Yes, no substance how unusual this message may seem, it is simply a fact: gathering 2 aircraft with the same numbers, but different letters, can happen much earlier than everyone expected.
If you look closely at what is happening between Iran and Israel, and we have already checked what is happening, it is worth noting and summing up any facts.
1. The countries are openly in a state of hostility. Yes, the past of Iranian-Israeli relations is full of warming and freezing, but present these countries have reached the tallness of hostility, which is confirmed by their actions.
2. Israel responded to Iran's massive attack. With difficulty. With the aid of the United States, Britain, Jordan, and even (although not very accurate) France.
The Armada composed of 212 aircraft met 300 drones and various rockets. And these were serious aircraft: F-15, F-16, Rafales, Typhoons, and even F-35, whose work was either secret or invisible again.
3. Iran was able to repel Israel's retaliatory attack on Iran's retaliatory attack on the embassy in Syria, with no peculiar effort and virtually no usage of its air force. But below that.
Parity? Maybe. Iran fought peacefully, Israel fought, utilizing as many aircraft and air defence systems as possibly have not flown since the end of the Gulf wars. But how much Iran fired and how much Israel fired – there is besides a difference.
The Iranian armadas of modernized russian rockets and drones placed Israel under large strain. The question is: did Israel play at its maximum capacity by attacking Iran? And that's a very good question, due to the fact that theoretically, the Israeli air force will do whatever they want, due to the fact that there's nothing peculiar that Iran could answer about aviation.
Let us first look at the Iranian air force and anti-air defence (OPP).
OPP is represented by copies. Chinese HQ-7, or a copy of French ‘Crotale’, ‘Sayad’, which is simply a copy of our S-75, ‘Fajr-8’, a copy of S-200 and ‘Bavar-373’, a copy of S-300. In the first there are only S-300 (32 launchers), “Shell” and “Tora” which defend the same atomic objects that Israel has been sharpening its teeth for so long.
Toothless and numerous. The same is actual erstwhile the quantity can turn into quality, but you don't gotta worry about the quantity due to the fact that Iran has been slapping missiles through 3 wars. Moreover, a copy of S-75 is not an S-75, the bullet there is upgraded to the degree of its capabilities by the Iranian military-industrial complex and differs from the russian as the BM-13 "Catius" rocket differs from the BM-21 "Grad".
Generally, there are adequate complexes and rockets. At least that's what the Iranian media say. And the fact that the Israeli attack was repulsed by air defence forces without much effort is the best proof of that.
As for the Iranian Air Force...
The Iranian Air Force took part in resisting the Israeli attack, but... how to put it, pointing more at their share than the actual contribution to the battle. The “Phantom” squadron, which has simply forgotten its age, and this is actually the F-4D that was “shining” in the sky of Vietnam – this is not OPP's help. And I'm not going to answer the question of why they were even hitting on those antiques. besides different knowing of processes with Iranian headquarters.
But let's just leave the unusual act behind, after all, they know better who to choice up in the air.
But in general, the Iranian air force is simply a very sad sight. Yes, you can modernize and improve rockets as long as you want, but the rocket is much simpler in plan than the aircraft. due to the fact that Iran has rockets (very decent), but planes are much worse.
Iranian studies of HES ‘Saeqeh’ and HES ‘Azarakhsh’ remained one-part inverse copies of the F-5 ‘Tiger II’ dating back to the 1970s.
Imported aircraft in the service of Iran are besides not news. The main link is the American F-14 "Tomcat", produced in 1974-76 of the last century. At the cost of unbelievable efforts by the Iranians, the production of spare parts for this aircraft has been started, making nearly fifty-year-old veterans inactive serving.
The F-14 was for its time a very good plane, but let's not fool ourselves, was irrationally costly in operation. Therefore, he was happily replaced by F/A-18. Iran remains the last country in the planet serving F-14.
In addition to the Tomcats, the Iranian air force has MiG-29 (36 units) and Mirage F1 (10 units). In 1991, they arrived from Iraq destroyed by the Allied coalition. These planes have besides seen the worst side of life, and they are not to be counted on.
In general, whatever you say, the Iranians request a fresh air fleet. The real problem here is not any saber buzzing during the game with Israel, the region is truly explosive, you gotta think about defending air borders. And doing this with 50-year-old F-14 and MiG-29 is hard and dangerous, due to the fact that you inactive gotta look at who these planes are more dangerous to, to the enemy or to your pilots.
Iran estimates that present it needs about 116 fighters and multitasking aircraft. due to the fact that it is very doubtful whether there would be a queue of willing to sale the aircraft in the event of a competition for the acquisition of the aircraft, there is in fact only 1 and a half suppliers: Russia and China, with China making up this half. And they might not deliver, yesterday, the Chinese sold Iran a certain amount of their F-7s, it was a plane made of our MiG-21, but then someway everything went quiet. Whether China will work with Iran next day is simply a bit unclear, which means that no 1 but Russia will give Iran more aircraft.
