Meetings without obligations: Su-35C and F-16
The situation, of course, we honestly admit, is very far from combat, but this is already determined by those who meet in the skies near Taiwan. That is, pilots of the Republic of China Air Force and the PLA Air Force. And they, we note, are going all out, because this is also part of the war, albeit a bloodless one, which has been going on for several years now.
Therefore, the F-16, which is the Fighting Falcon, that is, the “Fighting Falcon” and the Su-35SE, which is simply an export Su-35S, are seen in the sky very often. Perhaps even more often than some politicians would like.
And it is quite logical that every such meeting, which increasingly looks like a duel, is watched by a huge number of eyes. And not only Chinese (in Taiwan, let me remind you, the Chinese live exactly the same as on the mainland), because this is really interesting, since F-16s are about to collide somewhere in the skies of Ukraine with almost the same Su- 35.
The key word, of course, is “almost.” The export model will be different from the one done “for oneself.”
In general, “Falcon” often meets “Sushka” in the air. The reasons and places are different, but the essence is the same. A demonstration of capabilities and strength of nerves, but even this happens in different ways.
But it’s not in vain that the media over the ocean are making such cautious forecasts from various generals (mostly retired, not bound by obligations with the Pentagon) that the F-16, once transferred to Kyiv, will not be able to radically change the situation. And they do this based on the results of these “meetings.”
We just don’t know, but our pilots more than often come into contact with foreign colleagues in the air. Over the waters of the Baltic, over the Pacific Ocean, over the Mediterranean Sea. So far, apart from a single seemingly accidental launch on a British plane, nothing of this kind has been recorded, but the question here is not about dropping, say, the Poseidon into the waves. Although in the waves of the Black Sea it would be very significant.
The American Air Force generally calls this entire air show a “secret air war.” In fact, it’s not just ours who are raging there, Chinese pilots are very willing to take part in all the “flight missions”, and lately there have been more and more reports that Iranian pilots are also not against showing off their teeth and missiles.
And if you consider that Su-35s are already being shipped to Iran under contract...
Here on the stage of the Middle Eastern theater, excuse me, there is not a gun hanging. There they hung a whole minigun with such a ribbon.
On the other hand, what is the political problem? No way, Chinese, Russian, Iranian pilots do not meet their American and other colleagues near the air border of Texas or California, right? I’m not referring here to politics at all, but to physics. Old Newton, God knows when he came up with the law that every action produces a reaction. The faster you run forward, the stronger the wind in your face. The more brazen the pilots of the US Air Force, US Navy, USMC and so on, the main thing is that with the prefix “USA” they pretend that they can fly wherever they want, the more likely it is that someone will decide to dissuade them from this.
But the hottest encounters take place over the warm waters of the East and South Chinese seas. It is there that you can most often see our heroes side by side, and this does not always happen quietly and gracefully. The intensity of passions is serious.
The most interesting thing is that, for a reason that is unclear to many, it is Russian-made aircraft, the Su-30MKK and Su-35SE, that can most often be seen in the air near Taiwan. It’s difficult to say why ours appear there more often than “native” Chinese fighters, but it is true. J-16s also participate, but J-20 is an absolutely rare guest.
The Air Force of the Republic of China includes the F-16. Initially series A and B, later series D was added to them, and then everything was modernized en masse to the level of the F-16 Block 70. Perhaps, today the Viper (as they call 70/72, the difference is only in the engines) is the best modification of the Fighting Falcon, which is available to operators outside the US. With new AN/APG-83 Scalable Agile Beam Radar, improved avionics, kit weapons and electronic warfare capabilities, the aircraft looks impressive. But - a veteran.
There’s nothing to say about the Su-35S; in principle, so much has already been said that it’s even somehow inconvenient. But there is a little Chinese trick here. It lies in the fact that the Su-35 is capable of taking containers on an external sling. And not simple ones, or, say, with electronic warfare equipment, no. In our case, containers filled with various reconnaissance equipment are more useful. Electronic reconnaissance is an area that requires a breakthrough in energy, and this is where aircraft engines are able to provide it.
