Today we present to our readers a comparison of the two of the most powerful jet fighters that are serving their individual as well as two of the world’s dominating fighting powers. The names of these jet fighters are the F-22 Raptor that serves for the US military while its rivals names is Su-35 Flanker-E which serves for the Russian army. As it has always been with comparison of the jet fighters,; the places where F-22 makes its mark, Su-35 seems to be outshined and were Su-35 excels, F-22 Raptor shies away.
Be what may the case; a stalemate of sorts between these two state of the art aircraft, it is still fun to make a comparison of Su-35 Flanker-E VS F-22 Raptor.
History of both aircraft:-
As far as the public record goes, there has only been one reported dogfight between these two jet fighters to this date and that too was back in December of 2017 when 2 of the F-22 Raptors engaged in a dogfight with 2 of the Su-35 Flanker-E. The engagement happened between these aircraft over the Syrian airspace after the Russian invades the de-confliction line and entered the territory claimed by the US.
The American F22 Raptors fired their warning flares and at one point there was about to be a mid-air collision of these aircraft as well. But to everyone’s relief for not causing a major intentional issue, Russian fighters turned back to home. Before going on our comparison further, we have gathered a few of the key points for both US-35 and F-22 which are as follows.
- Su-35 is not only bigger and faster but it also has an impressive range.
- F-22 might it be bigger but it is still virtually undetectable making it ale to target the enemies without ever being in sight.
- Su-35 is equipped with advanced external weapons that give it better chances of winning in a dogfight.
- Just below the F-35 Lightning II, F-22 Raptor has the best avionics fitted in it as compared to any other US fighter jet. F-22 pilots are also highly trained and experienced.
Background Intro:-
Su-35 Flanker-E:
The Su-35 or better known as Sukhoi Su-35 with its NATO designation Flanker-E is the Russian single seat and twin-engine multirole jet fighter. The design of this aircraft is based on its predecessor fighter jet; the Su-27 Flanker. The first ever Su-35 entered the Russian Air Force for active duty back in 2007.
F-22 Raptor:
The F-22 Raptor built by the famed Lockheed Martin is considered to be the best and most advanced jet fighter to be ever built apart from F-35; thus making it the epitome of the air superiority fighter. The aircraft was built by the Lockheed Martin with one view alone; an aircraft that had capabilities that were never before seen. The aircraft is unmatched in its stealth, high seed, its amazing maneuverability, its state of the art avionics and its weapons. It entered the servicer of USAF back in 2005.
Armaments:-
The big question that has always been raised about these two fighters is that who would win in a direct dogfight? The answer might be harsh for the F-22 lovers but it would straight up lose in a dogfight against the Su-35 and the reason is simple; because F-22 Raptor is not built for direct confrontations. The weapons that it has, are held by it internally. F-22 is built with an intention to have a surprise element over its enemies. With its radar and stealth technologies, it is designed to strike down an enemy target long before it could be seen.
Su-35 Flanker-E has the following weaponry:
- 12 hardpoints that have 2 station racks
- A built-in 30 mm Gun
- High-efficiency weapons for both air-to-air and air-to-surface confrontations with enemy targets. it also has some long-range weapons as well
- It contains the following long-range missiles.
- R-27ER1(R1)
- R-27ET(T1)
- R-27EP(P1)
- RVV-AE
- R-73E
F-22 Raptor has following weaponry:
- A 20 mm M61A2 Vulcan Cannon
- 8 of the AMRAAM or Sidewinder missiles for air superiority missions carried internally
- 2 1000 lbs each JDAMs or 8 of the 250 lbs each bombs for ground support missions kept internally
- For special missions, the aircraft has 4 hardpoints on the unnerving for either fuel pods or for extra ordinance. Using these additional hardpoints reduces the stealth of the F-22.
Stealth & Radar:-
In reality, Su-35 has the ability to detect the F-22 from close range by making use of its Infra-Red Search and Tracking (IRST) and its Irbis-E radar system. However, both of these sensors must be pointed on an exact right portion of the sky from where the aircraft has a chance f tracking the F-22. But as for F-22 Raptor, it knows long before as to where the Su-35 will be and in fact, it can detect the enemy aircraft from a long range and can position itself for engagement with its superior kinematics.
The thing that makes the F-22 raptor to be virtually undetected by an enemy visually as well as by radar from both sides is due to its radar technology. F-22 is able to reduce its visibility by confusing the enemy’s radar detection with help of its AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array) radar technology. This specific AESA radar fitted in F-22 is the Northrop Grumman’s AN/APG-77 that works by projecting agile frequency beams allowing the F-22 to make evasions from combat quickly.
Cost:-
When it comes to cost, the F-22 Raptor is far above when compared with the F-35. The cost of a single F-22 Raptor including its Research & Development costs is about 334 million dollars and all of its capabilities do make the price worth it. Still, the production order 0f 700 of these F-22s had to be cut short by USAF after having budget cuts. At the moment there are only 183 of these Raptors serving the USAF.
While the Su-35 seems to be a costly 4th generation jet fighter, its price is still nothing when compared with F-22 Raptor. There is no official price tag of the Su-35 but the experts priced the aircraft without its research and development costs to be at about 55 to 65 million dollars.
Size:-
When it comes to size, Su-35 Flanker-E is undoubtedly bigger in every aspect as compared to the F-22 Raptor.
| F-22 Raptor | Su-35 Flanker “E” | |
| Wingspan | 44 feet, 6 inches (13.6 meters) | 50 feet 2 inches (15.3 meters) |
| Length | 62 feet, 1 inch (18.9 meters) | 71 feet 8 inches (21.9 meters) |
| Height | 16 feet, 8 inches (5.1 meters) | 19 feet 4 inches (5.9 meters) |
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