Russia has highly likely lost at least four Su-35 combat jets in Ukraine within the last 10 days, taking its attrition to about 255 since the beginning of its invasion, the British military said on Monday.
There is a realistic possibility that the uptick in losses was partially a result of the Russian Air Force accepting greater risk in a move to provide close air support to Russian ground forces under pressure from Ukrainian advances, the Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence on Twitter.
Russian pilots’ situational awareness is often poor, it said. “There is a realistic possibility that some aircraft have strayed over enemy territory and into denser air defence zones as the front lines have moved rapidly.”
The open source intelligence Oryx blog claimed 24 Su-35s had been downed in combat by Ukrainian forces. This figure is plausible as visual media confirm the loss of two dozens of Su-35s over Ukraine as of mid-August. Just over 100 Su-35s were in Russian service prior to the invasion.
The Su-35S officially entered service in 2014, and its conceivable aircraft delivered to China in 2016-2018 exhibited teething issues.
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