Since last year, all visits by PLA Air Force fighters have two goals: the first is to calculate as accurately as possible the quantitative and qualitative composition of Taiwan’s air defense, the second is to test their developments in the field of electronic warfare in an environment that is exactly close to combat.
So, having received the Su-35 in 2015, already in 2018 the PLA Air Force used them in the Taiwan area. In general, things turned out interesting for the Su-35: in the Chinese Air Force they were assigned the role of naval fighters aviation, operating from the shore specifically in the Taiwan area. Then everything is clear: first, the 35th worked in terms of searching for anti-aircraft defense systems in Taiwan, drawing a certain map of capabilities, and then they began to work with the help of appropriate equipment, so to speak, in training mode.
In general, the PLA Air Force command very clearly defined the role of the Su-35 in its scheme for Taiwan. Here we can easily add anti-radar missiles, even if not ours, but Chinese ones, but nevertheless: the practice of the Northern Military District has shown that the Su-35 is a very unpleasant phenomenon in the life of any radar installations.
The ROK Air Force has no illusions, everyone understands everything perfectly well, both that the Taiwanese Air Force is inferior quantitatively, and that the Falcon is not at all a rival to the Sushka, but nevertheless, they are trying with all their might to show the capabilities of their Air Force.
We are considering this entire air circus solely from the point of view of the F-16, as a possible object of confrontation in the skies of Ukraine. They are threatening to deliver... Naturally, not blocks 70 or 72, which would be simpler, instead of being written off. They are flexing their muscles, but where do you want them to go? Back to your homeland, to your native harbor? As long as you don’t have the desire, as you know, you have to demonstrate your abilities.
To seriously consider the possibilities, an outside perspective is best. And here the opinion of Indian specialists, who are watching what is happening very closely, is very indicative. And, considering that India and China also have territorial claims, which from time to time result in border outrages somewhere high in the mountains, so, there is absolutely no need for Indians to love China; moreover, they are direct competitors in the Asia-Pacific region. So, despite the fact that India and Taiwan are separated by 4 thousand kilometers, the Indian military is closely monitoring what is happening. Simply because the Indo-Chinese border is nearby.
So, Indian specialists, who have absolutely nothing to love their Chinese neighbors for, do not make any nods towards the F-16. On the contrary, they view a possible collision between American and Russian cars very critically.
The main thing that Indians don’t like, oddly enough, is radar. Yes, the F-16V (this is the Taiwanese version of the aircraft) has a seemingly excellent radar with an active electronically scanned array (AESA / AFAR), but this is only half the story, because the Su-35S has a radar of exactly the same type, the Irbis E".
But the American system has a very decent cross-section, and the F-16's airframe is quite narrow. This led to the fact that the originally planned Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar (RACR) radar was inferior to its competitor, the AN/APG-83 SABR, which has smaller dimensions and, accordingly, capabilities. But the main thing is the chain: smaller size - fewer cells - easier to suppress.
It would be very interesting to read the reports of Chinese and Taiwanese pilots (this is humor) regarding the incident in August 2022, when four F-16Vs did not notice two Su-35s, which had almost already taken an advantageous position. That is, apparently, the Su-35 equipment was able to make the aircraft relatively invisible, at least for specific F-16V pilots.
Bad radars or good containers with electronic warfare is a question of several thousand dollars or even more.
In second place, Indian pilots place the superiority of the Su-35 in speed and maneuverability, which is due to the power of the engines (1 x 7900 kgf for the American aircraft and 2 x 8800 kgf for the Russian one) and the presence of a controlled thrust vector in our aircraft. Weight and size matter, but insofar as planes definitely can’t spin in a “dog dump,” that’s not how air battles happen today.
But the main thing is that, according to the Indian military, the situational awareness of the F-16 pilot is insufficient, 90% thanks to the radar. It’s difficult to say how deeply they understand what the essence is, but “Falcon” was turned away from their competition and adoption of the F-16 into service in the Indian Air Force was not even considered.
This means they know something.
