Su-30SM2
According to a press release issued on Friday, 21 November 2025, the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), part of the state-owned Rostec corporation, has delivered a new batch of modernized Su-30SM2 multirole aircraft (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) to the Naval Aviation of the Russian Navy (WMF) as part of the implementation of the State Armament Program.
Photo: UAK
“The Su-30SM2 is considered one of the best aircraft and is highly rated by pilots. It is characterized by high maneuverability, excellent flight performance, and a wide range of armament, including long-range weapons. The aircraft is capable of employing virtually all currently available types of airborne weaponry. Thanks to its powerful radar, the Su-30SM2 “sees” farther and more precisely, making the crew’s work easier. Its advanced electronic warfare system allows the fighter to effectively counter enemy air-defence assets. Aircraft of this type have proven their effectiveness in the Aerospace Forces, destroying hundreds of aerial and ground targets, including Patriot missile launchers” – claims Rostec.
The aircraft, in an undisclosed number (probably –two editor’s note), due to the wartime information policy of the Russian Ministry of Defence, were manufactured and delivered by the Irkutsk Aviation Plant in Irkutsk. They underwent the required ground and flight tests and yesterday were in the process of being transferred to their user’s location.
“As part of fulfilling the objectives set by the Russian Minister of Defence regarding the delivery of weapons and equipment to the armed forces, the naval aviation crew has accepted a Su-30SM2 aircraft. These extremely manoeuvrable Su-30SM2 multirole fighters are among the most modern combat aircraft in the Russian Armed Forces. They protect the country’s borders along its entire perimeter,” said a Su-30SM2 pilot.
“We are not resting on our laurels. In addition to regular equipment deliveries, we are working on further improving our aircraft, including by using the experience gained during the special military operation, as well as by increasing the pace of production,” said Vadim Badekha, Director General of UAC.
The first batch of Su-30SM2s was ordered in 2021. Deliveries began in January 2022, and until the change in information policy, 21 aircraft were known to have been handed over. Further deliveries in undisclosed numbers took place in November 2022, July and December 2023, and August 2024. The aircraft are also being delivered to Belarus, which by mid-August of this year had already received 8 of the 12 ordered units.
The modernization of the Su-30SM to the Su-30SM2 standard included replacing the Salyut AL-31FP engines, with 123 kN of thrust, with more powerful Saturn/Lyulka AL-41F-1S (117S) engines, with 142 kN of thrust and thrust vectoring, taken from the Su-35S. These provide roughly 16% greater thrust while reducing fuel consumption and increasing service life.
The Su-30SM2s are also receiving upgraded avionics, including a modernized or new AESA radar, expanded weapons-carrying capabilities, a new electronic warfare system, a radionavigation and communications system (OSNOD) with a new tactical data link compatible with Su-57S multirole fighters and unmanned aerial systems. The modernization is intended to keep the aircraft in service beyond 2040.
Su-57E
Meanwhile, during the Dubai Airshow 2025 (scheduled for 17–24 November) at Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, on the first day of the event, during an interview for Russian television, the aforementioned Director General of UAC, Vadim Badekha, revealed that deliveries of the first two Su-57E (NATO reporting name: Felon) multirole aircraft to an export customer have begun.
Su-57 (T-50-4) during the 15th China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition (Airshow China) in November 2024 / Photo: X
“Our foreign customer and partner have already received the first two aircraft. They have entered combat service and are demonstrating their best qualities. Our customer is satisfied,” said Badekha.
Although the customer’s name was not mentioned in the interview, it is known to be Algeria. On 12 February of this year, the Algerian state television station TV3 (also known as El Ikhbariya) confirmed this, although the first unofficial reports on the matter appeared as early as 2019.
Interestingly, at that time the Algerian TV anchor stated that Algerian pilots were training in Russia and that deliveries could be expected this year. Likewise, the Director General of the Russian state company Rosoboronexport, Aleksandr Mikheyev, said that an undisclosed Su-57E export customer would receive the first aircraft this year, as serial production had begun. “The first foreign customer of the promising fifth-generation Su-57E multirole fighter will begin operating the aircraft in 2025, with deliveries provided by Rosoboronexport.”
Another piece of evidence emerged on 2 October of this year, when the independent Russian newspaper The Insider was the first to report that the hacker group Black Mirror had published a leak containing more than 300 confidential internal export documents on the latest post-2022 sales contracts for Russian combat aircraft produced by companies under Rostec and exported by Rosoboronexport.
According to the documents, Algeria (designated as customer 012) ordered 12 Su-57E aircraft and 14 Su-34E frontline bombers (NATO reporting name: Fullback; a specimen in distinctive desert camouflage was photographed on 19 May of this year).
Previously, figures of 6 Su-57Es as a test batch, or 14, or 12 plus 24 as an option, were mentioned. The number of 14 Su-34Es has now been confirmed, while the reported 14 Su-35SE multirole fighters (NATO: Flanker-E) has not been confirmed, despite local media claims from March of this year.
This means that 10 Su-57Es remain to be delivered.
R-74M2 mockup goes into the side bay of T-50-9, marketed as Su-57E. Source: UAC pic.twitter.com/03YdC0lv1t
— George N. (@GeorgeN28581) November 21, 2025
🇷🇺 Su-57 po raz pierwszy otwiera komorę uzbrojenia podczas Dubai Airshow 2025. pic.twitter.com/fxTlk64Zyn
— Wojtek Kostrzewa (@wojtekfalco) November 20, 2025
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