Since the military invasion of Ukraine, the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), the parent company of Russia’s main aircraft manufacturers, has withheld information regarding the production of military aircraft.
The state group publishes deliveries of fighters such as the Su-35S and Su-57 and the Su-34 attack plane, but without detailing quantities and digitally erasing their numbers, with the aim of hindering intelligence reports in the West.
This week, once again the UAC reported having delivered a “new batch” of the Su-35S fighter, but only one aircraft appears in the images.
Like previous jets, the Sukhoi is produced at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur facility in eastern Russia.
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“The Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant has reached a rhythmic pace of aircraft production as part of this year’s program. This is the second batch of combat vehicles sent to the Russian Aerospace Forces. Komsomolsk residents fulfill their obligations to deliver new aircraft on time and are working on creating new batches of Su-35 and Su-57 serial fighters,” said UAC Director General Yuri Slyusar.
Air base 450 km from Ukraine
Although Slyusar mentions the Su-57, since December the UAC has not claimed to have delivered the 5th generation stealth fighter, but nothing prevents this from happening away from the spotlight.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has officially ordered 76 Su-57s after receiving some pre-production aircraft. In 2023, the UAC would have delivered 12 of them, double what had been received by the Air Force in 2022.
The fighter even carried out missions in the conflict with Ukraine, the most recent in February, when it launched missiles and entered Ukrainian airspace.
According to reports, the Su-57s are stationed at Akhtubinsk Air Base, which is about 450 km from the Ukrainian border.
As the active fleet is estimated at just over 20 planes, it would not be surprising if only one air base is currently used.
