ZEEPER FOLLIES PINGLIST!(((PING!)))
Posted on 09/05/2024 6:34:22 PM PDT by Alter Kaker
Su-35: Russia’s High-Tech Fighter Struggles in Ukraine Conflict
The Su-35 “Flanker-E” was Russia’s attempt to keep pace with their American and Chinese great power rivals. On paper, it’s a powerhouse. In practice, the Su-35 has had a mixed record. This is not because the Russians are incapable of building competitive warplanes.
They’ve got those.
It is more likely because the Su-35 is a Russian warbird that incorporates many Western military components, making the production of these birds difficult as well as the fact the Russians have had to use the Su-35 in ways the plane was not designed to be used. The Su-35 Explained
Here's what we know: the Su-35 is a fourth-generation aircraft. What that means is that it is basically a hybrid between the fourth-generation birds that have existed since the 1970s and the newer, fifth-generation warplanes. This plane is equipped with a state-of-the-art avionics package, it has stealthier capabilities than most fourth-generation warplanes. It can carry a robust suite of weapons into battle. The Su-35 is fast and has a decent range.
Su-35
Moscow envisioned using the bird as a long-range combat platform. In the age of advanced anti-aircraft capabilities, Russia’s military wanted a platform that could launch over-the-horizon strikes on distant enemy targets. But war is the ultimate test. The Ukrainians have innovated tactics to deploy against the Russians, degrading Russia’s obvious advantages in the air war. Phased Away Tracking Radar to Intercept Target (PATRIOT) missile batteries and other anti-aircraft systems have been brought to bear in ways that have forced the Russians to deploy the Su-35 in lower-altitude, closer-range ways. The Enemy Gets a Vote
Of course, the Russians are not the only country that has had to adapt to a dynamic combat environment. For example, in the Second World War, despite being designed to fly at higher altitudes, American and British bombers over Europe were made to fly lower and slower to ensure the accuracy of their bombs. While that was eighty years ago and technology has certainly evolved since those gruesome days of world war, the logic of war remains the same as it always has.
That logic is simple: the enemy always gets a vote.
Therefore, Ukraine has managed to negate the inherent strengths of the Su-35 as an “over-the-horizon” warplane. That doesn’t mean the Su-35 is a slouch. It just means it cannot—and has not—operate to its fullest capabilities because the kind of war it is fighting is fundamentally different from the kind of war it was designed to fight.
Even the manufacturer of the Flanker-E, Komsomolsk-on-Amur has stated that the warplane is not performing as advertised in Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. The Ukrainians have downed multiple variants of this airplane, and they don’t appear to be abating in their aims to destroy these aircraft.
Su-35
What’s more, Russia needs to have air support flying in at closer ranges and lower altitudes, meaning that the Su-35 will never perform optimally. The Su-35 in Perspective
Still, the Russians have many other warplanes at their disposal, and they’ve been able to handle their own against the innovative Ukrainians in combat. Sure, the Ukrainian military has surged into Russia, taking a 621-mile area, but the Ukrainian forces are spread thin.
The Russians, recovering from the initial shock of the Ukrainian offensive, are likely readying a massive counterattack. Whether the Russian counterattack deploys the Su-35 or not remains to be seen.
No plan survives first contact with the enemy.
ZEEPER FOLLIES PINGLIST!(((PING!)))
Now tell us about Russian Army shovels, eggs, and Putin’s cancers.
That sounds like a pretty reasonable presentation.
From the article: “The Russians, recovering from the initial shock of the Ukrainian offensive, are likely readying a massive counterattack.”
Peace talks, anyone?
Not when this proxy war is continuously filling the coffers of the MIC and corrupt oligarchs.
Who knew?
Both sides need to get their acts together and come up with a cease fire agreement.
Putin seems to offering the same agreement that Zelensky was about to sign two years ago which is probably better than expected under the circumstances.
The Russians, recovering from the initial shock of the Ukrainian offensive, are likely readying a massive counterattack.
************************************************************
To all you Rooskie Lovers, brainless Putin should be more worried about 600,000 square miles of Russian Territory than the 600 square miles the Ukrainians have taken from them.
Thanks to this stupid war Putin started, the Rooskies don’t have a ground army that can hold off millions of Chinese that are salivating over eastern Russia. And the Chinese have more nukes than the Rooskies do and they are more likely to work when they push the button.
I’m not a Rooskie lover...
The Ghost of Kyiv is back, it’s making RF planes crash.
If Russia is still bombing innocent civilians with kinetic missiles, then Russia is obviously not interested in Peace
Russian airplanes have traditionally been ugly. The SU-35, however, is in my eyes a gorgeous airplane that is sleek and has nice lines. That it is not performing well in an environment for which it was not intended is not a shock.
“For example, in the Second World War, despite being designed to fly at higher altitudes, American and British bombers over Europe were made to fly lower and slower to ensure the accuracy of their bombs.”
If their function was to drop bombs but they were accurate only at low altitudes, not high, then weren’t they designed to fly at low altitudes?
WIKI
The Su-35 has reportedly faired poorly in a number of simulated combat engagements with indigenous Chinese ‘4+ generation’ fighters, including the J-10C which is approximately half its size. The J-10C’s much lower radar visibility allowing it to detect and fire on its target first, as well as its lower radar signature and significantly more advanced sensors and weaponry for both visual and beyond-visual range engagements, were cited by experts as leading factors which disadvantaged the Su-35. With the Su-35’s primary air-to-air armament of R-77-1 and R-73/74 missiles considered out of date compared to the respective Chinese PL-15 and PL-10, this was a further factor limiting the Russian-built fighter’s combat potential.
The Su-35 employs the N035 Irbis-E (”Snow Leopard”) passive electronically scanned array (PESA) radar, which is a further development of the N011M radar that had been evaluated on Su-27M test-beds and constitutes the core of the Su-35’s weapons-control system. It is capable of detecting an aerial target up to 400 km (250 mi; 220 nmi) away, and can track thirty airborne targets and engage eight of them simultaneously; in addition, the multi-function radar is capable of providing high-resolution images of the ground using synthetic aperture mode. The aircraft is equipped with an OLS-35 optoelectronic targeting system ahead of the cockpit to provide other forms of tracking including infra-red search and track. For defences against enemy tracking, the Su-35 is equipped with the L175M Khibiny-M electronic countermeasure system, while engineers have applied radar-absorbent materials to the engine inlets and front stages of the engine compressor to halve the Su-35’s frontal radar cross-section and minimise the detection range of enemy radars. The radar cross section of the Su-35 is reportedly 1 to 3 square meters. The multi-role Su-35 can deploy air-to-air missiles of up to 300-kilometre (190 mi) range, and can carry the heavy Oniks anti-ship cruise missile, as well as a multitude of air-to-ground weaponry.
Number built Su-27M: 12
Su-35S: >151
Developed from Sukhoi Su-27
Variants Sukhoi Su-37
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Su-35
By Russian standards, those are small build numbers. The Russians probably think the plane has major limitations.
All Russian build numbers are small these days. Russian manufacturing is a shadow of its former self.
“Putin seems to offering the same agreement that Zelensky was about to sign two years ago which is probably better than expected under the circumstances.”
You mean, “the agreement Zelenski SIGNED” two years ago and then ignored after Boris Johnson showed up with a bag a cash?
Good point. While Russia is pre occupied in the west, China could easily take over Russia’s far east. They have one hell of an air base in Eastern Afghanistan thanks to Joe and Kamala.
Russian manufacturing is a shadow of its former self....
Because all their captured German engineers have died off.
Horses**t
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
