US F-15 faces dangerous competition with Russia's Sukhoi Su-35

US fighter aircraft F-15C Eagle may face serious competition with Russian fighter Sukhoi Su-35 (Flanker-E), US experts say.

According to The National Interest, the powerful F-15s has seen a number of modernizations during the recent years because of growing threats. Russia's Su-35 fighter jet is not the most common potential threat for the F-15, but there is a chance for the number of the Russian aircraft to grow rapidly.  

"The Su-35 is a genuinely dangerous war machine, and in many metrics, it matches or even exceeds the capabilities of the latest upgrades for the F-15. In terms of pure kinematic performance, the Su-35 is slightly slower than the F-15C in terms of max speed but it can out accelerate the Eagle with its powerful twin Saturn Izdeliye 117S engines, which put out 31,900lbs of thrust each. Further, when the jet is relatively lightly loaded, it can maintain supersonic speeds without the use of its afterburners," Dave Majumdar wrote in the article.

Sukhoi Su-35 can also carry on board an impressive arsenal of air-to-air missiles, while the F-15 is equipped with outdated defense electronics. The US Air Force is well aware of the problem, thereby paying much attention to the modernization of the $7.6 billion EPAWSS system for the F-15.

"The real dilemma is that the Su-35 and the current day F-15 Eagle are comparable-and that's what is worrisome for the U.S. Air Force. The service is used to fighting adversaries where it has a huge technological advantage-against the Su-35 that deficit does not exist and the Flanker-E even has some advantages over the Eagle," the author wrote. 

Pravda.Ru 

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