Four Sukhoi Su-30SM (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) multipurpose fighter jets were delivered to a Russian Air Force's Western Military District air regiment based near Kursk in southwest Russia in late April, the district’s press office said.

Russia Western Military District air regiment receives new Su 30SM 001 A VVS Su-30SM fighter jet
(Credit: Russian Ministry of Defense)

"The Western Military District’s air regiment stationed in the Kursk Region has received the first batch of 4+ generation Su-30SM multipurpose fighter jets this year," the press office said.

"The four planes were accepted at the manufacturing plant in Irkutsk [in East Siberia] and performed a flight, covering a distance of more than 5,000 kilometers [3,107 miles]," the press office added.

According to the press office, the planes will replace Mikoyan MiG-29SMT (Fulcrum) fighter jets.

The Su-30SM multirole two-seat fighter jet is a further derivative of the Su-30MKI plane and the latest version of the baseline Su-30 aircraft.

The Su-30SM plane’s weapons and radar, communications and identification friend-or-foe systems have been improved to meet the Russian Defense Ministry’s requirements.

The first contracts for the delivery of Su-30SM fighter jets to Russia’s Armed Forces were signed in 2012.

The Su-30SM is designed to gain air supremacy, block a simulated enemy’s airfields at long range and eliminate ground, aerial and seaborne targets.

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