On April 3, ukrainian troops released multiple videos and photographs attesting to the shooting down of a Russian fighter jet in the Iyyum region of Kharkiv Oblast, and that the pilot, although he had escaped by ejection, had been captured by the Ukrainian army after landing on the ground. It was previously rumored that this was a Su-34 fighter, but from the wreckage of the wing, cockpit, radar fairing and other features, it can basically be judged that this is a Su-35S fighter. On March 20, the Russian army for the first time released the Su-35 operations in Ukraine, the video showed the Su-35 flying at night, and the use of precision missiles to destroy the Ukrainian air defense positions, but after less than two weeks, the Su-35 broke into the sand, which is really sad.
The Su-35S fighter is the second only existence in the Russian Air and Space Force after the Su-57, it is a multi-role single-seat fighter deeply improved on the basis of the Su-27, and its positioning is similar to that of the J-16, also known as the ultimate flanker. The Su-35 has a range of more than 3,500 kilometers, and as many as 12 hanging points can carry about 8 tons of various weapons, which can be used for air supremacy and can also be used for ground attacks and anti-ship operations. In addition to the aerodynamic layout optimization, the Su-35 was also equipped with a 117S vector thrust engine, which makes its maneuverability unparalleled in the fourth and a half generations of fighters, comparable to the F22.
In the Russian fighter's worst avionics system, the Su-35 has also been maximally improved, using a fully glass visible cockpit with a new generation of flight control systems, so that pilots can easily complete the attack on the target when driving the aircraft. The Snow Leopard E passive phased array radar equipped with the Su-35 is said to have a detection distance of more than 350 kilometers for targets with an area of more than 3 square meters of RCS, and even for targets with an RCS area of less than 0.1 square meters, it can also be found at a distance of 90 kilometers, and the comprehensive performance is not inferior to the active phased array radar of China and the United States.
In addition to the radar, the Su-35 also has a killer skill, that is, its OLS-35 infrared search and tracking system, which is usually used to track the hot infrared signal of the aircraft, and the distance of its detection of the tail flame of the aircraft can reach 90 kilometers, that is to say, in the case of maintaining radar silence, it can still quietly approach the opponent, so even if the stealth ability is slightly weaker, it can still seize the opportunity to fight with the fifth-generation aircraft. In September 2018, the Su-35 used the OLS-35 system in the Syrian airspace to lock in the F22 of the US military from the perspective of God, and it became famous for a while, and then ushered in an export hot sale.
As the subweight fighter of the Russian army, the Su-35 was shot down on the battlefield in Ukraine, which caused speculation from all sides, but either speculation was obviously unfavorable to the Russian army. Judging from the weapons used by the Ukrainian army, there are nothing more than two kinds, the first is the stinger, starlight and other individual air defense missiles, if so, then it means that the Russian army's precision guidance weapons are indeed a bit consumed, the inventory is not much, and even the top fighters such as the Su 35 can only throw low-altitude iron bombs. If we analyze it at a deeper level, the current adjustment of the Russian military's strength may really be a lack of follow-up and a last resort.
▲Previously, the Su-34 was also shot down by the Ukrainian army because of the low-altitude throwing iron bomb
The reason why the Ukrainian army can use Western individual air defense missiles to continuously carry out sneak attacks has a lot to do with the fact that the Russian army has not completely cut off the channel of foreign aid in Ukraine. In order not to have a direct conflict with NATO, their military operations are mainly concentrated in the east, while there are no large-scale air raids and special forces sabotage on large cities and road passages such as Lviv in the west, which has led to a steady stream of Weapons aided by the West into Ukraine. The Russians were capable of paralysing traffic in western Ukraine early in the war, but they underestimated Ukraine's resistance and NATO's assistance, a fatal strategic and tactical mistake that would come at a heavy price.
▲ Starlight individual air defense missiles, with high range and high speed, pose a serious threat to the low-altitude Russian Air force fighters
If it is a large medium- and long-range air defense missile like the S300, things are even worse. The Russian military has repeatedly revealed to the outside world that it has destroyed more than 200 Sets of Ukrainian air defense systems and obtained air supremacy over all of Ukraine. However, until now, the Russian Air force and the army and aviation units still lose almost every day. It shows that the results of the Russian army are also watery, and the Ukrainian army is likely to still have a lot of air defense equipment, and it is fighting air defense guerrilla warfare in the movement. The Russian army not only failed to completely destroy the Ukrainian air defense force, but also could not implement effective electronic suppression on the battlefield, so that the Ukrainian army is still organizing a large-scale counterattack, which fully exposes that the Russian army has not been different from Ukraine in terms of equipment, and can only rely on numerical superiority to win.
Now the Russian army is still facing an urgent problem, that is, the disposal of the wreckage of the Su-35. After the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, the United States obtained a number of Su-27s and MiG-29s from the former Warsaw Pact countries for air force confrontation training, so that in many wars after the end of the Cold War, Soviet and Russian fighters were defeated. Su 35 as the Russian military's second strong fighter, after the shooting, although the wreckage is shattered, but the catapult seat, radar, engine are basically intact, if the Ukrainian side will transport the wreckage to the United States and Europe, after research will inevitably be able to get the details of the Su 35 fighter, develop targeted tactics, once the future and Russia face to face, the Su 35 will inevitably suffer losses. If the Russian army can make a decision on the spot, the most important thing to do now is to send troops to recover the wreckage of the Su-35 or use bombers to blow up the wreckage, otherwise the loss will be far from a Su-35.
▲ Su 35 wreckage and captured pilot