Israeli media, citing sources in Western intelligence services, say that Iran may soon receive 24 Su-35 fighter jets from Russia. This is reported by the 12th channel of Israeli TV, as well as the sites i24news and Times of Israel.
Initially, Moscow intended to sell these aircraft to Egypt, but after the deal was thwarted by the US administration, a decision was made to supply Su-35s to Iran. Note that the Russian authorities unsuccessfully tried to sell the same planes to Algeria and Indonesia. Malaysia and India claimed these planes, but no agreement was reached.
In early December, sources in the Joe Biden administration told NBC News that in exchange for deliveries of kamikaze drones (primarily the Shahed-136), Russia is providing military technical support to Iran at an “unprecedented level,” which could include deliveries of helicopters and systems air defense. It was also noted that in the spring of 2022, Iranian pilots were trained in Russia to fly Su-35 fighters, which, according to White House sources, indicates that “Iran may start receiving these aircraft within the next (2023) year.”
Moscow and Tehran do not comment on these publications.
The Iranian Air Force is experiencing an acute shortage of modern combat aircraft. Obviously, dozens of Su-35s would not be superfluous for the Russian army, given the significant losses of flight equipment during the war against Ukraine.
The exact production cost of one Su-35 is unknown. However, according to the former commander-in-chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Colonel-General Viktor Bondarev, the cost of one Su-35 exceeds 1 billion rubles, that is, more than 14 million US dollars. Accordingly, 24 Su-35s cost at least $336 million (we emphasize that we are talking about the cost of one unit of this aircraft).
According to Western intelligence, Russia has already received about 1,700 drones from Iran and should receive another 300 soon. At the same time, the cost of one Shahed-136 kamikaze UAV (mostly the Russian army received them) is about 7,000 US dollars. That is, in total, these drones cost about 14 million US dollars (at best, this is the cost of one Su-35).
When the contract with Egypt was signed in 2018, Russia expected to sell 24 Su-35 fighters for $2 billion (including maintenance and spare parts). The cost of Iranian UAVs delivered to the Russian Federation does not come close to this amount. Therefore, reports of possible deliveries of 24 Su-35 aircraft to Iran are doubtful. Although it is possible that Iran will receive several of these fighters in the foreseeable future.
The media reported that Tehran is also counting on Russian air defense systems and assistance in developing its nuclear program. Apparently, this will depend on whether Iran will supply ballistic missiles and other weapons to the Russian Federation.
The Su-35 is a Russian multirole supermaneuverable 4++ generation thrust vector controlled fighter. Developed at the Sukhoi Design Bureau in 2008. Put into service in 2014. It is one of the main fighters of the military aviation of the Russian Federation. It has been actively used and is being used during the hostilities in Syria (since 2016) and in Ukraine (since February 24, 2022).