Who will win in an air battle: comparing the Russian Su-30SM2 fighter and the American F-15EX

Alexander Rybalchenko

Прощальный подарок СССР: Причиной аварий американских истребителей F-35 мог стать советский "троянский конь"

The American Military Watch Magazine stated that the Russian aircraft is superior to any Western counterpart. Let's see how it looks next to the strongest overseas competitor.

February 3, 2022

Russian Su-30SM2 fighter and American F-15EX. Collage © LIFE. Photo © Wikipedia / Alex Beltyukov © Wikipedia

The main competitor of the aircraft from Sukhoi will be the American heavy fighter aircraft from Boeing F-15EX. And just as the Su-30SM2 is a deep modernization of the already familiar Su-30 fighter, the American aircraft is a deep processing of the F-15 fighter developed in the mid-70s. Military experts point out that Russian and American military doctrine are running in parallel here.

And if at the beginning of the century it was planned to make fifth-generation fighters the main striking force of aviation, now the views have changed. The development of fifth-generation fighters turned out to be a longer and more costly affair than it seemed. Therefore, the main shock fist will be 4++ generation fighters - aircraft with ultra-modern filling and the ability to use, in particular, hypersonic weapons.

The decision to restart the classic fighter was also made by Russia and the United States almost simultaneously - the first flights of both the Su-30SM2 and the F-15EX took place at the beginning of last year. True, Russian aircraft will get into the troops faster - as early as next year. Whereas the Americans will receive updated "efks" only by 2024.

Military Watch Magazine notes that the Russian aircraft combined the basic design of the Su-30 with the features of the Su-35 to achieve superior performance in combat. The authors of the material emphasize that the performance of the Su-30SM2 has grown due to the AL-31F-1S engines, which provide 16% more thrust and significantly improved flight characteristics.

The Su-30SM2 is for the first time fully equipped with domestic equipment. And it is also designed to use the Russian Kh-32 hypersonic missile - it can reach speeds of up to 5,400 km / h and hit targets at a distance of up to 1,000 kilometers. To illustrate an example: from Moscow to Kiev directly 755 kilometers. That is, a rocket can reach the Ukrainian capital in just over eight minutes. The American side does not yet possess such weapons. Otherwise, the fighters have similarities and differences - let's compare.