Final Sukhoi Su-35S from second contract delivered to Russian Air Force

On 25 November 2020, the last three multi-role Sukhoi Su-35S fighters have been handed over by PJSC Company Sukhoi (part of PJSC UAC of the State Corporation Rostec) to specialists of the 485th military representation of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.

This delivery completes a five-year contract that was signed in 2015, under which 50 Sukhois Su-35S would be delivered to the Russian Federation - Aerospace Forces (RF VKS, Russian Air Force) between 2016 and 2020 at a rate of 10 aircraft per year.

From this final delivery, two Sukhois with serials RF-95911/#08 Red and RF-95912/#11 Red arrived at the 4th Centre for Combat Employment and Retraining of Personnel VKS in Lipetsk. The third Su-35S will remain in Komsomolsk-on-Amur with the 23rd Tallinn Fighter Regiment.

Taking into account the first contract signed in 2009 for 48 Su-35S, the Russian Air Force received to date 98 production Su-35S aircraft. The production batches for these Sukhois stretched from late 2012 to late 2020. In August 2020, the Russian Air Force signed a contract for an additional 30 aircraft. The first five of this contract are scheduled to be delivered in 2021, the remaining 25 aircraft would follow in 2022-2024.

Current VKS regiments fully armed with the Su-35S (two squadrons each):

23rd Fighter Aviation Regiment, 303rd Guards Army, 11th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense, Eastern Military District, Dzemgi airfield, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Khabarovsk Region
159th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, 105th Mixed Aviation Division, 6th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense, Western Military District, Besovets airfield, Karelia

Mixed aviation regiments armed with the Su-35S (one squadron each):

22nd Fighter Aviation Regiment, 303rd Guards Mixed Aviation Division, 11th Air Force and Air Defense Army, Eastern Military District, Tsentralnaya Uglovaya airfield, Primorsky Region
790th Fighter Aviation Regiment, 105th Mixed Aviation Division, 6th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense, Western Military District, Khotilovo airfield, Tver Region.

Eight more Su-35S are part of the Russian Knights air demonstration team based at Kubinka airfield, Moscow region. This team is part of the earlier mentioned 4th Centre for Combat Employment and Retraining of Personnel VKS, which also operates additional eight Su-35S aircraft in Lipetsk, including the two brand new examples that were transferred few days ago.

A further 9-11 Su-35S are serving with the 929th State Flight Test Center of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation in Akhtubinsk, Astrakhan region. Finally, there is a sole Su-35S (Bort No 53 Red, built in 2016) which has been decommissioned in 2018 and raised as a monument at the Siberian Aviation Research Institute in Novosibirsk.

Photo: Alex Snow, kindly provided by JetPhotos.com, Alastair T. Gardiner, kindly provided by AirHistory.net and Sukhoi