Iran to Operationalise Russian Su-35 Fighters By Year’s End – Reports

<p >The Iranian Air Force is scheduled to operationalise Russian Su-35 ‘4++ generation’ fighter aircraft before the end of 2025, according to reports from a number of sources. This information follows reports in November 2024 that the Air Force had <a href=" target="_blank">begun construction</a> of new hardened facilities for the aircraft at its 3rd Tactical Air Base located 47 kilometres north of Hamedan – a facility colloquially known as Hamedan Air Base. This occurred a year after Iranian Deputy Defence Minister Mehdi Farahi <a href=" >confirmed</a> in November 2023 that the country had finalised plans to receive <a href=" >Mi-28 attack helicopters</a>, <a href=" >Su-35 fighter aircraft</a> and Yak-130 fighter/trainers from Russia. Reports of an agreement between Tehran and Moscow for the supply of Su-35s were first reported in mid-2022, with the transfer expected to help offset some of the tremendous costs of the large quantities of Iranian armaments that have been supplied to Russia for its war effort in Ukraine. These supplies have included major technology transfers and support to facilitate licensed production of Iranian drones, most notably the Shahed-136, in Russia.</p><p ><img src=" title="Russian Air Force Su-35 Fighter"></p><p >The dimensions of new hangers at Hamedan Air Base, which are far too large for the requirements of the Vietnam War era F-4 fighters currently based there, have strengthened the consensus that the facility will host Su-35s. Located in the west of the country, the base is well positioned to allow a Su-35 squadron to quickly respond to threats of air incursions from the country’s regional archival Israel, or from NATO member Turkey. The base is also located near the capital Tehran and several key nuclear facilities. The Su-35’s wide combat radius of over 2000 kilometres also allows the aircraft to project power overland deep into the Middle East, or to loiter across the Straits of Hormuz. There remains a significant possibility that Su-35s will be split between two or more facilities, allowing them to cover more regions of the country and limiting the fleet’s vulnerability to strikes on any particular one. The heavily fortified Eagle 44 underground airbase <a href=" >first unveiled</a> in early February 2023 also appears to have been <a href=" >built to accommodate</a> Su-35s. A benefit of dispersing Su-35s is that they can use their modern sensors to serve as force multipliers for units deploying older fighters such as F-4Es and F-14s with obsolete sensors.</p>