Rostec and the Russian Defense Ministry have discussed the outlook for the deliveries of the Checkmate single-engine fifth-generation fighter jet to the armed forces, Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov told reporters at the Dubai Airshow.

"They wanted to have some, of course. We recently discussed with the minister [of defense] that they need to come up with mission requirements stating what configuration they are looking for in the jet,’’ he said. ‘’The configuration that we have made now was funded by us and the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry.’’ 

Russia’s Defense Ministry has the option of getting the plane as an unmanned aerial vehicle. Checkmate ‘’may be converted into a UAV,’’ he said. ‘’There’s great interest in UAVs at the moment.’’