Russia orders 30 more Su-30SM fighters

Key Points

• Irkut has received an order for 30 more Su-30SMs for the VKS
• The order will make the Su-30SM the most numerous fighter type in Russian service

Russia has ordered 30 more Sukhoi Su-30SM ‘Flanker’ multirole fighter aircraft, the country’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 3 April.
The new order means the Su-30SM will be the most numerous fighter type in Russian service.
According to the MoD the aircraft are expected to be delivered to the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) before the end of 2018.
Based on the export-standard Su-30MK, the Su-30SM replaces the French and Israeli electronics found on the MK for Russian ones but otherwise retains the same airframe with canards and AL-37FP thrust-vectoring engines. As with the Su-30MK, the Su-30SM is built in Irkutsk by the Irkutsk Aviation Plant.
According to the MoD, the contract was signed by Deputy Defence Minister Yuri Borisov and Oleg Demchenko, the president or Irkut Corporation (the parent of Irkutsk Aviation Plant).
The new contract brings the total announced Su-30SM order book for the VKS to 90 aircraft. The type has also been ordered for the Russian Naval Aviation, which has at least 20 on order out of a total requirement of 50. In total more than 40 Su-30SMs have been delivered to the Russian military. The type marked its first combat deployment in September 2015 with the arrival of four Su-30SMs to Humaymim Air Base in Syria. Initially flying as an escort fighter, with exclusively air-to-air loads, the Su-30SMs have since conducted bombing missions. At least three Su-30SMs remain in Syria, despite the announced drawdown of Russian forces there.
While the first Su-30MK export order (India for the Su-30MKI) came in November 1996, it took Russia 15 years to announce it was working on a version for its own air force to replace older variants of the ‘Flanker’ family.