Russia has received another batch of Sukhoi Su-35S fighters, continuing a series of deliveries whose actual size has become increasingly difficult to determine since the invasion of Ukraine.
United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) announced the latest handover on August 27, saying the aircraft had completed factory testing at Komsomolsk-on-Amur before flying to their operational base.
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As has become standard practice, the Russian state-owned manufacturer did not disclose how many aircraft were included in the batch.
The delivery is the third publicly announced batch of Su-35S fighters for the Russian Aerospace Forces in 2026. Previous handovers were announced on April 17 and May 26.
Official imagery from the first delivery showed two aircraft. Images released with subsequent announcements also provide only limited evidence of the actual number delivered.
The practice makes counting Russian fighter production increasingly difficult. Aircraft markings are frequently absent or obscured in official material, while photos and videos released by UAC do not necessarily show every aircraft included in a handover.
Seven batches in 2025
The uncertainty is particularly evident when examining deliveries during 2025. UAC announced seven Su-35S batches between March 29 and December 25. Handovers were also announced on May 12, June 25, August 21, September 24 and November 1.
At least some can be quantified from the available imagery. Militarnyi identified two aircraft in the May batch, which it described as the third and fourth newly built Su-35S delivered that year. Two fighters were also visible in imagery from the June handover.
For other batches, the evidence is less conclusive. UAC footage from the November delivery showed at least two aircraft, while images associated with some handovers appear to have been taken at different times.
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That has produced widely different estimates for 2025. Some analysts has cited figures ranging from a minimum of seven aircraft — effectively assuming at least one fighter per announced batch — to estimates of 15 or as many as 21.
The higher figures generally assume two or three aircraft per batch. However, the available UAC imagery does not consistently support that assumption, and individual deliveries may have contained only one aircraft.
The safest conclusion from public information is therefore that at least seven Su-35S were delivered in 2025, while the actual number was higher. Available imagery confirms multiple two-aircraft batches but does not provide enough evidence to establish a definitive annual total.
Deliveries increased after invasion
Russia has continued producing the Su-35S at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant despite Western sanctions and wartime demand for combat aircraft.
Four batches were announced in 2024. Militarnyi has estimated that approximately 15 aircraft may have been delivered that year, although this figure also relies partly on assessments of batch sizes rather than a complete set of individually identified aircraft.
The picture is clearer for 2022. Seven Su-35S were reported delivered that year, comprising three aircraft in September and four in December.
Earlier production was covered by contracts whose quantities were publicly known. An initial order signed in 2009 covered 48 Su-35S fighters, all delivered by the end of 2015. A second contract for 50 aircraft was completed in 2020.
Another contract was signed in August 2020, followed by an agreement believed to cover 24 aircraft in 2021. The first four fighters associated with the latter order were delivered in December 2022.
A subsequent contract placed after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine is understood to cover the aircraft currently being produced. Unlike earlier orders, its quantity has not been disclosed.
UAC has said the Komsomolsk-on-Amur plant is working to increase Su-35S production, with further expansion planned by 2028.
At least nine Su-35S visually documented as lost
New production is also replacing aircraft lost during the war.
Open-source equipment loss tracker Oryx currently lists nine Russian Su-35S fighters as destroyed since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Its count includes only aircraft for which photographic or video evidence of the loss is available.
The actual number could therefore be higher. One of the most recent losses occurred on July 8, 2026, when the Ukrainian Air Force reported shooting down a Su-35 on the eastern front.
Video subsequently released by Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps showed the aircraft falling and wreckage at the crash site. Open-source analysts geolocated the site near Mostky in Ukraine's Luhansk region, about 42 km (26 miles) from the front line.
The pilot reportedly ejected and survived. The exact circumstances of the shootdown have not been independently established.
The loss came only weeks before the latest Russian delivery and illustrates why determining the size of the Su-35S fleet from production announcements alone is increasingly difficult.
UAC has now announced 14 batches for the Russian Aerospace Forces since the beginning of 2024 — four in 2024, seven in 2025 and three so far in 2026. Those announcements establish the frequency of deliveries, but not the number of aircraft involved.
