On Saturday, April 11, 2026, in the evening local time, a fire broke out at the Yuri Gagarin Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO) in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, part of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), which in turn belongs to the state-owned Rostec holding. The plant is primarily engaged in the production of Su-35S multirole aircraft (NATO reporting name: Flanker-E) and Su-57 multirole aircraft (NATO reporting name: Fencer).
Su-57 final assembly / Photo: UAC
According to findings by Ukrainian OSINT analysts from the KiberBoroshno Telegram channel, available video footage and eyewitness accounts indicate that the fire broke out in Workshop No. 46, which specializes in the production of matrix-based components (polymer composite matrix, e.g. resin) and reinforcement materials (glass and carbon fibers) for the Su-57: around 300 components in total, including about 100 large-scale parts such as aileron panels, flaperons, flooring sections, wing covers, and the like. The production process is predominantly manual, with certain partially automated elements enabled by modern equipment, which makes the workshop critically dependent on skilled personnel and the integrity of its infrastructure. These materials are characterized by high strength, low weight, and corrosion resistance.
Workshop No. 46 is an essential link in the serial production of the Su-57. The extent of the damage and the exact cause remain unknown, as does whether there were any casualties, due to the lack of official information (there have been no statements from the manufacturer or the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and Russian media have remained silent). Damage to or destruction of the workshop would directly halt or significantly slow the assembly of Su-57 airframes, while cooperation with ONPP Tekhnologiya would only be able to offset this partially and with considerable delay.
In Komsomolsk-on-Amur (Khabarovsk Krai), a workshop at the Gagarin Aviation Plant (KnAAZ, "Sukhoi") is on fire.
Preliminarily, one of the workshops, which specializes in auxiliary units, without which mass production could be halted, is on fire.
Let's hope the fire won't get… pic.twitter.com/7cuSz83qxF
— Exilenova+ (@Exilenova_plus) April 11, 2026
Recently, on February 9 this year, the plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur delivered the first batch of Su-57s this year to the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS), in a version with modified onboard equipment and weapons. In turn, at the beginning of April, additional higher-quality photographs of the first two Su-57s in Algeria emerged.
So far, Russia has received about 30–35 Su-57s out of 76 ordered in 2019 for 160–170 billion RUB, with deliveries scheduled through 2028 – including prototypes (on June 9, 2024, two aircraft may have been damaged in a Ukrainian attack on the airfield of the Akhtubinsk test center; one crashed on December 24, 2019).
Even before the fire, the scale of serial Su-57 production was low not only in comparison with foreign designs, but also in the context of the timetable imposed by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Saturday’s fire may only make it even more difficult for UAC to fulfill the contract.
UPDATE
On the aforementioned OSINT Telegram channel Exilenova+, a satellite image of the plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur was published, showing the scale of the fire. The fire burned through the roof of Workshop No. 46 in its central section.
Photo: Exilenova+ via Telegram