The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has published a video of the combat work of Russian Su-30SM and Su-35 fighters. And then the pilot of the "thirty-fifth" named Klim told about the features of the use of this aircraft during a special military operation.
There are enough nuances here. The most important thing, perhaps, is that a fighter designed to gain air supremacy in this situation is mainly used to launch airstrikes against ground targets of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and nationalists. Despite dozens of sorties, Klim and his colleagues have never engaged in combat with Ukrainian pilots. The enemy, once on the radar of the Su-35, prefers to get away. The only case in Klim's memory that could turn into a real air battle occurred at the very beginning of the special operation.
"It was a night flight. Then a pair of Ukrainian Su-27s tried to resist our strike group," the pilot said. - Since we were in the air, we quickly found them and went for a rapprochement. We are approaching the maximum launch range, we take the Su-27 into capture. The radiation alert system is triggered. Perhaps the Ukrainian pilots were told from the ground that our range was effective, since we were traveling at supersonic. And the enemy immediately turned away."
About the current situation in the air, when Russian aviation completely dominates the sky, Klim said this: it is very rare to notice a Ukrainian military aircraft on your radar screen now. Indeed, as a result of targeted strikes on enemy military airfields and effective actions of our air defense means of combat aviation, the AFU has virtually no left. Therefore, the main task of the Russian Su-30SM and Su-35 fighters was to strike at the remnants of the Ukrainian air defense. In the operational area where Klim and his comrades work, the enemy hides several such complexes in village cowsheds and barns. They are being hunted.
The Su-35 goes on a combat mission with a standard set of weapons. On the sides - air-to-ground missiles to destroy air defense systems and complexes. There are also air-to-air missiles to combat enemy aircraft. The latter, as Kim has already said, are not actually used by Russian pilots during a special military operation.
Flights take place at various altitudes. Often in difficult weather conditions - after all, spring, the off-season. The Su-30SM multi-purpose fighters are coming first. Supermaneuverable Su-35s rise into the sky a little later. The "hunt" for enemy air defense systems begins. Sometimes you have to go down to a dangerous echelon. There is a chance to get hit by a rocket of a portable anti-aircraft complex. But our guys learned to bypass the same American "Stingers" even during a business trip in Syria - many fighters of this aviation regiment had their first combat sorties there.
"In the first days of the special operation, there was a large number of attacks on our group from the ground. On average, up to 4 surface-to-air missiles were fired at us in one flight," Klim recalls. - Over time, this efficiency decreases. Now it happens that they do not make any attempts to counteract at all. But we are all looking, analyzing. And we make a decision based on the current situation directly in the air."
According to the identified targets, the pilots work with high-precision weapons. But first, the object of attack is calculated by the radiation from the included air defense system. The air missile catches this signal quickly enough and determines the range to the target. After the capture, the start follows. "We've done it all more than once. But the pilot is required to make a decision directly in the air - fast, balanced and cold-blooded. Even if the enemy manages to turn off the means with which he irradiates, the rocket is "smart". She remembers the coordinates of the air defense complex, and he just doesn't have time to drive far," explained Klim.
He also mentioned the special flight rituals that our pilots adopted from the front-line soldiers. For example, before landing in the cockpit, the pilot will definitely stroke the fuselage with his hand, tell the fighter something good. It's like he's negotiating with the machine: we won't let each other down. This, in general, is the main prerequisite for the successful completion of a combat mission - serviceable equipment and professionalism of the pilot.
Help "RG"
The Su-35 fighter is designed to gain air supremacy. This is achieved by destroying the enemy's manned and unmanned aerial vehicles with guided, including high-precision air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles. They are affected at long, medium and short range. The aircraft is also capable of hitting surface and ground targets in any weather conditions, striking enemy infrastructure facilities covered by air defense and located at considerable distances from the home airfield.
Yuri Gavrilov
