Russia has redeployed most of its fifth-generation Su-57 fighters to the Dzyomgi air base in Khabarovsk Krai, approximately 280 kilometers from the border with Manchuria. Military expert Peter Suchiu drew attention to this in an article for The National Interest, \"Why Did Russia Deploy the Su-57 Near the Chinese Border?\".
Suchiu referred to satellite images published on social media by OSINT (Open source intelligence, OSINT - intelligence from open sources) analyst AviVector. According to the foreign specialist, the air base in the Far East hosted 15 Su-57s, 18 Su-35S aircraft, 3 MiG-31BM aircraft, and 2 Mi-8 helicopters. This was the first time such a large number of Su-57 fighters had been placed in the open air, he noted.
It is believed that the Kremlin operates between 20 and 25 Su-57s. This indicates that more than three quarters of the entire fifth-generation fighter fleet is now located at the Dzyomgi air base.
Su-57 deployment - a warning to China and Japan?
The expert called it \"unlikely\" that the Su-57s were redeployed to the Dzyomgi air base to intimidate China, whose authorities, as some media outlets write, would like to obtain the Far East.
It was hardly part of efforts to deter Japan, although it is considered a country unfriendly to Russia.
Suchiu found another explanation for this. He recalled that the Dzyomgi air base serves the Russian Ministry of Defence and the Gagarin Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant (KnAAZ, which produces the Su-57).
It is unlikely that these aircraft are from the latest batch assembled at the plant. But they may be in the Far East for modernization or testing.
Farther from saboteurs
Suchiu did not rule out that sending the Su-57s to the Far East is connected with Russia's desire to protect its valuable asset. It would be difficult for potential saboteurs to reach Dzyomgi in order to destroy the aircraft. In addition, the air base is protected by an air defense system that could minimize a potential strike, he concluded.
Read more materials on the topic:
- An American satellite from Vantor recorded a record concentration of Su-57s at the Dzyomgi air base
- The end of Patriot invulnerability: the Kh-58UShKE missile on the Su-57 has learned to \"hunt\" radars
- Su-57 versus F-35: disputes flared up in India over the purchase of fifth-generation fighters
