During another NATO provocation that was staged near the Russian borders, the Su-30SM fighter carried out the first recorded attack on a NATO F-35 fighter. The Russian fighter used the Khibiny airborne complex for the manoeuvre.
The pilot of the F-35 fighter later noted that it was the first time he had to confront a Russian Su-30SM fighter aircraft, Avia.pro reports.
When the F-35 fighter covertly attempted to approach Russia's western borders, a Russian Su-30SM fighter jet appeared next to the NATO aircraft all of a sudden. After several attempts to drive the fifth-generation aircraft away from the Russian borders, the Su-30SM unexpectedly used the Khibiny onboard complex against the F-35 (the Khibiny is a standard non-lethal weapon of the Russian fighter). This led to a partial loss of control over the NATO aircraft.
The incident did not end with the use of the weapon. Having lost control over the F-35, the pilot of the Russian aircraft began to take dangerous actions against the NATO fighter.
The incident ended as quickly as it started - the Russian fighter jet returned to the airbase, and the NATO fighter was forced to return to the airbase in Estonia.
Noteworthy, after the incident, the Alliance countries stopped using fifth-generation fighters near the Russian borders, not to provoke the Russian Aerospace Forces to a tougher action.