Combat aircraft

T

HE IRKUTSK-MADE Su-30

family started with the

Su‑30MKI for India and is now

in service as the Su‑30SM in

Russia. These are ultimately

far more advanced aircraft

than the Komsomolsk variants due to

their electronically scanned array radar

and vectored‑thrust engines.

Under a series of contracts, started

in March 2012, the Russian Ministry

of Defence has ordered 116 Su‑30SM

(NATO codename ‘Flanker‑H’) fighters —

88 for the VKS and 28 for Naval Aviation.

In November 2017, Russia announced

that it had accepted the 100th Su‑30SM

at the Irkutsk plant — it is destined for

the unit stationed at Kursk.

The VKS Su‑30SMs based at Domna,

Millerovo and Kursk have almost

completely replaced the preceding

MiG‑29s. The naval examples

are replacing Su‑24s at Saki and

Chernyakhovsk. With the carrier‑based

aviation regiment at Severomorsk‑3,

several Su‑30SMs additionally serve as

lead‑in trainers for Su‑33 pilots.

When all current aircraft on order are

delivered, the Su‑30SM will become the

most numerous modern fighter aircraft in

Russian service. It is a surprising reversal

for a type that originated for export and

The Su-30SM has

earned itself a

strong foothold in

Russian service,

with both the

Aerospace Forces

and the Navy.

REPORT Piotr Butowski

Some pristine

Russian hardware

on show at

an ‘Aviadarts’

exercise. This

Su-30SM carries

twin B-8 pods for

80mm rockets

under each wing.

Dmitriy Pichugin

A DOMESTIC

SUCCESS

FORCE REPORT // RUSSIAN FIGHTERS

90 April 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net

90-92 Russian Fighter pt2 Su-30SM C.indd 90 15/02/2018 12:49