![A Russian air force Sukhoi Su-35 fighter lands at the Russian military base of Hmeimim in Latakia province, Syria, September 26, 2019. [Maxime Popov/AFP]](/cnmi_ca/images/2023/06/20/42639-su35-739_416.webp)
A US F-22 Raptor going toe-to-toe in the skies with a Russian Sukhoi Su-35 would result in an American victory in nearly every circumstance, military sources say.
Russia's Su-35, which is touted as a fourth-generation aircraft with fifth-generation technology, was designed with the F-22 in mind.
In 2014, the Russian air force began "deployments of the Su-35 heavyweight air superiority fighter ... which was designed for a dedicated air superiority role to counter the American F-22 Raptor", Military Watch magazine reported in 2020.
"The American F-22 Raptor and the Russian Su-35 Flanker-E are both high-performance multi-role combat aircraft," Forces.net wrote last August.
![An F-22 Raptor fighter jet takes part in the NATO Air Shielding exercise near the air base in Lask, Poland, October 12. [Radoslaw Jozwiak/AFP]](/cnmi_ca/images/2023/06/20/42640-raptor-739_416.webp)
An F-22 Raptor fighter jet takes part in the NATO Air Shielding exercise near the air base in Lask, Poland, October 12. [Radoslaw Jozwiak/AFP]
But the fifth generation F-22's "unique combination of stealth, speed, agility, and situational awareness, combined with lethal long-range air-to-air and air-to-ground weaponry, makes it the best air dominance fighter in the world", says Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the F-22.
Unmatched capabilities
The F-22's advanced capabilities mean it would likely come out on top in combat against an Su-35.
Crucially, the Su-35's radar cross-section is much too large.
"The Su-35's radar cross-section (area visible to radar) is between 1 and 3 square meters, or about the size of a large dinner table. The F-22's radar cross-section is about the size of a marble," Business Insider reported in 2016.
To make matters worse, the Su-35 is the only major fourth-generation aircraft without the option of an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.
An AESA radar provides longer range and higher ability to detect smaller targets and better resistance to jamming than do older passive electronically scanned array (PESA) radars.
That discrepancy makes the Su-35 vulnerable to being spotted and destroyed before its pilot has even noticed an F-22.
Given the various disadvantages of the Su-35, its heavier potential armament is unlikely to matter in a head-to-head confrontation.
"The Su-35 deploys 12 external hardpoints," Military Watch Magazine reported in 2022, while the F-22 can carry eight missiles, according to the US Air Force.
Yet having 12 missiles makes no difference if the pilot with eight missiles sees you first.
In addition, the human factor is crucial. An experienced pilot will defeat an inexperienced pilot almost every time, and the Russian air force does not train its aviators nearly enough.
US Air Force "fighter pilots reach their first unit with around twice the cockpit experience of their Russian counterparts on average", the military news site Sandboxx reported in March.
That shortage of training dooms many Russian pilots who already labour with inferior technology.
Russian braggadocio
Undaunted by evidence, Russia is still making unfounded claims about its prowess in manufacturing weapons.
Russia's braggadocio about its weapons extends to warplanes like the Su-35 fighter jet, missiles, ships and tanks, even though the past few years have been full of sobering video proof to the contrary.
Since February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukrainian missiles sank the Russian Black Sea Fleet flagship, the Moskva; US-built Patriot missile batteries have shot down multiple supposedly "invulnerable" Kinzhal missiles; and Ukrainian forces have downed various Russian warplanes, including three confirmed Su-35's so far, as reported by Newsweek in May.
Even before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Turkish and Israeli drones decimated various forces using Russian weapons in Azerbaijan, Syria and Libya.
F-22 has a top speed of 2,414 km/h, while SU 35 has a top speed of 2,778 km/h...All this lies that F22 can not be detected by radar with slow speed. What a funny, the writer of this article is a joker.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Pure nonsense, the su-35 is vastly superior. The radar Criss section means NOTHING Vs the Russians whom posses C6ISR lol they can also fire their missiles over 100km before the f22 radar can even pick up the su-35. We lost the arms race to the soviets mid-late 70’s. The ONLY military tech we are more advanced in is information warfare/psychological and propaganda. We are a joke compared to the Russians a laughing stock. Arrogance and ignorance is all we bring when we bully tiny weak nations whom can’t hit back..
