonwealth and confirm the opinion of many people and civic organisations that the leaders of its governments do not really care for democracy and human rights, and that its periodic, solemn declarations are merely hot air."


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The Commonwealth comprises 56 countries, across all inhabited continents. The members have a combined population of 2.4 billion people, almost a third of the world population, with 1.4 billion living in India, and 94% living in either Asia or Africa. After India, the next-largest Commonwealth countries by population are Pakistan (227 million), Nigeria (213 million), Bangladesh (167 million), and the United Kingdom (68 million). Tuvalu is the smallest member, with about 12,000 people.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The land area of the Commonwealth nations is about , or about 21% of the total world land area. The two largest Commonwealth nations by area are Canada at and Australia at .


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The status of "Member in Arrears" is used to denote those that are in arrears in paying subscription dues. The status was originally known as "special membership", but was renamed on the Committee on Commonwealth Membership's recommendation. There are currently no Members in Arrears. The most recent Member in Arrears, Nauru, returned to full membership in June 2011. Nauru has alternated between special and full membership since joining the Commonwealth, depending on its financial situation.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: In 2019, the Commonwealth members had a combined gross domestic product of over $9 trillion, 78% of which is accounted for by the four largest economies: United Kingdom ($3.124 trillion), India ($3.050 trillion), Canada ($1.652 trillion), and Australia ($1.379 trillion).


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: In 1997 the Commonwealth Heads of Government agreed that, to become a member of the Commonwealth, an applicant country should, as a rule, have had a constitutional association with an existing Commonwealth member; that it should comply with Commonwealth values, principles and priorities as set out in the Harare Declaration; and that it should accept Commonwealth norms and conventions.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: South Sudanese politicians have expressed interest in joining the Commonwealth. A senior Commonwealth source stated in 2006 that "many people have assumed an interest from Israel, but there has been no formal approach". The State of Palestine is also a potential candidate for membership.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: President Yahya Jammeh unilaterally withdrew the Gambia from the Commonwealth in October 2013. However, newly elected president Adama Barrow returned the country to the organisation in February 2018.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: Other eligible applicants could be any of the remaining inhabited British Overseas Territories, Crown Dependencies, Australian external territories and the Associated States of New Zealand if they become fully independent. Many such jurisdictions are already directly represented within the Commonwealth, particularly through the Commonwealth Family. There are also former British possessions that have not become independent. Although Hong Kong has become part of China, it continues to participate in some of the institutions within the Commonwealth Family, including the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: All three of the Crown dependencies regard their existing situation as unsatisfactory and have lobbied for change. The States of Jersey have called on the UK foreign secretary to request that the Commonwealth heads of government "consider granting associate membership to Jersey and the other Crown Dependencies as well as any other territories at a similarly advanced stage of autonomy". Jersey has proposed that it be accorded "self-representation in all Commonwealth meetings; full participation in debates and procedures, with a right to speak where relevant and the opportunity to enter into discussions with those who are full members; and no right to vote in the Ministerial or Heads of Government meetings, which is reserved for full members". The States of Guernsey and the Government of the Isle of Man have made calls of a similar nature for a more integrated relationship with the Commonwealth, including more direct representation and enhanced participation in Commonwealth organisations and meetings, including Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings. The Chief Minister of the Isle of Man has said: "A closer connection with the Commonwealth itself would be a welcome further development of the Island's international relationships".


