On January 1 the Russian Defence Ministry reported that the nation’s air defences had shot down one of many Ukrainian Air Power’s extremely prized Su-27 Flanker air superiority fighters, that are thought of by far essentially the most succesful fight jets within the nation’s stock. “Air defences downed a Su-27 plane of the Ukrainian Air Power close to the Velikoalexandrovka settlement within the Dnepropetrovsk Area. Over the previous day, 16 HIMARS rockets and 6 Uragan rockets have been intercepted,” the ministry reported. It added that 46 Ukrainian drones have been destroyed the Kharkov, Lugansk, Donetsk and Kherson Areas. The lack of a Su-27 follows a number of experiences of great losses for Ukraine’s fleet of lighter MiG-29 fighters in October – with ten days of intensive air engagements from October 13-23 seeing Russian forces shoot down 17 of the plane. Whereas shootdowns of MiG-29s have been widespread, experiences of Su-27s taking part in fight in any capability have been few and much between significantly after the preliminary months of 2022 when the participated in a number of air battles with Russian fighters.
The Su-27 was developed as a a lot heavier and better finish counterpart to the MiG-29 which entered service two years later, and through the Soviet period was fielded solely by the USSR and China because of its elite standing. Thus whereas Ukraine has been in a position to obtain dozens of MiG-29s from throughout the previous Warsaw Pact, with former shoppers within the Chilly Warfare period now built-in into NATO and strongly backing Kiev’s struggle effort, the Su-27 in contrast shouldn’t be fielded by Western-aligned states, which mixed with its distinctive and much superior capabilities has made it a extremely prized asset. Though utilizing an out of date N001E mechanically scanned array radar and ageing avionics from the Eighties, its situational consciousness remains to be far superior each to the MiG-29 and to the F-16s set to be equipped by NATO member states later within the yr. Su-27s have additionally confirmed helpful as carriers for a spread of latest Western equipped cruise missiles such because the British Storm Shadow, which capitalises on the plane’s very excessive endurances. With the Su-27 overwhelmingly outmatched in all points of its air to air efficiency by trendy Russian fighter lessons, the flexibility to strike Russian floor targets utilizing such missiles has allowed the Soviet constructed jets to proceed to contribute to Ukrainian Air Power operations whereas minimising the chance of being engaged.
