Russian MoD to Order Additional batch of Su-35 fighters worth $927 Million

The Russian Aerospace Forces (RuAF) will sign a new contract worth 70 billion rubles ($927 million) for the supply of an additional batch of Su-35 fighter jetss, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has announced.

"By the end of the year, we plan to conclude an additional state contract for the supply of multifunctional Su-35S aircraft. The contract amount will amount to 70 billion rubles," Shoigu said on Wednesday in Komsomolsk-on-Amur at a meeting with representatives of the Sukhoi plant which manufactures the Su-35 and Su-57 jets.

 “Actually, we came for this, to make sure that the enterprise is able to fulfill this contract,” the minister said referring to his visit, Interfax reported quoting the minister.

The Su-35 was developed by the Sukhoi company (part of the UAC) and is serially produced at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant (KnAAZ). The enterprise serially produces Su-35 fighters both for the RF Ministry of Defense and for foreign customers.

The RuAF has ordered some 48 Su-35S jets. The number of deliveries is not known as the number of aircraft with today’s orders. Earlier orders were in batches of 12 which is probably the manufacturing rate of the aircraft per year.

Some 24 Su-35s have been ordered by Egypt and 4 of them have recently been delivered to Cairo. This means the remaining aircraft are still under production. Besides, Indonesia is a potential customer for the Su-35s and China has received 24 of them.

The Su-35 is equipped with an airborne radar station with a passive phased antenna array, as well as engines with thrust vector control. It can reach speeds of up to 2.5 thousand km / h, its flight range reaches 3.4 thousand km. The fighter is armed with a 30 mm cannon and has 12 attachment points for bombs and missiles.