Russia announces a $800mn order for 50 additional Su-35S fighter jets

The Russian Aerospace Force ordered 50 Sukhoi Su-35S (NATO reporting name: Flanker-E+) multirole fighters from Sukhoi (a United Aircraft Corporation subsidiary) in late December 2015, with its 2009 order for 48 Su-35s’s fulfilled, a UAC source told journalists on Wednesday. According to the source, the new order is valued at more than $788 million, but $1 billion seems to be more realistic, given a unit price of $20 million for the Russian Defense Ministry.

The Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant (KnAAZ, a Sukhoi affiliate) will make the planes. Thus, it will have had its hands full until 2020. In addition to this order, the period is to see the execution of China’s order for 24 Su-35S’s, and the signature of a contract with Indonesia for 12 aircraft of the type is due soon. According to the source, initially, the Su-35S program was expected to pay its way after 72 aircraft have been built. If the contract with Indonesia is signed, a total of 134 fighters of the type will have been delivered to the customers before 2020.

According to the source in UAC, the talks with Algeria on 12 Sukhoi Su-32 tactical bombers - an export variant of the Su-34 (Fullback) - have made good progress. This North African country may acquire up to 40 warplanes of the type.

Advanced Su-35S multirole fighters of an air regiment stationed in the Eastern Military District started flying in the air defense role in the Khabarovsk Territory in late December 2015. The Eastern Military District’s fighter air regiment garrisoned in the Primorsky Territory is slated to receive Su-35S’s in 2016.

The Su-35S is a heavily upgraded Generation 4++ supermaneuverable multirole fighter developed with the use of fifth-generation aircraft technologies. It features a sophisticated avionics suite based on a digital information management system, a cutting-edge radar with the long-range aerial target acquisition and increased multiple-target tracking/engagement capabilities, and enhanced-power swiveling-nozzle engines.