Su-30SM2 fighters will lead drones into battle

For the Su-30SM2 aircraft, a communications complex is being finalized that will allow two-seat fighters to control large unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including the S-70 Okhotnik, sources in the Russian Defense Ministry told Izvestia.

The equipment will be unified with the fifth-generation Su-57 fighters on board. According to the interlocutors of the publication, work in this direction is already underway. It is expected that the “Super-Dry” will be able not only to receive information from drones, but also to control them in battle.

At the end of January, the commander of the Western Military District, Colonel-General Alexander Zhuravlev, announced that the first four production Su-30SM2s had joined the mixed aviation regiment in the Kaliningrad region. They flew from a factory in Irkutsk to a permanent airfield in the Russian exclave. According to military estimates, after they replace the Su-24 bombers, the effectiveness of the mixed regiment will rise one and a half times.

The multi-purpose Su-30SM2 was developed on the basis of the most numerous type of new-build fighter in Russian service – the Su-30SM. There are about 120 units of such aircraft in the Aerospace Forces and Naval Aviation.

From the first flights of the S-70 Okhotnik heavy jet UAV, the Ministry of Defense has been working out the possibility of its joint use with Su-57 fighters. It was reported that for the effective control of four such drones at once, a special two-seat version of the aircraft would be developed.

“The Su-30SM2 is a truly multi-purpose aircraft and is better suited than other fighters to interact with drones. Due to their two-seat layout, they can effectively use any ammunition, including precision-guided ones. While the pilot is flying the fighter, the second crew member can fully focus on using weapons or interacting with the drone. It is clear that usually he will not “steer” them himself. It is more important here to be able to directly receive a video image from the device, the coordinates of detected targets and give it basic commands, indicate areas of observation, ”military expert Vladislav Shurygin told Izvestia.

According to the expert, large and high-speed UAV models capable of carrying weapons themselves, such as Altius and Okhotnik, are best suited for interaction with the Su-30. Their use will make it possible to attack well-defended objects with heavy missiles and bombs without risk to the aircraft crew, as well as to conduct long-term patrols over the seas and oceans.