MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. Crews of Su-35S fighter jets of Russia’s Aerospace Forces provided cover for aircraft in air strikes on Ukrainian troops and military hardware in the borderline Kursk area, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday.
"In accomplishing their combat missions, the crews of Su-35S multirole fighter jets practiced aerial cover for bombers and attack aircraft and army aviation helicopters in air strikes on Ukrainian armor and manpower in border areas of the Kursk Region," the ministry said in a statement.
One of the fighter jets uncovered enemy air defense sites by its weapons suite, the statement added.
Russian Aerospace Forces’ Su-35S fighter
The Su-35 (NATO reporting name: Flanker-E+) is a Russian generation 4++ multirole supermaneuverable fighter with a thrust-vectoring system codenamed as the Su-35S in Russia’s Aerospace Forces. The fighter has a maximum take-off weight of 34.5 tons and can accelerate to 2,500 km/h. The Su-35 has an operational range of 1,500-4,500 km and a service ceiling of 20,000 meters.
The Su-35 is capable of employing an entire range of existing and future air-launched air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, including precision weapons. It carries a 30mm GSh-30-1 gun, short-, medium-and long-range air-to-air missiles, Kh-31, Kh-35U or Kh-59M anti-ship missiles and various types of precision munitions and rockets as its basic armament. The fighter integrates the IUS-35 information and control system and a phased array radar capable of detecting targets at a range of 100 km-400 km.