"Military And Military Sub-Plane" author: Lu Zhi
Recent military news about Russia has been a hot news in the military field. Recently, Russia announced the purchase of drones from Iran, and Iran also intends to purchase new Su-35 fighter jets from Russia. Then there is a problem, the Internet has been circulating that Iran is more inclined to purchase the mainland's J-10CE fighters. At this juncture, will the Su-35 be officially purchased by Iran? What are the advantages of the two over the Su-35?
▲Image source: Network
According to the US theater website, the first batch of drones used in Ukraine has arrived in Russia, which proves that the russian purchase of Iranian drones that was previously circulated on the Internet is settled. Moreover, at present, the number of drones purchased by Russia is relatively large, which can not only be used for reconnaissance and surveillance, but also can even be directly used for attacks. These drones from Iran will play a very important role and let Russia try what is called "modern warfare".
▲Image source: Network
Iran's strength in drones cannot be underestimated, after so many years of development, and there are a variety of technical sources, so Russia buys Iran's drone technology is no problem. In turn, Iran itself is also developing fighter jets, but the level of development is not comparable to That of Russia. Iran's current main fighters have been seriously aged, the most well-known is the F14A fighter jets that were purchased from the United States, but these fighters have almost no real combat effectiveness now. Iran also wanted to introduce weapons from other countries to replace the F14, including the MiG-31 fighter, and the mainland had also marketed the J-8II improved version of the fighter to Iran, but in the end it did not go on, and Iran could only continue to improve the old aircraft.
▲Image source: Network
Previously, there were rumors on the Internet that Iran was more inclined to buy the J-10CE, which was very reasonable. First of all, the J-10 CE is very low in the international price, which is said to be only about 50 million US dollars. Compared with the Su-35 and various European and American fighters of the same generation, its price is only half or even a fraction of other aircraft, but the combat effectiveness is not only a fraction of these aircraft, or even flat and surpassed. Second, the J-10CE is also an authentic multi-role fighter, the first emphasis is on the excellent air-to-air combat capabilities, but also has a very good ground attack capability. And there are rumors that the J-10CE currently purchased by Pakistan also has the ability to throw tactical nuclear weapons. The J-10CE is powerful in that the advanced radar avionics system plus the Same J-20 Perak 10 and Perak 15 missiles, although these two missiles are said to be exported downgraded versions, but still much more advanced than Similar Russian missiles.
Therefore, whether it is air or ground combat, the J-10CE is a very cost-effective aircraft. Third, the mainland has relatively few rules and regulations on the export of weapons, and it is more flexible in terms of payment methods and technology transfer, which is also a major reason why Pakistan chose the J-10CE fighter.
▲ Pakistan's biggest use in purchasing the J-10CE is to fight with India's Gust air battle, while taking into account medium- and long-range ground attacks. Image source: Network
But in the face of Iran, these truths are basically not very valid. First of all, speaking of technical levels, the J-10CE and Su-35 have their own advantages. The advantages of the Su-35 are several points, first of all, its passive phased array radar has a detection distance of more than 400 kilometers, which can be used as an interceptor, so it can seamlessly replace the F14 fighter currently used. Second, the Su-35 fighter has a large body space and sufficient internal oil, so the range and endurance time are better than the J-10CE, which is very suitable for patrol tasks. Third, the Su-35 also has the most important hidden advantage.
▲ The Su-35 fighter used by the mainland is said to be a good evaluation of radar by the troops. Image source: Network
These hidden advantages also have a few points. First, Iran has recently cooperated with Russia on drones, which is in the mire of war. So we can speculate based on some of the available information, that is, Russia may be planning to exchange fighter jets for drones. This is the second point, before Egypt had intended to buy Su-35 fighter jets, and it has been produced and ready to be delivered. But with U.S. intervention, Egypt had to terminate the deal, and the planes remained in Russia. Since these aircraft are not specifically produced for Iran, if Russia can reduce the price and hand it over to Iran in the form of aircraft for aircraft, then Iran will naturally accept some aircraft, or even buy the rest of the aircraft, and turn this batch of aircraft originally handed over to Egypt into its main fighter. It is said that egypt had ordered 24 aircraft at that time, and if these 24 were to be fully equipped with the Iranian air force, then there would be a country in the Middle East with a fairly strong air combat capability.
▲Image source: Network
But even so, Iran's purchase of the Su-35 in this way is not the best option. Needless to say, the most important thing is that in the stealth aircraft has gradually begun to become popular, buying a certain number of Su-35 fighters as an ace of the Air Force is not a wise operation. The best way is to be able to buy an advanced stealth fighter that matches the F35A, so from the current international situation, the only thing that can be purchased is the new export stealth fighter that the mainland will develop on the basis of the FC31 demonstrator, that is, a simplified version of the J-35 fighter. If Iran can buy the J-10CE fighter jet, plus the future purchase of continental stealth fighters, then the combination of the two is naturally seamless. At this time, the sudden insertion of such an aircraft as the Su-35 will more or less affect Iran's subsequent purchase of weapons. If the final decision is made to buy the Su-35, then it will be a good result for Iran to enter the Su-57 sooner or later.
▲Image source: Network