Russia Announces New “Guided Missiles” For its Su-57 & Su-35 Stealth Fighter Jets

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

Russian news reports claim that new “guided missiles” for its Su-35 and Su-57 will soon be showcased at an upcoming international military technical forum called Army-2023. The operative question is … how effective are these upgrades and what might they mean for fighter jet attack sensing, range and precision?

The new Russian missiles to be showcased, described in Russia’s TASS News Agency by weapons-maker Rosoboronexport, may be a specific attempt by Russia to rival the air attack supremacy of the US F-22 and F-35. The Russian newspaper quotes the Rosoboronexport CEO specifically stating weapons on display will outmatch the West..

“”Russian weapons to be on display at the Army forum’s sites have a successful track record of their use on the battlefield.They have proven to be easy to operate and simultaneously very effective against cutting-edge hardware of our Western competitors,” the paper quotes the CEO saying. 

Little specifics may be known about Russia’s Su-57 5th-generation stealth fighter, and Russia does not appear to operate a large fleet or force of the aircraft, yet certainly new guided missiles could increase the threat it presents. The Russian Su-35, by contrast, exists in much larger numbers and has been upgraded extensively in what appears to be an effort to rival the US F-22.

New Russian Su-35 “Guided Weapons” vs. US Air Force F-22

The ultimate deciding factors determining which fighter jet prevails in any kind of major air-to-air combat engagement are likely to involve a mix of intangibles and tough-to-calculate variables such as pilot proficiency, decision-making speed and aerial maneuvering. It would seem likely that a more experienced pilot, if even in an inferior fighter jet, might still prevail in a dogfight.

However, alongside these less calculable variables, there are clear technical parameters likely to greatly impact the equation as well, in terms of weaponry, sensing, computing and precision targeting. Sensor range, for example, is a clear and somewhat measurable way to discern which fighter jet can “see” and “target” or destroy the other from undetected stand-off reasons. For example, in Air Force war games such as Red Flag, the F-35 has shown an ability to see and destroy larger formations of fourth-generation aircraft from distances where it cannot itself be seen. Stand-off range, therefore, when enabled by long-range, high-fidelity sensing and precision weapons guidance systems, is a clear technical parameter which could quite simply determine victory in air war, regardless of how other variables compare. This is why many suggest, for example, that the F-35s sensors are so advanced that it may actually never “need” to dogfight, even though it is capable of it. Is dogfighting going to become obsolete due to the advent of AI-enabled, long-range sensors? Does is simply come down to a question of sensing range and weapons accuracy? Seems this is a reasonable and quite relevant question to ask, which is precisely why it is likely very important for Pentagon and Air Force weapons developers to learn the specifics of the Russian fighter jet weapons upgrades.