Su-30 vs. F-35: They finally met!
Konkan 2025 exercises. Held biennially to "strengthen the joint naval and air force capabilities of India and the UK on the high seas." More precisely, it was stated that the exercises have been held biennially since 2004, but for the first time in stories British and Indian carrier strike groups participated in them together. Nothing special, really, unless you're familiar with the ins and outs of what's called an "exercise."
But underneath, everything is very complicated. I think I don't need to explain that such exercises aren't just "blue" on "green"—they're highly regulated and step-by-step events with no room for improvisation. Usually, no. But there are exceptions that yield stunning insights.
Thus, representatives of the Indian Navy and the Royal Navy conducted tactical air warfare, beyond visual range air combat and air defence exercises involving carrier-based fighters, helicopters and coastal maritime surveillance aircraft.
Since this will be a common thread throughout the narrative and will be reflected in the conclusions, I'll emphasize that the exercises were somewhat... clumsy. Mainly because the British AUG fleet consisted of the aircraft carrier Prince of Wales, accompanied by the destroyer Dauntless and the frigate Richmond.
There's a double meaning here: on the one hand, there's no point in dragging a fully-fledged strike group halfway around the world for the sake of exercises; on the other, the Royal Navy doesn't have one. The British are seriously short on ships; all combat-ready ones have been sent to distant shores to "show the flag," while Russian ships that suddenly appeared near British territorial waters were being pulled out of repairs. This resulted in the Admiral Kulakov crew's outrageous mockery of supposedly more modern ships, which unsuccessfully attempted to intercept the Russian vessel.
But let's return to the Indian Ocean
The Indian Navy deployed the aircraft carrier Vikrant, the destroyers Surat and Mormugao, and the frigates Tabar and Teg. It was precisely this numerical superiority that led to India becoming the "attacker." It should be noted that the Indian destroyers of the Visakhapatnam class, of which Surat and Mormugao are part, were commissioned this year. In terms of combat capabilities, they are far more powerful than the British Daring-class frigates, not to mention the older Type 23 frigates.
The Daring-class destroyers are overtly defensive ships, with an emphasis on Defense, 48 missiles "Aster" is a good idea, though it's not a panacea for everything. That's why the Indians attacked and the British defended, and to even the odds, the emphasis was on using aircraft as the primary air defense force. It happens, of course, that an aircraft carrier finds itself alone in the middle of the ocean, without cover. It's somewhat reminiscent of the conditions for hand-to-hand combat between our paratroopers, but that's how it works.
And considering that the Prince of Wales is a complete and utter failure in terms of air defense, three Phalanxes is a joke these days, so yes, indeed, in such a dire situation, the only thing you can rely on is aircraft. Well, let's see what they learned in those exercises.
Tactical air combat in the naval context refers to operations in which carrier-based and naval air control assets suppress or destroy enemy air threats, protect friendly ships and forces, and engage surface targets.
Beyond visual range combat is a clash in which weapon It is launched and guided to a target at a distance beyond the firing party's visual range, and interaction occurs via sensors and data links. Both sides participating in the exercise also practiced naval air defense operations, focusing on detecting and intercepting simulated enemy aircraft or missiles before they threaten or engage friendly or friendly ships.
The exercises are being conducted in two phases. The maritime phase includes operational exercises, focusing on air defense, anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare, and flight operations.
In short, it was a wall-to-wall battle, but with a ton of restrictions. The British naval armament group was frankly clueless, except aviationWhile the British Merlin and Wildcat helicopters can be compared to the Indian Ka-31 and MH-60, the fact that the F-35B is absolutely no match for the Indian carrier-based MiG-29K is undeniable. The MiG-29 is weaker than the F-35B in almost every way, and the Indians didn't want to lose, even in a mock battle. This is understandable.
And so the cunning Indians decided to complicate the task a little: instead of the MiG-29Ks from the Vikrant, the Su-30MKIs of the naval aviation were sent into battle.
It must be said that the British side (according to the Indian side) did not receive the proposal with much enthusiasm: such experiments very often end in deafening blows to one's reputation, and here the British themselves have done a good job of improving their image by scattering broken F-35Bs across Asia.
However, they agreed: on the one hand, it was interesting to actually test their aircraft in a training battle with the not-so-weak Russian ones, on the other hand, the Prince of Wales's campaign turned out to be frankly dull and dreary, and it would be nice to add some spice to this dullness.
They added... And the result was not a Mumbai curry, but an airy nightmare, clearly not mixed according to a British recipe.
It all began with relatively calm skirmishes in the usual 1v1 or 2v2 style. Nothing new happened here; the F-35B, taking advantage of its stealth, simply kept the Indian aircraft at a safe distance, preventing them from reaching the attack line. But if the Indian pilot managed to confuse his British counterpart with maneuvers and break into the "close" combat zone (30-50 km), then, of course, the F-35B would run into trouble.
