Russian Flanker Engages Italian F-35 Over Baltic Sea: How Does the Power Balance Stand?

<p >A video released on January 10 has shown an unknown Russian fighter engaging an Italian Air Force F-35A fighter over the Baltic Sea, with the two aircraft seen flying in close proximity. Little is known regarding the incident, with the class of Russian aircraft in question remaining unknown. It was confirmed, however, that the fighter was “a Russian Sukhoi,” and while the deployment of Su-24M or Su-34 strike fighters designed by Sukhoi to shadow NATO aircraft remains highly unlikely, deployment of the Su-27 and its <a href=" target="_blank">enhanced derivatives </a>the Su-30SM and Su-35S remains likely. Italy has been particularly active in deploying its sizeable and growing F-35 fleet to secure collective Western Bloc interests, including for air policing in Eastern Europe and for operations aimed at China and North Korea in East Asia. The country was the first European NATO member to deploy F-35s to Japan, with others such as the Netherlands following suit. The fifth generation F-35 is by far the most capable fighter fielded anywhere in the Western world, and has consistently <a href=" target="_blank">defeated all competition</a> in tenders in which it has been permitted to compete. </p><p ><img src=" title="Italian Air Force F-35 and Russian Air Force Su-30SM"></p><p >While the Chinese J-20 and FC-31 are considered<a href=" target="_blank"> fully peer level competitors</a> to the F-35, Russia relies on much older ‘4+ generation’ fighters that lack comparable levels of sophistication. Although lacking the F-35’s cutting edge avionics and stealth capabilities, the Russian Su-30SM and Su-35 nevertheless have a number of advantages. These include their far higher manoeuvrability levels at all speeds, their much larger radars well over twice the size of the F-35’s AN/APG-81, their ability to carry over twice as much ordinance in standard configuration, and their ranges which are close to double that of the American jet. The Russian fighters are nevertheless expected to face a tremendous disadvantage in combat if facing the F-35 in open conflict, with Russia as a result relying much more heavily on <a href=" target="_blank">ground based air defence systems </a>such as the S-400 to protect its airspace, with fighters playing more minor supporting roles. The Russian defence sector has also made considerable efforts to <a href=" target="_blank">increase the production</a> of its own fifth generation fighter, the Su-57, which represents a major leap in capabilities over the Su-30SM and Su-35, but has seen only a single battalion’s worth of aircraft produced so far. </p>