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Russian Defense Ministry receives last three Su-35S fighters under 5-year contract

The Su-35S is designated to strike air, ground and naval targets and infrastructural facilities shielded by air defense systems and located at a considerable distance from home airfields

MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry said it had received the last three Su-35S fighter jets (NATO reporting name: Flanker-E+) as part of the five-year contract for 50 such aircraft.

"Specialists of the 485th military office of the Russian Defense Ministry accepted three Su-35S multirole fighter jets of the 4++ generation. The planes have been redeployed from the plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur [in Russia’s Far East] to permanent bases of the Russian Aerospace Forces," the ministry said.

The ministry said the delivery completes the five-year contract, under which the Russian Aerospace Forces were to receive 50 Su-35S fighter jets in total.

Two fighter jets will be on duty at the Defense Ministry’s training and trials center in the Central Russian city of Lipetsk. The third one will continue its service at an air force regiment in Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

The Su-35S is a heavily upgraded generation 4++ super-maneuverable multipurpose fighter jet developed on the basis of fifth-generation technologies. The Su-35S is distinguished by its new avionics suite based on an information control system, a new radar and plasma ignition engines of the increased capacity and thrust vectoring. These engines meet the requirements for the powerplant of fifth-generation fighters as they allow developing supersonic speed without using an afterburner.

The Su-35S is designated to strike air, ground and naval targets and infrastructural facilities shielded by air defense systems and located at a considerable distance from home airfields.

The Su-35S supersonic fighter jet performed its debut flight on February 19, 2008. The fighter jet is a derivative of the Su-27 plane. The Su-35S weighs 19 tonnes, has a service ceiling of 20,000 meters, can develop a maximum speed of 2,500 km/h and has a crew of one pilot. The fighter jet’s armament includes a 30mm aircraft gun, up to 8 tonnes of the weapon payload (missiles and bombs of various types) on 12 underwing hardpoints. The Su-35S has been in service with the Russian Army since 2015.

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