Key Points – Despite Iran finalizing a deal with Russia in 2023 to purchase advanced Su-35 “Flanker-E” fighter jets, these much-vaunted aircraft have been conspicuously absent from the skies during Israel’s recent devastating air campaign.
-Israel’s “Operation Rising Lion” has highlighted the obsolescence of Iran’s air force, which relies on aging American F-14s and F-4s from the 1970s.
-While Iran was expected to receive the Su-35s to counter technologically superior adversaries, reports suggest the jets may have been diverted elsewhere.
-Their absence underscores Iran’s inability to contest Israeli air dominance, leaving its military and nuclear infrastructure vulnerable.
Iran’s Su-35 Fighter: Nowhere to Be Seen
Despite media reports on a deal with Russia for the advanced fourth-generation fighter jets, they’re nowhere to be seen in Iran, despite Israel’s devastating air campaign.
Russia’s much-vaunted Su-35 jets, fourth-generation aircraft that are, on paper at least, formidable, are nowhere to be seen in the skies above Iran despite the intense and ongoing Israeli air campaign.
This is despite several reports over the previous two years that Iran would soon accept the Russian jets into service.
Reuters reported on the finalization of the deal with Russia in 2023, though that agreement between Tehran and Moscow did not appear to include payment for the advanced fighter jets.
“Plans have been finalised for Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, Mil Mi-28 attack helicopters, and Yak-130 jet trainers to join the combat units of Iran’s Army,” Reuters quoted Iran’s Deputy Defense Minister Mehdi Farahi as saying.
The Israeli air campaign against Iran is still underway. With virtually no air defense systems intact, much of Iranian airspace — including the airspace over the capital, Tehran, is uncontested, though Iran apparently still possesses some long-range munitions. Those weapons Iranian forces are launching in salvoes at Israel from Iran have been a priority for the Israeli Air Force after establishing dominance in the air.
Old — and not Gold
Iran operates a relatively small air force, one that is made up of particularly old and outdated aircraft.
One of these, the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, is a twin-engine, long-range fighter-bomber that the United States relied heavily on during the Vietnam War.
Although the plane excelled during that war and enjoyed a strongly positive combat record, the Phantom’s ability to survive the rigors of modern air warfare against the Israeli Air Force’s very capable F-35I stealth fighter, or the IAF’s F-16I and F-15I jets, is extremely low.
In 2018, Iran reportedly began production of the Kowsar fighter jet, a locally made copy of the United States F-5 light fighter with updated electronics. The original F-5 first entered service with the United States Navy in the 1960s.
The IRIAF, or the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, also operates the F-14 Tomcat, an American swept-wing carrier fighter initially sold to the Imperial Iranian Air Force before the Iranian Revolution in 1979. The United States Navy retired their F-14s in 1991.
The jet’s combat record was positive during the Iran-Iraq War; however, Tehran’s ability to sustain and maintain the aircraft is hindered by a dearth of spare parts, a consequence of American embargoes against Iran and the shuttering of the F-14’s parts production lines.
Iran also operates the MiG-29 air superiority fighter, the Chengdu J-7, Mirage F1 fighters, and the Sukhoi Su-22 and Su-24 ground attack aircraft.
“Whenever necessary, we make military purchases to strengthen our air, land, and naval forces. … The production of military equipment has also accelerated,” the deputy Coordinator of the Khatam-ol-Anbia Central Headquarters said, according to Reuters.
“If the enemy acts foolishly, it will taste the bitter taste of being hit by our missiles, and none of its interests in the occupied territories will remain safe,” Shadmani warned a direct reference to Israel, Iran’s number one geopolitical adversary. That theory has not aged particularly well, however, in light of Israel’s intense and highly successful air campaign against the Iranian military.
Nowhere to Be Seen
“Since the United Nations weapons embargo on Iran ended in October 2020, contacts have grown between Moscow and Tehran over renewed arms sales, furthered by Iranian weapon sales to Russia for the latter’s war on Ukraine,” the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think tank, said earlier this year.
“Iran was reportedly first interested in the Sukhoi Su-30SM Flanker H as a replacement for its ageing Grumman F-14 Tomcat fighter aircraft bought in the 1970s. The Su-35 would also be a credible replacement for the F-14 or the similarly aged McDonnell Douglas F-4D/E Phantoms that remain in Iran’s inventory.”
Given that the two countries share geopolitical adversaries, namely the United States, their partnership is one of convenience — and has been bolstered thanks to the war in Ukraine and the Iranian transfer of drone technology to Russia.
However, according to the IISS, the Su-35s destined initially for Iran may be deployed elsewhere in the Middle East. “In November 2024, Flug Revue published a report that claimed the first two Su-35 aircraft had finally been delivered to Iran. While the number of ‘Egyptian’ paint scheme Su-35s visible at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur site has reduced slightly in recent months, imagery of only a single aircraft in Algeria has been captured.”
Su-35: What Happens Now?
So, while Iran may have received a small number of Su-35s, they have not made an outside impact on the course of hostiles in Iran, at least this far.
But given the overwhelming air superiority exercised by the Israeli Air Force, that fighter — if it is in Iran at all — is highly unlikely to tip the balance of power in Iran’s favor.
Whether the country receives Russian fighters in the future is an open, but probably unlikely, question.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. He also covers the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
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Doyle-A
June 18, 2025 at 8:39 am
Su-35 is obsolete, is easily ten years too late, and not at all competitive with rival fighters except old old MiGs and old old mirage jets.
Yet, like the t-64, the su-35 has been held in high regard by western expert analysts.
The Su-35 has no AESA, no 360° situational awareness, no second crewman to handle satcom links and no effective EM suite to confront radar-guided SAMs.
In ukraine, several su-35s have been lost due to above deficiencies.
Iran would be better off buying chinese aircraft but china has been reluctant to sell due to serious threats of all-blanketing western sanctions.