Defence in brief: Third Su-35S delivery to Russia

Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has delivered a batch of Su-35S fighter aircraft to the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS), according to a 25th June press release. This is the third delivery that the company has reported this year and appears to have included either two or three aircraft according to the video released on Telegram. 

The second batch was delivered in May and is thought to have included two aircraft, and the first in March possibly included two or three. This indicates a potential delivery this year of between six and eight Su-35S already. 

We are also increasing production efficiency. By 2030, we plan to increase labor productivity by 30%. This work enables us to use existing resources to ensure large volumes of production under the state defense order, which is growing this year and will exceed the high figures of last year,” UAC CEO Vadim Badekha, said. This indicates that the company is working to exceed its production output from 2024, which saw three batches delivered. 

The number of aircraft in those batches is unknown, but assuming a mixture of 2-3 Su-35S per delivery, the 2024 output suggests that up to nine were delivered to the VKS with that year’s production presumably contributing to the first delivery this year. 

Calibre comment

In addition to those in service at the time, the Russian MoD signed for 30 Su-35S in 2020 bringing the total number of contracted Su-35S up to 128, 98 of them having already been delivered to the VKS at the time. Taking the reported batches from 2022 to 2025 together, there is potential for between 20 and 30 Su-35S to have been delivered to the VKS in the past three years.  At least five Su-35S have been lost in Ukraine, both to Ukrainian forces and friendly fire, which suggests that the total in-service fleet could be around 150. 

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on 27th June, 2025. UAC is the credit for the lead image.