According to reports from Iran News TV and " Tehran Times ", Iran will soon obtain a batch of 24 Su-35 fighter jets from Russia. This batch of fighter jets will be deployed at the 8th Air Force Base in Isfahan. It is expected that Iranian pilots will go to Russia early next year for training before receiving fighter aircraft.
After Iran acquires 24 Su-35 fighter jets, it will greatly enhance the combat capabilities of the Iranian Air Force . The Su-35 is a deeply improved version of the Su-27. It successfully made its first flight in February 2008 and entered service with the Russian Aerospace Forces in 2015. This aircraft has many highlights. The product 117S turbofan engine with thrust vector nozzles gives the Su-35 extremely excellent super maneuverability. Equipped with the "Snow Leopard" E passive phased array radar with a maximum head-on detection range of 400 kilometers, the Su-35 situational awareness capability will be further enhanced.
Compared with improved fourth-generation fighters such as China's J-10C, the Russian avionics system of the Su-35 has lagged far behind. For example, the passive "Snow Leopard" E is better than the J-10 C's active phased array radar is weaker. In addition, aviation weapons and ammunition such as R-73 and R-77 missiles are also much weaker than the PL-10 and PL12/15 equipped with the J-10C. However, these flaws of the Su-35 are nothing to the Iranian Air Force. Even if the Su-35 has such weaknesses, it can bring great improvement to the Iranian Air Force.
The reason why Russia was able to deliver the entire Su-35 fleet to Iran very quickly is because these fighters were originally produced by Russia for Egypt . Later, due to the shameless intervention of the United States, and Egypt’s feeling that the performance of the Su-35 was not very good and did not meet the technical requirements of fourth-generation+ fighter jets, it abandoned the contract.
These Su-35SEs that have been produced but cannot be delivered are parked in the Sukhoi factory in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, exposed to the weather for some time. Some media discovered from satellite photos that there are at least 23 Su-35 fighter jets that have been produced at the Sukhoi factory in Komsomolsk.
For several years, Russia has been looking for buyers for this batch of Su-35 fighters that have been produced. It just so happens that Iran is still in urgent need of heavy fighter . Coupled with the pleasant cooperation between Russia and Iran in the field of drones, the two sides hit it off immediately, and the Su-35 business was completed.
In January 2022, Iran and Russia reached an arms purchase agreement totaling more than 3 billion US dollars. The basket of arms trade agreement between Russia and Iran also includes the sale to Iran of two S-400 surface-to-air missile regiments and a military reconnaissance satellite.
With the exception of several Russian MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets purchased in the 1990s, Iran has not purchased any new fighter jets in recent years.
The Iranian Air Force currently has a total of 348 fighter jets. The most capable fighter jets are mainly the US-made F-14 Panda. These F-14 fighter jets have been in service for more than 40 years, and only about 20 of them are capable of taking off for combat. There are about 30 American-made F-4 Phantoms. There are about 40 Russian-made MiG-29A aircraft. Russian-made Su-24, about 30 aircraft. There are about 68 Chinese-made J-7M foreign trade versions. The integrity rate of these aircraft is worrying and their combat performance is questionable. The Iranian Air Force is in urgent need of replacement of new fighter jets.
General Hamid Vahdi, commander of the Iranian Air Force, said in an interview that the Iranian Air Force would not consider purchasing Russian-made Su-30SM fighter jets and would only choose to introduce Su-35 fighter jets. Iran took over these Su-35SE fighters that were originally ordered by Egypt, mainly because once the contract with Russia is finalized, Iran can immediately obtain the Su-35, and Russia can deliver it soon, so that Iran can serve the fourth-generation++ fighter jets in the shortest possible time.
The Iranian Air Force’s active fighter aircraft are very old, and their performance obviously lags behind that of neighboring countries. In fact, the Su-35 fighter jet is more suitable for Iran, which has not touched the world's advanced aviation technology for 40 years. It is like a very hungry person who is rescued. He cannot eat or drink much at first, or he will starve to death, so he can only drink some porridge first. Although the Su-35's avionics and weapons are somewhat backward, its flight performance is still very good.
After Iran selected the Su-35, many people became pessimistic about the export prospects of the domestically produced J-10 series fighters. They believed that after the Iranian Air Force selected the Russian-made Su-35 fighter jets, there would be no possibility for the domestically produced J-10 series fighters to enter the Iranian Air Force. In fact, the J-10C fighter has considerable advantages in avionics systems, airborne weapons and scalability. Whether it is mid-range air combat, air superiority interception, ground/sea strikes, or even electronic warfare , the J-10C, which has long been reborn, can easily handle it. In addition to its slightly shorter range, the overall combat performance of the J-10C exceeds that of the Su-35.
It should be pointed out that, as the saying goes, "The aroma of wine is not afraid of the depth of the alley." Excellent avionics systems and powerful airborne ammunition mean that the domestic J-10 series fighters, mainly J-10C, can also carve a way out in the fiercely competitive international arms sales market. There is still a chance for everything, let’s wait and see!