It is clear here that Tehran has studied this issue very thoroughly, and since barter trade can be conducted here, of course old MiG-29 and his rejuvenated MiG-35 task are not curious in Iranians. They request aircraft “here and now”, which means we are talking about Su-35SE and Su-34. In the future – Su-57.
Iran can afford to ask for specified equipment, and Russia can supply specified equipment.
And in the winter of 2022 the ice cream was broken and the parties yet agreed that 24 Su-35SE, which were intended for Egypt but which he practically abandoned, would go to Iran. Overall, Su-35SE is not much different from Su-35S, so there is no request to worry about worsening the combat properties.
The communicative was, of course, interesting, covered with many rumors and rumors, a actual aviation “Santa Barbara” in which there was more than adequate intrigues, scandals and misinformation. Yes, the transportation of the aircraft was someway delayed, which sparked rumours and rumors that featured many Russian news agents.
Do you remember that at the end of the summertime and early last autumn many of our media and bloggers (especially) burst a wave of angry shouts at Iran? They said they weren't allies, but they were like that and all that? I did. Fortunately, the Iranians were spared the folly and haste of some, which is why the transaction was finalized in November. In general, this is very much in the spirit of the East: to mislead your own nation and to unconditionally mislead everyone else. And then “sudden” – erstwhile – and everything grew together.
We watched transport aircraft from Russia arrive at the best airport in Iran, Tehran. At the time many claimed that the aircraft inside came from a contracted batch, but of course the aircraft were not there. Simulators that can't be done without, aircraft maintenance equipment, communications and so on. Generally, who said Iran only buys airplanes or that the contract only covers aircraft? There must be all the essential infrastructure. So they brought her in.
And now the Iranian state agency IRNA and the IRGC media have reported that the first combat aircraft with already trained pilots and technicians will arrive in Iran in the last week of April 2024. This means that training took place here, which is very, very good. For the Iranians, of course.
Can the 24 latest Su-35S change the situation? Of course not. As we remember, Israel's companions lifted 212 aircraft into the air, which under no circumstances were old brands. But not all the planes there, so to speak, were stationed permanently. And I can't tell you how this is going to look quantitatively next time. The aircraft carriers are leaving, the ground units are besides leaving, the region, you see, is complex.
24 planes are just a regiment. good punch fist. Of course, it is small to say that all Iran's problems will be resolved. But if you remember what was initially said about options for 67 aircraft, it becomes more interesting.
But in fact, even a regiment is adequate to importantly shorten the hands of Israeli pilots who unpunishedly fire missiles in Damascus from Lebanon's airspace. Or Lebanon, where Hezbollah is supposedly based.
It's not truly that important. It is crucial that Iran will have a real impact on the situation in the region.
Speaking of any countermeasure to Israeli aviation, it can clearly only be Iran. Unfortunately, in the best times, the Syrian army was nothing serious, both technically and in terms of staff training, and present it is not a formation to be highly valued.
So the sky over Syria is not as peaceful for the Israelis as the sky over Jordan or Lebanon, but it is in the territory of this country, in any of its regions, that there will be a confrontation between Israel and Iran.
This means that it will happen as follows: Israel will attack Iran's goals and its allies (you realize who we are talking about) through aviation, which is logical due to the fact that Israel does not have its own arsenal of ballistics and maneuvering missiles. Therefore, Israelis will be more hard to attack targets in Iran.
Yes, Israel has ballistic missiles, but Jericho was produced in specified tiny quantities that they cannot be compared to Iranian rocket arsenals. Rather, it is the weapon of the last strike utilizing atomic warheads, which we know Israel does not have.
The U.S. has rockets. The question is whether Washington truly wants to set the region on fire by sending these missiles to Israel.
But Iran has this arsenal. Which is why he can afford the kind of attacks we've witnessed. Israel will besides attack with its air force and air defense, but will only be able to carry out retaliatory attacks with its, frankly, rather good air fleet, consisting of F-16, F-15 and F-35. Only 30 F-35 and 25 F-15E Strike Eagle, but even this number, supported by hundreds of older F-15 and F-16 aircraft in various modifications, is strong. And most importantly, this cannot be compared to what Iran can achieve.
That is why Iran needs aircraft that will someway be able to halt Israeli air force. And here possibly the problem is not in the F-35I, simply “Adir” does not fit the “Sushki”, this is not the right aircraft. The problem is that the F-35I can fire rockets very well from hiding, but entering an open battle, as Indian, Pakistani/Russian and Ukrainian aircraft did, is an exaggeration.
Su-35S is simply a problematic competitor, and his rockets are unpleasant. It's not even about prestige, although you can gain a reputation, it's about the cost of the experiment. Each F-35I costs besides much to be thrown into a next generation dumpster.
