IDN TAKE: SUKHOI Su-35: A True Airborne Winner

Here is a technical comparison of Su-35 with other fighters of its class. This is my personal opinion based on conclusions drawn from the detailed study of technical parameters of each aircraft. I will not go into a lot of details and will cover only some specific parameters.

Su-35, F-22, Eurofighter Typhoon and F-15 "Silent Eagles" are the best Air Superiority fighters in "active service" in the world at present. No other fighter overshadows them in any parameter of A-A combat and at the best equals them in a few minor areas. Therefore i will limit my discussion and comparisons, if any among these four aircrafts.

As far as Su -35 is concerned, its IRBIS PESA (and not AESA) radar is the most powerful radar to be ever incorporated in a fighter aircraft. It even dwarfs the AN/APG-77 radar (AESA) of F-22 in terms of long range detection, which stands at a whopping 400 kms for a area target having a radar cross-section (RCS) of 3m2. Compare this with F-22's ability to track and detect a similar sized target at a maximum range of 300 kms. However, I would still say the western fighters such as the eurofighter typhoon and F-22 have an edge over Su-35 in Beyond Visual Range (BVR) combat primarily because of better A-A BVR missiles in their inventory. Advanced long range air to air missiles such as the Meteor (Eurofighter Typhoon) with a range of 200+ kms and AIM-120 D AMRAAM (F-22) with a range of 180 kms, easily surpass their russian equivalents such as R-77 (a.k.a AA-12 adder) in terms of range (only 110 kms). This gives them the true "First look, First shoot" ability which is lethal in any BVR combat. The Su-35, on the other hand, will have to maneuver its way to within 110 kms of the enemy aircraft to achieve launch parameters for its R-77 missile. So as it can be clearly seen, in BVR combat, western fighters such as the F-22 or Typhoon have a clear edge over the Su-35.

However, it is worth noting that no radar is immune to jamming and counter-measures employed by the enemy aircraft. Not even the AN/APG of F-22 or CAPTRON-M/E of Typhoon or even RBE2 of Rafale. Though much of the capabilities of EW (electronic warfare) suite on board the Su-35 is not known. Hence it is difficult to predict how Su-35 will fare in jamming the enemy's radar. But if history is anything to go by, during operation desert storm in 1991, among all the Iraqi jets shot down by the allied aircraft, over 82% of the aircraft were identified and tracked not using the aircraft's radar but with the help of AWACS. This clearly shows that even the old Mig-21s of the Iraqi air force were able to jam and fool the radars of their much better opponents such as the F-15s and F-16s. Plus, in a war against a formidable opponent such as the Russia, the longevity of the western AWACS in an all out war will be much reduced owing to the fact that Russia has much more advanced Air Defense Systems and air to air missiles than Iraq had during operation desert storm. Also in an Air to Air combat over a contested airspace, fighter jets are likely to switch off their radars, as it will alert the enemy aircraft of their presence. So aerial combat against a competent opponent like Russia is altogether a different proposition. According to an article in a reputed Aviation website, the probabaility of kill (pK) of radar guided A-A missiles is just around 40%. On the other hand, the pK of IR guided missiles touches 74% !!

Having said that, fighters of two opposing countries will try to get within visual range (WVR) and try to achieve a kill using their IRST (infrared search and track) capabilities and missiles. It is interesting to note that, F-22, currently is devoid of any such device, which puts it at a clear disadvantage. On the other hand typhoon and rafale (not a air superiority fighter) have IRST capability. Among all the western fighters typhoon has the best IRST capability, giving it an impressive range of over 60 kms, which almost makes it BVR. Su-35 has IRST capabilities which give it a range of 80 kms. Now in terms of deploying IR missiles, without giving off your position away, Su-35 has a clear edge as it can have the "First look First shoot" capability with its better IRST device on board. Also its IR missiles, such as the R-27 (AA-10 alamo) have a better range (70-100 kms) than their western counterparts such as the AIM-9 sidewinder and ASRAAM. So if the Su-35 avoids detection initially and sneaks anywhere within 100 kms of the enemy aircraft, it has a huge advantage over either the F-22 or eurofighter typhoon. It is being said that, apart from having radar stealthy features, the F22 also employs significant IR reduction measures as well. However, It still remains to be seen whether the powerful IRST aboard the Su-35 can detect F-22 or not.

In dogfights, Su-35 should be able to defeat the Typhoon with not much difficulty as it has a lot of aerodynamic advantages over the typhoon which make it a deadly dogfighter. For example, the Su-35 has 3D thrust vectoring nozzles which give the pilot the ability to attain high angles of attack (AoA). Also at low speeds and low altitudes, there is no other fighter probably other than the F-22 which can compete with Su-35 in terms of maneuverability. It has a much better thrust-to-weight ratio than typhoon. Also the AL-41 F turbofan engine of the Su 35 generates more thrust than the EJ 2000 engines of the typhoon. This gives it the ability to regain the lost energy (Airspeed or Altitude) much more quickly than the typhoon. Both the aircrafts are equipped with HMCS (Helmet mounted cueing systems) which give them a high off bore-sight capability to launch IR missiles. Though F-35 and Typhoon are considered to be having the best helmet mounted display (which includes the HMCS) in the world. I am not sure though, how it will affect each aircraft's ability in shooting IR missiles at high off-boresight angles. Su-35 also has 30 mm canon as opposed to 27 mm of the Typhoon. In a nutshell, in dogfights I will give the edge to Su-35 over Typhoon.

F-22 is altogether a different animal. Though most of its performance parameters are still classified, it is said that it has the highest turn rates (both sustained and instantaneous) of any modern aircraft. Actual values are widely disputed. It also has thrust vectoring, HMCS, better wing loading than Su-35, and a high AoA capability. Deriving thrust from a powerful engine like PW F-119, it generates much more thrust than Su-35 and has a comparable thrust weight ratio of 1.09 (compared to 1.13 of Su-35). Due to a better aerodynamic performance and much more powerful engines, I will give an edge to F-22 over Su-35, though by not a huge margin.

Su-35 has all the ingredients (except stealth) to compete with the likes of F-22. One of the areas where Su-35 can improve compared to its western counterparts such as the typhoon, or maybe the F-22 is by further developing its IRBIS -E radar. This radar has a azimuth scan of only 120 degrees compared to 140 degrees of rafale and 200 degrees of typhoon. Having a higher azimuth angle gives the pilot the ability to scan a much larger area of the aerospace at any given point of time. The second is its BVR missiles. Russians still have to come up with a long range A-A missile which can compete with meteor or AIM-120 D. And thirdly, improved and much better engines than the current AL-41 F engines which will provide it with a true super cruising ability for much longer periods. This will help increasing the range of its A-A missiles by imparting more energy to them during launch.