What's especially funny about seeing the new Sukhoi SU-75 (NATO sign: Checkmate) jet fighter being modded into games like Ace Combat is this. It's a fair bet to say most gamers first heard of this plane's existence not by Russian state media but by showing up in their favorite games.
Now comes its time to shine in perhaps the largest open-world game of them all, Grand Theft Auto Online. As user-added game models go, the Checkmate's looks very nice indeed. It does a nice job of fitting in with the absurdist aesthetic of the GTA universe while remaining faithful to photographs we've seen from official Russian sources.
The user taking this jet up for a test is SkylineGTRR34Freak, the same YouTuber who tested the in-game model of the Tu-144 supersonic airliner. In the middle of the game map, he takes off in the Checkmate from Fort Zancudo Air Base and spawns in a sizeable fleet of American warships as target practice.
The jet bobs and weaves through the formation of ships. It shows off its impressive array of short and long-range missiles and devastating cannon fire. However, the twin cannon arrangement is likely not the same as what comes standard in real life. Militaries the world over transitioned to singular Gattling guns in their fighters many decades ago.
The sight of the Su-75 duking it out with American Navy forces must be something Vladimir Putin could be caught salivating over. As he takes breaks from being a pain in the neck to all his Eastern European neighbors. Less so when the pilot bins it and crashes into the ocean.
Compared to the American F-35 Lightning the Checkmate was designed to compete with, we can only estimate the bill is far less than the $1 Trillion that the program cost the American taxpayer so far, at least at this juncture. Maybe it's best we all just try to live in peace and bond over some kick-ass video games.
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