In 2011 - 2015, up to three regiments equipped with super-maneuverable multifunctional Su-35 fighters will be formed in the Russian Air Force, Colonel Vladimir Drik, an official spokesman for the press service and information of the Russian Ministry of Defense for the Air Force, said.
“Before the fifth generation fighter enters the Air Force, for the transition period from 2011 to 2015, it is planned to form two or three regiments of Su-35 fighters, which are fighters of the“4 ++”generation,” said Drik, Interfax reports.
The Su-35 is a deeply modernized super-maneuverable multifunctional fighter. It uses fifth-generation technologies that provide superiority over fighters of a similar class, he said.
According to the Sukhoi company, the distinctive features of the Su-35 are a new avionics complex based on a digital information and control system that integrates onboard equipment systems. A new radar station (radar) with a phased antenna array with a long detection range for air targets and an increased number of simultaneously tracked and fired targets is also installed on the aircraft (tracking 30 and attacking eight air targets, as well as tracking four and attacking two ground targets). The aircraft has new engines with increased thrust and rotary thrust vector.
The multifunctional Su-35 fighter is distinguished by a wide range of long, medium and short-range weapons. It is capable of carrying anti-radar, anti-ship, general purpose, guided aerial bombs (KAB), as well as unguided ATS. The fighter's radar signature is reduced by several times compared to the fourth generation aircraft due to the electroconductive coating of the cockpit canopy, the application of radio-absorbing coatings and a reduced number of protruding sensors. The service life of the aircraft is 6 thousand flight hours, the service life is 30 years of operation, the assigned service life of engines with a controlled nozzle is 4 thousand hours.
"In total, in accordance with the already signed long-term contracts, the Air Force will have to receive about 130 combat aircraft," said Drick.
He specified that three state contracts have already been signed for the supply of the Russian Air Force with a total of about 70 new Sukhoi combat aircraft. Among them there are about 50 multifunctional super-maneuverable Su-35 fighters (delivery period - from 2010 to 2015), more than 10 modernized Su-27SM and about five two-seat multipurpose Su-30M2 fighters (delivery period - until the end of 2011).
Drick recalled that the Air Force has already received six new Su-34 multipurpose fighters, and now these aircraft are being operated at the Air Force's Lipetsk Aviation Center.
In the next few years, the Air Force plans to receive, in accordance with the contract, about 25 more such aircraft, the construction of which is in full swing at the NAPO plant in Novosibirsk, Drick said.
In addition, he said, in terms of providing the Air Force with armored subsonic attack aircraft, since 2009 it was decided to resume production of new Su-25SM aircraft in a two-seat version, called the Su-25UBM.
Recently, Drick noted, new aviation equipment has begun to actively enter the Air Force. A number of the newest machines are at the stage of joint state tests, he stressed.
