Free Republic

The Sukhoi Su-35S supermaneuverable multirole fighter in service with the Russian Air Force is optimized for air-to-air combat but is quite useless as a ground attack aircraft as proven by its combat experience in Syria. Russian state-controlled media reports the air force as being "more or less satisfied with the Su-35S" and its performance in Syria. The "less" in this case is the result of the failure of the fighter's PESA (Passive Electronically Scanned Array) radar to accurately and consistently locate and guide bombs onto their targets. "Since the aircraft was employed for ground strike missions -- more with smart...

MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. Russia’s newest Sukhoi Su-35S fighters, redeployed to Syria, will be flight-tested in real combat conditions and make a contribution to destroying terrorist targets on the ground, the former chief of the Lipetsk air pilots training center, Major-General Alexander Kharchevsky, has said. He believes that the Sukhoi Su-35S planes, just as the Sukhoi Su-30SM, dispatched to Syria earlier, "are equally effective in attacking air and surface targets." "In particular, Sukhoi-35 will be able to use its high maneuverability (in fact, unparalleled at the moment) in dog fight and effectively attack targets on the surface," Kharchevsky told TASS....