Indian media eagerly reported on the Su-30's superior maneuverability to the F-35B, and that if the Su-30 managed to get close enough to the F-35B, it would be the end of the feathered fighter. However, more sober-minded experts noted that it would be necessary to actually break into the zone where the Su-30 was starting to wreak havoc.
Overall, the two sides gained a wealth of information regarding the clash of two different schools of thought—one focused on speed and maneuverability, the other on stealth. Since both sides were learning so much, the British and Indian commanders decided to expand the exercise program. Fighting aircraft from two different schools and generations was a fascinating experience for everyone. It's truly not something that happens every day, especially in a situation where every second of the battle can be analyzed down to the last second.
And here's what happened in the end, as reported by the oldest Indian publication, The Times of India: six F-35Bs from the 617th Squadron, stationed on board an aircraft carrier, eight Su-30MKIs, and an A-50EI AWACS aircraft took part in training battles on October 17-18.
The scenario: a group of Indian aircraft is to detect a British aircraft carrier and attack it with BrahMos anti-ship missiles. The air group is to prevent this. Why only aircraft? It's simple. The carrier only has short-range missiles on deck, while the destroyer is armed with Aster 30 missiles, which have a range of 120 km. But here's the rub: the Darling-class destroyers' air defense system, PAAMS, has an effective range of 80 km.
No, the Aster is a very good missile, the only question is how effective its radar seeker is at a range of 40 km from the target. Some say it's not very effective.
At the same time, the BrahMos anti-ship missiles that the Indian aircraft were supposed to fire have a combined trajectory range of 300 km, and a low-altitude trajectory range of 120 km.
This creates an untenable situation: escort ships cannot effectively counter the Su-30s at a range of 120 km, while Indian aircraft can easily launch missiles at low altitudes. All hope lies with the aircraft, which must detect the Indian Su-30s and prevent them from reaching their launch range.
Six fifth-generation fighters against eight fourth-generation ones, backed by a generally less-than-modern AWACS aircraft. We'll never be told how and who determined the balance of power, but in my opinion, it's somewhat skewed toward the British. Radars on the newest British ship and on aircraft touted as some of the most powerful in the world—that's quite a feat. And, in general, the gap between the Su-30 and the F-35 is almost 20 years, and if you take the Su-27 as a base, even longer.
And the British pilots squeezed everything they could out of their aircraft. Predictably, the British ships' air defenses were unable to respond to the threat of the Indian Su-30s, but the F-35s were able to partially intercept and even simulated the destruction of a pair of Su-30s before reaching the attack line. However, there are no details of the plan; this pair of aircraft may have been performing a diversionary maneuver, and while the British chased the first pair, the other three calmly launched BrahMos missiles, which the carrier's air defenses were unable to repel.
Unfortunately, the F-35Bs were no help, and the Prince of Wales was hypothetically hit by BrahMos missiles. In reality, if all six Su-30s had fired a salvo of BrahMos missiles, which would have amounted to between six and 18 missiles (in our case, each Su-30 likely carried two anti-ship missiles, for a total of 12), any aircraft carrier would have been in for a rough ride. After all, a 450-kilogram warhead is more than a considerable amount.
Why did this happen?
Indian experts vied with each other to say that at long ranges, the F-35B had a definite advantage thanks to its AIM-120C-7 AMRAAM missiles and powerful AN/APG-81 radar, but at medium ranges, it lost this advantage because the Su-30s also began to see them perfectly well.
The turning point in the fighting was the addition of an A-50 aircraft to the Su-30, which, from a safe distance, perfectly illuminated everything happening on the British ship. Moreover, the Prince of Wales, unlike its American counterparts, did not have its own AWACS aircraft. This mission (as on our Kuznetsov, by the way) was assigned to Merlin helicopters, which the Indian pilots disabled in the first minutes of the battle, exploiting all the shortcomings of this large and slow helicopter. The R-37M missiles, which the Su-30MKI carries, are ideally suited for this purpose.
Of course, the results of these exercises will be analyzed by experts at various levels for a long time to come, but certain conclusions can already be drawn:
1. The fifth generation aircraft does not have a total advantage over the fourth generation aircraft.
2. Aircraft carriers are becoming increasingly vulnerable to missile weapons, no matter where they are based.
3. The role of air defense of the AUG escort ships increases as the speed and range of the anti-ship missiles increases.
4. A range of ship-based air defense of less than 150 km cannot be considered sufficiently effective in our time.
5. Stealth versus maneuverability will be a subject of discussion for a long time.
6. The role of AWACS aircraft is becoming increasingly important, especially for naval groups.
Overall, it will be very difficult for a strike group of any level, from any country, to defeat an adversary armed with modern AWACS aircraft and supersonic anti-ship missiles. While aircraft like the F-35B are a great asset, a strike group is an entire complex that is quite challenging to defend.
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