Now the Taiwanese also know their “something”, because excuse me, when four pilots in an F-16 “missed” a pair of Su-35s, in the event of a conflict this would only mean one thing: a certain number (from 2 to 4) of Taiwanese aircraft I definitely wouldn’t have returned to the airfield. But these are problems that they will have to solve.
As for our topic, yes, for several years there has been a “fitting” of PLA Air Force aircraft (Russian and Chinese production) with the Kyrgyz Air Force aircraft (American and Taiwanese, respectively). And the balance here is not in favor of the Republic of China, because the PRC’s planes are simply better. And there are more of them.
We look at all this through the prism of Ukraine. There are such hopes that F-16s will arrive and... So what? And victory?
They have said more than once that no. The planes were just imported and hastily patched up, and similarly trained pilots won’t be able to do anything. Here you can again look at the Chinese, who spent three years flying their pilots on the Su-35 before sending them to Taiwan. Three years. But these are their own pilots and planes bought with the country’s money.
In the case of Ukraine, everything looks a little different: they give away planes for free, teach for free, everything is generally free. It is clear that they will not give away good things, this can be seen by how quickly the German vaunted ones go into repairs Tanks and self-propelled guns. An airplane is a much more complex mechanism; this won’t work with it.
There is some strange principle here: take everything and use it to the maximum. However, there is still a difference between a rocket and an airplane. A rocket (if it is not from Musk) is a disposable thing. One-time, let's say, application. An airplane is a completely different principle.
Of course, if the highest echelons of the Ukrainian government want to revive the tactics of kamikaze planes, and this is what is increasingly looking like what is happening, then all that remains is to throw up your hands and wait. What to expect? Yes, results, because just the other day Foreign Minister Kuleba said that his “good” diplomacy did not work, and now he plans to harshly ask the West for Patriot air defense systems and F-16 aircraft.
The nomenclature is clear, but it’s not entirely clear what it means to “ask harshly”? Demand? Who? And how will all this end in the end? Kyiv is already slowly starting to be sent to hell (hello, Taurus, right?), But if you start demanding... harshly...
No, it’s clear how it will end in the end. We will not consider the situation as a whole, but regarding our topic it will be simple: the F-16 is not at all a competitor to the Su-35, this has long been clear and understandable. And it will not be able to have any specific impact on the situation, even short-term (as in the case of the SCALP and Storm Shadow missiles). All the strengths and weaknesses of this honored veteran are too well known.
If with missiles we had to invent something on the fly and work out countermeasures under very tight time conditions (and in the West they admit that our military succeeded), then with the F-16 everything is much simpler, because the aircraft has been known for a long time. Since 1982, when Israeli F-16s were in full swing against Syrian MiGs, our advisers studied all the information received during the battles.
That is, the F-16 has been “under the radar” for more than 40 years, and there is hardly anything that is unknown about it. Hence the completely justified sarcasm regarding the fact that this aircraft (not the latest modifications) will be able to make some kind of difference in the confrontation between the two armies.
At the very least, all the other “novas” gave only temporary success, although, it must be admitted, sometimes this success was quite impressive.
In our case, there is some kind of misunderstanding. It seems that all the dots have been dotted, and even more so, the i’s have been dotted, and the Ukrainian Air Force has absolutely nothing to show for it. In fact, I would even bet on the Taurus than the Falcons. At the very least, they could do some damage while ours calculated the German missiles and issued recommendations on them.
But for some reason, the Ukrainians are begging for planes with manic persistence. Which are doomed in advance. Our air defense knows them very well, and the pilots know them. The question arises “why?”, and in such a way that no sane answer is expected.
Maybe someone from the readership has thoughts? It would be interesting to get acquainted with the case when “many heads - many minds.” The Armed Forces of Ukraine already have tanks that are useless, there are self-propelled guns that cannot be repaired, there are armored personnel carriers that do not perform their functions, there are AMXs that are completely unclear what and why. What's next? NATO has long been ticking boxes where equipment is noted that has not been tested in real combat, if only for this?
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