It is impossible to tell precisely how different the F-35I is from the standard F-35A. Radar. This is simply a very crucial point, the parties very jealously defender the clear parameters of their stations. Electronic combat systems. Here Israel has always been strong, there is no uncertainty about it. The Israeli strategy of control and communication – understandablely, is convenient for Israelis in all respect, but does not supply any advantage in combat. So radar and electronic weapons are all that distinguishes an Israeli plane from an American.
The problem is, the F-35 is simply a very costly plane. If we consider the F-35I specifically, each plane cost Israel $144 million. This includes service packages, exchange of U.S. equipment for Israeli equipment and so on. $144,000. It's a lot for an ultra-modern aircraft, so if you look at the usage of the F-35 in another countries, it's not seen anywhere in the lead. Even in support of the Iranian attack. Somewhere out there, nothing more. The Israeli Air Force's plan included attacks on Gaza, where the F-35I did not endanger anything from the ground.
Yeah, what's the point of landing a dollar cart like that? It wasn't bought to just lose it.
This is where we get to the most crucial thing. What's the point of any comparison? In knowing the fact that what or who can do better.
1. Aircraft. Theoretically, they are representatives of different generations.
The F-35 seems to be more inconspicuous (of course it was so actively hidden around the world), the 5th generation, but the large question is how it will be utilized in combat.
The Su-35S is worse in terms of visibility, but the aircraft is full flown and shelled. And you can very well foretell what to anticipate from him in battle. I agree that Su-35 did not have average opponents in the sky of Ukraine, but it is not his responsibility at all. The F-35I had no opponents at all.
2. Air crew.
Here we can presume that the training of Israeli pilots will be theoretically higher. Besides, they are, as they say, more experienced than their Iranian counterparts. On the another hand, Israeli pilots worked under zero resistance, but Russian specialists who trained Iranian pilots surely did so, given the data obtained from the usage of Su-35S in the air defence system.
In this situation, Israelis look more favourable, but this advantage will vanish erstwhile Iranian pilots fly their aircraft under real conditions.
3. Engineering and engineering personnel.
Here the Israelis have a clear advantage due to the fact that they have long operated aircraft in service.
For Iranian engineers and technicians it will be very difficult, the gap between the aircraft they own, and the latest Su-35 is besides deep. What's more, our equipment only had MiG-29, and already Iraqi. This means that Russian technology itself is not a "home" for them. There was no experience in the operation of russian aircraft, from which the analogy can be passed to the Russian fresh generation aircraft. And this, plus the fresh Su-35S, does not play in favour of the Iranians. It's truly gonna be very hard on the ground.
4. Weapons.
Well, here the F-35I has no peculiar advantages; there are no masterpieces on the list of weapons. Standard NATO ammunition, tested in time and on the 1 hand reliable, on the another hand there are adequate methods to combat its use.
Su-35 has 1 kind of weaponry, it is not known whether Iran will get it or not, but R-37E with a scope of up to 200 km has very large prospects, as a plane starting from Damascus airport can easy tickle the nerves of those who will spend time in a neutral region close Beirut (where usually take off in Syria). And here it takes 1 shot at the plane available there, and then let them figure out who God will send him to, as they say.
Generally, the F-35I has no peculiar advantages. Yes, it is likely to shine little on radar screens, but many Israeli aircraft I have seen, years with suspended tanks, which in itself denies all hiding. They're just pictures and movies, of course, but still.
Eventually... Uncritically. Indeed, this is not critical, even if we do not know the characteristics of the F-35I. Therefore, the gathering that will inevitably take place on the line of confrontation between Israel and Iran will show who is stronger in the real battle.
Line of confrontation.
Where is it, that's a tough question. The abrupt warming of relations between Jordan and Israel, which led to Jordan practically becoming an ally of Israel in the support of the Iranian attack, clearly shows that only Syria remains. Grey and practically uncontrollable territory (Iraq is inactive under American control, though not all), on which, as it turns out, a lot can be done.
So it turns out that Jordan and Iraq will be closed to Iran, but from Syrian airspace it is very easy to control airspace in all directions. A very good position; if the Syrians inactive had reasonable air defense, that would be absolutely wonderful. Well, if only the Syrian army were a small better organized.
And if F-35I and Su-35 meet somewhere, it'll be in Syria. erstwhile it's a substance of small time. Sooner or later (I'm certain earlier) Iran will begin to analyse attempts to bridge the full advantage of Israeli air force.
We must hope that this will all take place under the control of our specialists, who will surely gain valuable experience both in the usage of the Su-35S and in the survey of the real possibilities of the F-35I.
SOURCE
https://topwar.ru/241104-f-35-vs-su-35-vstrecha-budet-v-nebe-siri.html
(PL)