The United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), which operates the Yu. A. Gagarin-named Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant (KnAAZ) and is a subsidiary of the Rostec State Corporation, has completed the production and delivery of an additional set of multirole Su-35S fighters to the Russian Ministry of Defence, as reported on October 24, 2023. The fighters effectively completed a series of operational mode-specific ground and flight tests before departing from the KnAAZ airfield for their designated duty stations.
“Our aircraft production is maintaining a strong pace in producing combat aircraft, and we are timely delivering them to the Russian Aerospace Forces. This is not the last delivery of aviation complexes this year. The Su-35S is one of the main fighters in the Russian army’s arsenal and enjoys well-deserved success. This highly manoeuvrable aircraft can perform a wide range of tasks and can use the entire range of existing and prospective aviation weaponry,” said Vladimir Artyakov, the First Deputy General Director of the Rostec State Corporation, in a press release from UAC.
The present shipment signifies the fourth instalment of Su-35S fighters that KnAAZ delivered to the Russian Ministry of Defence this year.
The first tranche of three Su-35S fighters manufactured by KnAAZ was delivered to the Russian Aerospace Forces earlier in the year on June 23, followed by the second on July 13 and the third on September 28. The precise quantity of Su-35S fighters supplied to the Russian Ministry of Defence in each of these batches this year remains undisclosed. While the registration and tail numbers of the aircraft are obscured in officially released UAC videos and photographs, the tail numbers of the Su-35S aircraft from the initial two batches were discernibly coloured blue.
The KnAAZ Plant supplied the Russian Aerospace Forces with seven Su-35S fighters in 2022. Three of these fighters were dispatched in September and the remaining four in December.
It can be inferred that the currently delivered Su-35S fighters were manufactured by the fourth contract established by UAC in 2021 to provide Su-35S aircraft to the Russian Ministry of Defence. This contract may encompass the delivery of 24 aircraft through 2024. The initial four aircraft assigned to the Russian Aerospace Forces under this contract were presumably delivered in December 2022. According to the contract, a maximum of twelve Su-35S aircraft are expected to be delivered in 2023; thus far, approximately ten units have been delivered.
Before this, from 2012 to 2022, the Russian Aerospace Forces obtained 104 serial Su-35S aircraft via three prior contracts executed in 2009, 2015, and 2020. Including the four Su-35S aircraft delivered in December 2022 by the new contract, the Russian Aerospace Forces had acquired 108 serial Su-35S aircraft by the start of 2023.
