On January 15 the deputy head of the Iranian parliament’s Nationwide Safety and International Coverage Committee, Shahriar Heydari, confirmed that the primary Su-35 fighters could be delivered by the Iranian new yr in March 2024. This follows a press release by the Commander of the Air Power of the Islamic Republic of Iran Common Hamid Vahedi on September 4 that the service was contemplating acquisitions of Russian Su-35 fighter plane, and later reviews from American sources in December that Iranian pilots had already begun coaching in Russia to function the jets. Apart from the indigenous Kowsar light-weight jets – a closely enhanced spinoff of the Vietnam Warfare period F-5 which has been delivered in restricted numbers – the Su-35 will symbolize the primary fighter acquisition Iran has made for the reason that early Nineties. Though the potential for licence manufacturing of the Su-35 in Iran has been raised, it has been extensively speculated that the primary batch of two dozen plane have already been constructed – initially to satisfy Egyptian orders earlier than these have been cancelled by Cairo as a result of Western threats of financial sanctions. Ought to Iran transfer to undertake the Su-35 as its new major fighter, which might probably change a number of of its seventeen at present operational items of Chilly Warfare period jets, the likelihood might emerge of serious modifications to the plane for the nation’s defence wants.
Whereas the Su-35 was developed primarily as an air superiority fighter, very similar to its predecessor the Soviet Su-27 from which it’s derived, the plane can also be extremely succesful in strike, air defence suppression and anti delivery roles. In Iranian service, nevertheless, it’s the fighter’s capability to protect the nation’s airspace which is anticipated to be notably prized, with different belongings comparable to stealth drones and ballistic missiles already offering superior anti floor capabilities. In keeping with Iranian defence consultants, air defence roles for the Su-35 will embody not solely deploying the plane to fireplace on intruders, but in addition leveraging its superior sensors to function a pressure multiplier for present Iranian Air Power and Air Defence Power belongings by means of the availability of focusing on information. The Su-35’s Irbis-E radar is among the many largest on the planet built-in onto a fight plane, and has a reported 90km monitoring vary in opposition to stealth targets and 400km in opposition to bigger plane. It’s supplemented by two L-band AESA radars in its wing roots that are optimised for monitoring stealth plane. Though this triple radar suite, mixed with superior information hyperlinks, might make the Su-35 an optimum airborne early warning and management (AEW&C) plane, notably as Iran faces a rising menace from enemy stealth plane comparable to F-35 fighters and upcoming American B-21 bombers, the Russian jet’s single seat configuration is a notable shortcoming. With out a second seat, a single pilot will wrestle to concurrently fly a fighter and function on the centre of an info sharing community.
A secondary AEW&C function was a major motive why the Russian Su-30 collection of fighters and MiG-31 interceptors have been developed with twin seat configurations. The 2 have been initially conceptualised as each interceptors and airborne command posts though the previous developed significantly to satisfy different roles formed primarily by the wants of export purchasers. A single seat configuration additionally limits the Su-35’s choices for pilot coaching, as whereas in Russia pilots sometimes prepare on the Su-30 – usually the Su-30M2 variant – Iran lacks different plane with comparable twenty first century avionics or a remotely comparable flight efficiency. Buying the dual seat Su-30 solely for a coaching function would impose a major logistical and upkeep burden, nevertheless, because of the restricted commonality between the Su-30 and Su-35, as whereas Russia operates each in giant numbers fielding the 2 heavyweight courses in parallel could be impractical for the a lot smaller Iranian fleet. Ought to Iran proceed with giant orders for the Su-35 past an preliminary batch of two dozen airframes, one important chance is that Russia might put a twin seat Su-35 variant into manufacturing to satisfy Iranian necessities.
Other than the Su-57, for which a twin seat variant has reportedly already begun improvement for export functions, the Su-35 is the one Russian fighter class that comes solely in single seat configuration. A single twin seat coach airframe was notably constructed, the Su-35UB, though restricted funding meant that it by no means moved past a prototype stage and the airframe differed very significantly from the ultimate Su-35S manufacturing mannequin. The massive airframe of the Su-35 means a second seat might simply be accommodated with solely a small sacrifice to gasoline capability and vary, though it will nonetheless have by far the very best endurance fight jet in Iranian service. Whether or not a twin seater or different modifications of the Su-35 for Iranian necessities come to materialise stays to be seen, however the lack of different export orders due primarily to constant Western threats in opposition to potential purchasers signifies that Russia is more likely to search to maximise gross sales to Iran to maintain manufacturing strains open, even when it isn’t more likely to think about such modifications for its personal Su-35 orders. The spine Iranian Air Power shaped by F-4D/E and F-14A fighters acquired within the Nineteen Seventies notably all have twin engine configurations, with F-14s having steadily been used for AEW&C roles because of this, and though the Su-35’s much more fashionable avionics ease the burden on pilots significantly, Iran could effectively present a powerful choice for twin seaters to the extent that they could outnumber single seaters in future orders.