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: Members can be suspended "from the Councils of the Commonwealth" for "serious or persistent violations" of the Harare Declaration, particularly in abrogating their responsibility to have democratic government. Suspensions are agreed by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which meets regularly to address potential breaches of the Harare Declaration. Suspended members are not represented at meetings of Commonwealth leaders and ministers, although they remain members of the organisation.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: Nigeria was suspended between 11 November 1995 and 29 May 1999, following its execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa on the eve of the 1995 CHOGM. Pakistan was the second country to be suspended, on 18 October 1999, following the military coup by Pervez Musharraf. The Commonwealth's longest suspension came to an end on 22 May 2004, when Pakistan's suspension was lifted following the restoration of the country's constitution. Pakistan was suspended for a second time, far more briefly, for six months from 22 November 2007, when Musharraf called a state of emergency. Zimbabwe was suspended in 2002 over concerns regarding the electoral and land reform policies of Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF government, before it withdrew from the organisation in 2003. On 15 May 2018, Zimbabwe applied to rejoin the Commonwealth.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The declaration of a Republic in Fiji in 1987, after military coups designed to deny Indo-Fijians political power, was not accompanied by an application to remain. Commonwealth membership was held to have lapsed until 1997, after discriminatory provisions in the republican constitution were repealed and reapplication for membership made. Fiji has since been suspended twice, with the first imposed from 6 June 2000 to 20 December 2001 after another coup. Fiji was suspended yet again in December 2006, following the most recent coup. At first, the suspension applied only to membership on the Councils of the Commonwealth. After failing to meet a Commonwealth deadline for setting a date for national elections by 2010, Fiji was "fully suspended" on 1 September 2009. The secretary-general of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma, confirmed that full suspension meant that Fiji would be excluded from Commonwealth meetings, sporting events and the technical assistance programme (with an exception for assistance in re-establishing democracy). Sharma stated that Fiji would remain a member of the Commonwealth during its suspension, but would be excluded from emblematic representation by the secretariat. On 19 March 2014 Fiji's full suspension was amended to a suspension from councils of the Commonwealth by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, permitting Fiji to join a number of Commonwealth activities, including the Commonwealth Games. Fiji's suspension was lifted in September 2014. The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group fully reinstated Fiji as a member following elections in September 2014.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: Most recently, during 2013 and 2014, international pressure mounted to suspend Sri Lanka from the Commonwealth, citing grave human rights violations by the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. There were also calls to change the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2013 from Sri Lanka to another member country. Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper threatened to boycott the event, but was instead represented at the meeting by Deepak Obhrai. UK Prime Minister David Cameron also chose to attend. These concerns were rendered moot by the election of opposition leader Maithripala Sirisena as president in 2015.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: As membership is purely voluntary, member governments can choose at any time to leave the Commonwealth. The first state to do so was Ireland in 1948 following its decision to declare itself a republic. At the time, all members accepted the British monarch as head of state as a condition of membership. This rule was changed after Ireland's departure to allow India to retain membership when it became a republic, although Ireland did not rejoin. Pakistan left on 30 January 1972 in protest at the Commonwealth's recognition of breakaway Bangladesh, but rejoined on 2 August 1989. Zimbabwe's membership was suspended in 2002 on the grounds of alleged human rights violations and deliberate misgovernment, and Zimbabwe's government terminated its membership in 2003. The Gambia left the Commonwealth on 3 October 2013, and rejoined on 8 February 2018.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The Maldives withdrew from the Commonwealth on 13 October 2016, citing Commonwealth's "punitive actions against the Maldives since 2012" after the allegedly forced resignation of Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed among the reasons for withdrawal. Following the election of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih as president in November 2018, the Maldives announced its intention to reapply to join the Commonwealth. They rejoined on 1 February 2020.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: Although heads of government have the power to suspend member states from active participation, the Commonwealth has no provision for the expulsion of members.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: Until 1948, there was a consensus among the existing half-dozen Commonwealth members that Commonwealth realms that became a republic would cease to be members but the situation changed in 1948 when newly independent India announced its intention to become a republic on 1 January 1950 although it wished to remain in the Commonwealth. This was granted. Now, the majority of the Commonwealth members, including all those from Africa, are republics or have their own native monarch.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: Ireland withdrew from participation in the Commonwealth in the 1930s, attending its last Commonwealth governmental heads' meeting in 1932. For some years Ireland considered itself to be a republic outside the Commonwealth but the Commonwealth considered Ireland to still be a Commonwealth member. Its treatment as a member ended on 18 April 1949 when Irish legislation that the Commonwealth chose to regard as having caused Ireland to become a republic became law. It is the only country whose membership terminated without any declaration withdrawing from the organisation. Instead, it was (with its own tacit support) excluded from the organisation.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: South Africa was barred from continuing as a member after it became a republic in 1961, due to hostility from many members, particularly those in Africa and Asia as well as Canada, to its policy of racial apartheid. The South African government withdrew its application to remain in the organisation as a republic when it became clear at the 1961 Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference that any such application would be rejected. South Africa was re-admitted to the Commonwealth in 1994, following its first multiracial elections that year.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997 ended the territory's status as a part of the Commonwealth through the United Kingdom. Non-sovereign states or regions are not permitted to become members of the Commonwealth. The government of the People's Republic of China has not pursued membership. Hong Kong has nevertheless continued to participate in some of the organisations of the Commonwealth Family, such as the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (hosted the Commonwealth Lawyers Conference in 1983 and 2009), the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (and the Westminster Seminar on Parliamentary Practice and Procedures), the Association of Commonwealth Universities and the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel, as well as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The Commonwealth's objectives were first outlined in the 1971 Singapore Declaration, which committed the Commonwealth to the institution of world peace; promotion of representative democracy and individual liberty; the pursuit of equality and opposition to racism; the fight against poverty, ignorance, and disease; and free trade. To these were added opposition to discrimination on the basis of gender by the Lusaka Declaration of 1979, and environmental sustainability by the Langkawi Declaration of 1989. These objectives were reinforced by the Harare Declaration in 1991.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: The Commonwealth's current highest-priority aims are on the promotion of democracy and development, as outlined in the 2003 Aso Rock Declaration, which built on those in Singapore and Harare and clarified their terms of reference, stating, "We are committed to democracy, good governance, human rights, gender equality, and a more equitable sharing of the benefits of globalisation." The Commonwealth website lists its areas of work as: democracy, economics, education, gender, governance, human rights, law, small states, sport, sustainability, and youth.


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: Through a separate voluntary fund, Commonwealth governments support the Commonwealth Youth Programme, a division of the Secretariat with offices in Gulu (Uganda), Lusaka (Zambia), Chandigarh (India), Georgetown (Guyana) and Honiara (Solomon Islands).


title: Commonwealth of Nations

text: In recent years, the Commonwealth has been accused of not being vocal enough on its core values. Allegations of a leaked memo from the Secretary General instructing staff not to speak out on human rights were published in October 2010.