Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, U.S. intelligence had predicted a blistering assault by Moscow that would quickly mobilize the vast Russian air power that its military assembled in order to swift victory over Ukraine.
Like all other Russian arms buyers, British and Americans thought Russia’s Su-35 fighter jet was extraordinary and could do miracles. Russia’s propaganda fell short when Ukrainian forces blew Su-35 and Su-30SM2 out of the Ukrainian sky using Stinger and STARStreak missiles. The Su-30SM2 is the latest derivative of the Flanker family that could have possessed new technology.
The British and American intelligence community get their hands on Russian fighter jet’s DRFM jamming technology from Su-35’s L-175V Khibiny and OLS-35 infrared tracking system when Ukraine shot down Su-35S fighter jets.
BRITISH and American scientists are analyzing the secret long-range targeting mechanism of Russia’s most advanced fighter jet, sources confirmed last night.
And their findings could make a “huge difference” in how the West conducts air-to-air combat with both Russia and China. Ukrainian troops shot down the Sukhoi Su-35S using short-range missiles two weeks ago. Specialists with the Ukrainian Air Force were able to retrieve vital and hitherto classified elements from its burnt-out remains and informed British intelligence.
Specialists from the Ukrainian Air Force were able to recover critical and previously secret pieces from the wreckage and notify British intelligence.
The systems were transported to the Government’s Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) at Porton Down, in Wiltshire, where boffins, joined by two experts from the U.S. Air Force, have spent ten days examining them.
The initial assessment was deemed so promising that the systems have now been flown to Nevada, USA, for more forensic examination.
Dubbed “Flanker” by Nato, the fighter jet was conducting a so-called Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD) operation when it was unexpectedly shot down near Izium, some 75 miles from Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine, on April 3. Its pilot was captured after safely ejecting.
The Su-35S is Russia’s 4++ generation multirole fighter currently used by the RuAF and exported to China and Egypt.
And the prospect of Nato powers examining its sophisticated inner workings will cause consternation among air force chiefs in Russia, which operates 47 of them.
It has also sent shockwaves in China, which, as Russia’s most significant defense partner, now boasts the world’s second-largest fleet, having signed a $2 billion deal for 24 of the fighters in 2015.
The 24 Su-35 Flankers purchased from Russia were previously rumored to be stationed in southern China, stretching Chinese airpower deep into the South China Sea. China lost one of its Su-35 aircraft in an accident.
Though the aircraft was heavily damaged, sources say enough of the targeting system remained for detailed analysis.
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