ReplyI'm impressed with the SU-35 it's definitely a deadly fighter jet. Although it was shot down in Ukraine, actually 3 of them were. Let's just be real, it really has no chance of survival against a F22 Raptor. The SU-35 can't even detect the a F22 Raptor to kill it. At the same time the F22 Raptor can & would be more than ready to eliminate the SU-35. Wether or not these two great Fighter jets ever face off is yet to be seen.
ReplyF-22 has a top speed of 2,414 km/h, while SU 35 has a top speed of 2,778 km/h...All this lies that F22 can not be detected by radar with slow speed. What a funny, the writer of this article is a joker...Their US Physics logic is dumbb. They think they can deceived people of its poor US technology.
ReplyYou sound like a Raiders fan: “Jacoby Ford runs a 4.2 40 yd dash, we’re gonna win the Super Bowl now” The truth is, because of the amount of training we can afford, a veteran pilot in an F-15 or even an F-16 will beat the SU any day of the week, twice on Sundays.
ReplyLies again. The F-35 is not fighting anywhere. The Russians would have downed hundreds of them had the Americans not hidden the aircraft. It's like they ordered the Ukrainians to withdraw [American] tanks from the front lines these days because they are burning like matchsticks.
ReplyI suspect we have a serious Russian supporter who think thinks the SU 35 is the winner. I would ask him one question when was the last time he used a Russian computer or smart phone. It’s technology that counts.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Flying feces )))
Reply94 Comment(s)
It's not a plane; it's a piece of firewood.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Did Prigozhin shoot down this flying jalopy in Rostov?
Reply94 Comment(s)
It's not a warplane but rather a flying chicken.
Reply94 Comment(s)
One can argue who is who till they are blue in the face, but the USA is a cancerous tumour on the world. Ukraine was dreaming about becoming part of Europe. But the price was war with Russia.
ReplyThe world would be way more fucked that it is now WITHOUT the USA.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Attention! The Russian army has just carried out a missile strike on Wagner group positions, Prigozhin said himself. Prigozhin is threatening with retaliation. The civil war in Russia has started!
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No, it's a flying samovar ))
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A balalaika with wings.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Can this shit fly for real?
Reply94 Comment(s)
Russian shit
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Try to use your head, brainless! They lie to you, and you suckers are happy to serve )) [Countries] quit buying this rusty American crap, and now they are making every effort to tout their garbage. It's fucking baloney starting from the F22's advantages to the downed hyper-sonic Kinzhals. They will get freaking tired of chasing them. American dimwits don't have the necessary device for this job yet )))
ReplyIt's like cutting up a Ford Mustang in a Lada )))
ReplyRussian imbeciles ))
94 Comment(s)
This warplane is for showing off and indulging the impoverished Russians in the feeling of their greatness.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Russia creates the impression of a superpower. But it creates nothing else.
ReplyThat's on point! Idk where these people get this bogus data about Russia making anything better than the US. The US has the top military in the world, hands down. We have less boots on the ground, but we trump any other military force on the planet. The US has 750 bases worldwide,with our closet competitor having 34 bases. We are everywhere, literally.
Reply94 Comment(s)
They apologised in Ukraine because they didn't know it was such a super-fancy invincible fighter and downed a few more of them.
Reply94 Comment(s)
It's a flying bucket with bolts.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Open your eyes - even an American military expert says Russians are fighting with one hand tied behind their back, but even now, the ratio of losses to those alive is 1 to 7; even Hitler had 1 to 3.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Baloney. A Su-35 will easily win a one on one battle; it's a fact
ReplyOn what do you base your decision on?
ReplyHow about the FACT the su-35 will have fired it’s missiles over 100km before the f22 radar can pick up the su35? We are a damn laughing stock. Our hardware is literal junk in any real war.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Kyrgyzstan stands with Ukraine!
ReplyUkraine will prevail!
ReplyDid Russia do anything terrible to Kyrgyzstan? Did Ukraine do anything good, either? As a Russian, I don't get it. There have been and always will be wars. Just recently, there was a bloodbath on the Tajik border, to say nothing of other wars.
