We Have Witnessed A Historic Event

• Ilya Vedmedenko
• 10.06.2025, 17:56

An older Western aircraft destroyed Russia's newest Generation 4+ fighter.

On the eve, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported the destruction of the Russian Su-35S fighter.

"On June 7, 2025, as a result of a successful operation of the Air Force in the Kursk direction, a Russian Su-35 fighter jet was shot down!" - the official statement said.

A real "bombshell" was a report by Western media, which attributed the victory to the 35th F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter, which Ukraine had previously received from allies.

As BILD reported, as part of a defense campaign in the Sumy region, the AFU Air Force deployed fighter jets to bomb Russian positions on Ukrainian territory as well as in neighboring Kursk.

In response, the Russian Air and Space Forces sent its newest fourth-generation Su-35 fighter into action. "The Russian pilot did not realize that he was flying into an ambush," the authors say.

Ukraine allegedly sent not only the F-16 into battle, but also a Swedish Saab 340 AEW&C long-range radar detection and control plane.

It detected the enemy plane 200-300 kilometers before the border and transmitted the coordinates to the F-16. Thanks to this, the fighter launched an AIM-120 missile, which shot down the Su-35. The Russian pilot managed to eject and survived (at least that's what the Russians say).

According to Canadian pilot Mark Brooks, the Swedish Saab 340 AEW&C became a real "gamechanger" because it allowed him to recognize the Russian plane hundreds of kilometers away and direct the missile in real time. "The Su-35 pilot didn't even know about the attack," he said.

Let's pause for a moment.

It may sound strange to many people in the post-Soviet space, but in the West, real-time interaction between fighter jets and radar/AWACS aircraft has long been the norm. Moreover, the full-fledged operation of NATO aviation almost automatically presupposes the presence of such aircraft.

That is why it is absolutely common that F-16s operate not alone, but in conjunction with long-range radar detection aircraft.

Another interesting thing is whether the Fighting Falcon could have shot down a modern Russian Generation 4+ fighter at all.

There is one thing that Ukrainian, Russian and Western analysts agree on - the Su-35S has an advantage over the F-16s that Ukraine received.

The Russian plane has greater speed, range, better survivability, and more modern avionics. It can carry weapons on 12 suspension nodes, while the F-16 can only carry them on 9 (which, by the way, is not insignificant).

The Su-35's advantage over the F-16AM (which is the version Ukraine apparently received) is not absolute. That is, the Su-35 is not superior to the F-16 "in times".

Most likely, the Russian aircraft is superior to the F-16 by 20-30%, if we are talking about combat qualities in general, and by about 30-40%, if we are talking about air combat at medium and long range.

For a real assessment of the Su-35's capabilities, one must abstract from Russian propaganda myths.

Whatever the Moscow media may praise their airplane, it is just another modification of the old Soviet Su-27, the prototype of which made its first flight in 1977. At the same time, the Su-35 is a new-built airplane (unlike the Su-27SM, which was made from old machines).

Simply put, the Su-35S is modern only in comparison to the old airplanes. It does not have stealth technology, nor does it have a huge no-forsake speed like the F-22 Raptor, nor advanced sensors like the F-35 Lightning II.

The Su-35 has two big advantages over older Western fighters:

The R-37M long-range air-to-air missiles;

The Irbis phased-array radar.

The R-37M long-range missile can hit air targets at a range of 200 kilometers (300, according to the Russians themselves). By comparison, the main American air-to-air missile AIM-120 AMRAAM has a range of up to 160 kilometers. And earlier versions, it barely reaches 100 kilometers.

As for the N035 Irbis radar station, it can detect targets at a range of 400 kilometers, according to the Russians. This is much more than the old Western radars, but it should be understood that such a range is achieved only in cases when it comes to large targets. The Irbis H035 "fighter" type target will be seen at best at a range of 100-200 kilometers.

But the Su-35 has weaknesses in which it loses even to old Western aircraft (and almost all of them).

It still does not have a suspended targeting container like the American AN/AAQ-28 Litening or Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod. It is thanks to them that the planes detect ground targets and point air-to-surface guided weapons at them.

Simply put, the Su-35 is almost "blind" when it comes to ground operations.

Probably, this is why the Russians are still building the frankly archaic Su-34 front-line bombers, which have a built-in Platan targeting system (which the Russians themselves are not very fond of due to poor image quality).

Once again, this does not mean that Ukrainian F-16s are "better." One must realize that these are old used planes that were previously used by the United States' European allies. And which will never become gamechanger weapons (no matter what the Western media say).

The F-16AM is a modernized version of the F-16A, which was flown by American "grandfathers".

The aircraft first took to the skies in 1974. The plane is still very popular on the market, but we are talking about modern versions like the F-16 Block 70/72, which no one is even stuttering about supplying to Ukraine.

But by using the latest versions of AMRAAM missiles, Ukraine can effectively destroy the Su-35S, even though the Russian plane has a certain advantage. Ukrainian F-16s can shoot down Su-35s both with and without radar aircraft.

But the problem is different.

Ukraine has a minuscule number of F-16s and cannot afford to risk aircraft and pilots' lives. At best, the Air Force now has a few dozen Western aircraft, while the Russians have about 120 Su-35s alone.

Besides them, they have relatively modern fighters like the Su-30SM/SM2 in the number of about 100 machines, as well as about a hundred MiG-31BM interceptors that can use the R-37M missile.

Russian tactical aviation losses in the war are quite high. However, we are mainly talking about helicopters and Su-34 frontline bombers, of which the Russians lost about 40 units.

At the same time, the number of destroyed Su-35s is, at best, ten aircraft, which in general had almost no effect on the potential of Russia's fighter aviation. This is why countering Russian fighters will be one of the main challenges for Ukraine in the years to come.

The possible solutions include supplying more F-16s, or getting the more modern JAS 39E/F Gripen, Dassault Rafale or Eurofighter Typhoon. Which are superior to the Su-35 both in terms of flight characteristics, electronic "stuffing" and air-to-air weapons.

Now this scenario looks almost fantastic. However, we should not forget that in early 2022, the transfer of MIM-104 Patriot missiles to Ukraine was also considered "fantastic". Not to mention deliveries of SCALP/Storm Shadow and ATACMS missiles, AASM and GBU-39 SDB aerial bombs, and more.

Ilya Vedmedenko, unian.net