Su-35 — Hunter of the New Century: How the Fighter Became the Most Effective in Combat

The Russian generation "4++" Su-35 fighter has become the most effective aircraft of the last decades. The fighter has shot down more aerial targets than any other machine created after the Cold War.

The Main Striker of the Sky

The Su-35 is a deep modernization of the legendary Su-27. The project began in the 1980s, but the fighter went into series production only in the 2000s, when the Sukhoi Design Bureau added the latest avionics and engines with thrust vectoring to the old ideas.

The onboard radar station (RLS) "Irbis" sees the enemy at a distance of up to 350 km and can track 30 targets at once, simultaneously attacking eight of them. And the new optical-location station "sees" the enemy even without turning on the radar.

Survived Under Fire

The aircraft has repeatedly demonstrated phenomenal survivability in combat conditions. In January 2025, footage went viral on the Web of how the Su-35S returned to base after being hit by an anti-aircraft missile. Technicians counted 28 holes, but the machine still remained in service.

Main characteristics of the Su-35C:

Maximum take-off weight — 34 500 kg

Maximum payload weight — 8 000 kg

Practical ceiling — 18 000 m

Number of suspension points — 12 with the possibility of placing 14 air-to-air missiles

Experience — Contribution to the Future

The combat experience of the Su-35 has become the basis for modernizing the line of Russian fighters. Alexander Pekarsh, head of the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant, noted that now issues that used to take years to resolve are eliminated in weeks.

He noted that the Su-35S, in terms of its overall characteristics, is the best aircraft in its class, and new versions of the Su-57 and elements for the MS-21 and SJ-100 civilian aircraft are being created on its basis, where similar avionics and control systems technologies are used.

For Export and into Series Production

In 2025, Rostec handed over another batch of Su-35S to the Ministry of Defense. Interest in the fighter has also grown abroad — it is being considered by several countries in Asia and the Middle East.

Earlier www1.ru reported that an unusual and cheap weapon was found against drones.