ReplyKyrgyzstan is against neither Russians nor Russia. It stands with a suffering country that became a victim of Putin's gang aggression.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Whatever declining Russia makes turns out to be shitty.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Muscovites can only break, rob, rape, and steal, while Western projects are high-tech.
Reply94 Comment(s)
This flying coffin is the same Russian baloney as "the second army in the world" and "Kiev in three days."
ReplyIt's a run-of-the-mill advertisement for the F22, you Ukie-language morons. As a matter of fact, the Su-35 is better precisely because of its extended range of detection and unparalleled manoeuvrability. Had they not pitied you, Kyiv would have been turned into a desert long ago. No country can fight like Russia. I would have knocked off your clown who sends people to their death, but they pity this bastard...
Reply"Yes, let's talk about how the Su-35 beats the F-22... on a number parameters that could be important only for a contemporary art buff. After all, it must be a fantastic feeling to know your fighter is visible on radar like Christmas decorations. As far as manoeuvrability goes, Su-35s manoeuvre right into the killing zone with unparalleled precision.
However, if we're going to talk about an actual combat situation, the F-22 has several advantages. First, it has much better chances of remaining undetected thanks to its stealth technology. The F-22's radar cross-section is a dozen times smaller than that of the Su-35, giving the F-22 advantages in aerial combat. Moreover, the F-22 can hit super-sonic speed without engaging afterburners; it makes the fighter less visible to infrared sensors.
Also, don't forget the F-22 has an impressive range of detecting targets and aiming its weapons, superseding the similar Su-35's characteristics. By the way, the Su-35 can't fight using long-range air-to-air missiles, while an F-22 can attack remaining outside the detection range. But your points are compelling, especially if you consider the fact that its main merit is for looking pretty at an air parade, not actual combat."
Reply94 Comment(s)
And [Ukrainians] downed their touted "invincible" [Russian] Kinzhals. After that, a very strong natural gas smell spread in one bunker )))
ReplyWho downed the Kinzhal? It's a lie since it's hyper-sonic. Learn some physics, morons
ReplyThe Kinzhal physics is what makes it vulnerable. Instead of being a modern hypersonic, it's based on a 1980's ICBM technology. A real hypersonic requires more than speed. Intercepting the flight path of a missile flying in a straight line is not a Nobel Prize task. You just need an excellent radar system.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Even Ukrainians, who had no reliable air defence systems at the time, downed these flying coffins. That's the verdict.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Russians make their equipment of mud and straw; they are a backward tribe.
ReplyWhat tribe do you belong to, mussulman?
ReplyWho let a Russian pig ask questions?
ReplyOne more moron, you should read the American press: Western weapons proved to be a piece of shit, and they will never beat Russia
ReplyY'all don't like that javelin tho. Straight shitting on you Russian bitches. This is why you will always be a poor country because you don't have more than 2 brain cells. You guys got one to blink and to swallow. You fucking monkeys.
Reply94 Comment(s)
This is bollocks, not an article. Murky citing of murky sources and overall Yank [unclear] in every word
Reply94 Comment(s)
I'd like to tell this dumb author to bug off to the Yanks.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Blatant Russophobia
Reply94 Comment(s)
Let they send it to Vostochny; we'll see
Reply94 Comment(s)
The Raptor will knock out this travesty of a warplane single-handedly.
Reply94 Comment(s)
India decided to withdraw from the purchase of Russian Su-57 and Su-75 fighters for the Indian carriers, intending to completely replace all their MIG-29K fighters deployed on aircraft carriers with the French Rafale
ReplyIKR
Reply94 Comment(s)
The touted Russian equipment seems to have not proven itself on the front lines. It's probably only good for parades, TV, and inside Putin's head.
ReplyHow does your failure near Orekhov feel like?
ReplyIt's doing all right. They have already bombed the Kremlin.
Reply94 Comment(s)
They have melted the Armata into flying coffins due to its uselessness.
ReplyStrangely, I don't see your contraption; did you melt it and turned into coffins for the Ukrainian armed forces?
ReplyYou don't see it because a Russian pig is always drunk.
