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Crimea and Sevastopol

Updated at:

Two pilots eject from Su-30SM on runway in Crimea

Both alive, a military source told TASS

Su-30SM Sergey Bobulev/TASS, archive

Su-30SM

© Sergey Bobulev/TASS, archive

MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/. Two pilots ejected from a SU-30SM fighter jet when it was on the ground at the Saki military airfield in Crimea, both crew members are alive, a military source told TASS on Saturday.

"On Friday at 18.50, two pilots ejected from a Su-30SM at the Saki airfield in Crimea during preparations for takeoff. Both pilots are alive. The jet technician received burns," the source said.

The Su-30 (NATO reporting name Flanker-C) is a Russian multirole two-seat fighter aircraft, while the Su-30SM is its upgraded version, supplied to the Air Forces of Russia and some foreign countries.

From 2012 until May 2018, 84 Su-30SMs were supplied to the Russian Aerospace Forces (or the Air Force before 2015) and 20 fighters to the Russian Naval Aviation. The Su-30SM went into service with the Russian Armed Forces by a presidential decree of January 12, 2018.

The Su-30SM is a generation 4++ serial-produced and upgraded two-seat super-maneuverable fighter jet. The Su-30SM is furnished with two AL-31FP thrust-vectoring reheated double-flow turbofan engines. The fighter has an operating range of 1,500 km and a flight endurance of 3.5 hours without refueling.

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