(PatriotsUnited.org) – With American-made F-16 fighter jets set to be used by Ukraine, new clips spreading online appear to display Russia flying its own upgraded Su-30 fighter jets kitted out with new missile systems. Su-30SM2 multirole fighter jets are now equipped with R-37 long-range hypersonic missiles ahead of the expected use of F-16s by Kyiv. One report which cites both Ukrainian and Western experts, suggested that Russia felt its military pilots were prepared for the arrival of NATO aircrafts.
The Su-30SM2 jets, a modified version of Moscow’s own Su-30 planes, have advanced radars, ramping up the jets’ target detection and identification capabilities over longer journeys. Russian state media claims the jets can strike various types of terrain in both land and sea, from hundreds of kilometers away. These claims are yet to be independently verified, so it is unclear if they are correct. In a major move in November 2022, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that it had acquired a fresh batch of Su-30SM2 fighters able to launch a larger amount of long-range missiles. It used these jets in its Baltic Fleets drills last April.
Ukrainian military bloggers also claim that said jets have R-77 active air-to-air radar-homing missiles, a shock development that one top Russian military blogger said would be the inaugural use of R-37 long-range air-launched missiles on Su-30SM2 fighters from Moscow’s own fleet in the Black Sea. Russia’s Defense Ministry presented a rather different perspective, confirming that the circulated social media footage, which they are thought to be behind, depicted these jets battling with Ukrainian naval drones. However they failed to state which weapons systems had been deployed.
The new Military Balance report published by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies think tank, has claimed that Moscow operates four operational Su-30SM2 aircraft. While numerous Western nations vowed to ship F-16s to Ukraine back in 2023, the timelines of these promises remain unclear. The planes would be a major asset to Ukraine’s air defenses, with Ukraine air force spokesperson Ilya Yevlash admitting last Wednesday that just one Western-made jet would dramatically improve the capabilities of Ukraine’s aging fleet after over two years of war since Putin’s invasion in March 2022.
As the conflict rumbles on, many international actors have begun to support the idea of a peace settlement although the U.S. and its allies say any decision must be up to Ukraine. Many have expressed concerns that issuing any concessions to Russia could not only compromise Ukraine’s territorial integrity, but signal to hostile actors such as Russia, China and Iran that NATO could also be unwilling to defend their own member states.
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