ReplyYou need to focus your eyes.
94 Comment(s)
And the judges are who? Are they the Ukies who dug up the Black Sea and tamed dinosaurs before that? :))) Whose masters invented their language so that they could understand their masters' orders? Those with nothing to call their own, those who live off of alms. They praise whatever doesn't belong to them. Long story short, they are serfs
ReplyOh, yes, you're right. Who are we to judge? Those who dug up the Black Sea, saddled up dinosaurs, and created the language will be the real judges. Oh, and the international community, of course. There is the new batch of popcorn already on the way for those watching how international justice deals with wars and crimes against humanity. And, well, we poor serfs, can only watch it. Your faith in the immunity of the authorities is impressive. Yes, no one is beyond reproach. But let's not pretend these crimes will remain unnoticed. Bring me some more popcorn, please.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Russia has already disgraced itself with its inferior army and useless metal scraps.
ReplyIt's amusing how the swine who fucking lost 20% of their territory now says something about a fuck up ))
ReplyIt's amusing that your Prigozhin is already clucking about how the Russian front is breaking.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Aren't half of these plane parts from the West? Especially electronics, which are way too complex for the Russian brains to understand :)))
Reply94 Comment(s)
Pee on these Su's.
Reply94 Comment(s)
As always, serfs praise their masters' shit and burn alive in the cutting-edge coffins supplied by the West. It's ridiculous how Russia fuck your contraptions hard with its steam-engine tanks while the masters' air defence systems can only fall on serfs' heads. The advanced fighter is fixed more than it's flown.
Reply94 Comment(s)
Yet another shitty non-comparable miracle? It's as if one compared a Lada with a Ford.
Reply94 Comment(s)
The outdated Russian military equipment from the long-gone and rotten Soviet Union has demonstrated how bad it was in Ukraine. Not reliable or modern, just cheap.
Reply94 Comment(s)
What is this nonsensical article for? American Raptors didn't participate in any battles. Its stealth capabilities are theoretical wishful thinking much more than a practical advantage. American pilots had spent more cockpit time in patrols where Russian pilots took leaks on their cockpits from above. So cut this nonsense out, as they probably work well for brainwashed Americans but not those who can think and live in the former Soviet territories.
Reply94 Comment(s)
This drunk nation of bastards is only capable of living in ignorance and nothing else.
ReplyBut all you can do is kiss American and Polish ass. You can do nothing yourselves.
Reply94 Comment(s)
No match for the Western equipment. Russia has fallen behind NATO for good. Glory to Ukraine!
ReplyGlory to Ukraine as part of Russia!
ReplyWho gives a freaking damn about the "Error 404" as part of Russia. The West should feed the freeloaders.
ReplyWho wants your filthy Russia?
ReplyDo you know why Ukrainians wear wide pants? Because when they crap their pants, shit remains there, and masters can't see their disgrace! So dig up one more sea! You need somewhere to hide, but nobody would give you freaking monkeys a place!
ReplyRusskies need to get back from their parallel universe into reality. Otherwise, they risk losing Mother Russia
ReplyYou'd better think where you are going to flee when the Ukrainians will come to Russia.
ReplyGlory to Ukraine flushing the country down the toilet; glory to assholes
Reply94 Comment(s)
Russian arms sales have already collapsed worldwide; [clients] have begun to realise these backward buckets of bolts aren't worth their money. The Russians are capable of nothing.
ReplySwine Russky has gone mad ))
ReplyI see how everybody is buying radioactive Ukro-Bandera swine mugs, but where is the lard?
ReplyWhat do you need the lard for? Russian retirees already dumpster dive. Here's your lard ))
Reply94 Comment(s)
Then a Su-57 pops up, and the argument collapses...
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Yankie dumpster
ReplyMuscovite scum!
Reply94 Comment(s)
good
Reply94 Comment(s)
Prprrr
Reply94 Comment(s)
Russian scrap
ReplyWhat could there even be to discuss here; the special military operation has demonstrated what the Leopards, Abrams, etc. are all about. And the warplanes suck.
ReplySoon melting foundries will have to work three shifts to keep up with melting "the best weapons in the world!"
ReplyLOL ROFL
Reply94 Comment(s)