Reports that appeared last week revealed that Egypt is officially the first customer to buy Su-35 in the region. Defence Arabic published a report with reference to the contract of the deal.
Among the procurement documents that were published is a contract (CAIRO / N / AF / ROSOBORONEXPORT / 2018/10 (P / 1781811151143) which sites Egypt, making it officially the first customer of the Su-35 in the region.
According to reports, assembling the aircraft with serial number 06411, intended for delivery to Egypt, has begun at a plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant. The delivery of the first aircraft is planned before the end of 2020; the contract should be fully implemented by 2023.
TASS has also published similar reports siting a military-diplomatic source. “The production of the Su-35 has already begun at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant named after Gagarin, intended for delivery to the Egyptian Air Force under a contract concluded in 2018,” the source quoted by TASS said. At the same time, the source did not name the specific dates for the transfer of the first batch of Su-35: “the timing of the delivery first batch of aircraft to the Egyptian side has not yet been determined due to the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.”
There has been no official announcement of the signing of the contract yet, neither has there been any official confirmation of the information that has been circulating since last week.
The first customer of the Su-35 was China. The contract was signed in 2015, deliveries were fully completed in 2019. The head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) Dmitry Shugaev expressed his hope that China would decide to purchase an additional batch of Su-35.
Su-35 was created by the Design Bureau. P.O. Sukhoi as a development of the Su-27 fighter. General management of the creation of the aircraft was carried out by the General Designer of the Design Bureau M.P. Simonov. The development of a multi-purpose modification of the T-10M / Su-27M began in the early 1980s.
Between 1989-1994 a total of 12 prototypes of the Su-35 were produced, but in the late 1990s the program was discontinued.
In 2005, a decision was made to resume the development of the Su-35. The first prototype of the second generation Su-35 - the T-10BM aircraft board No. 901 - performed its first flight at the Gromov LII at the Ramenskoye airfield on February 19, 2008, by the pilot - Sergey Bogdan.
T-10M / Su-27M - an experimental prototype of the Su-35, based on serial copies of the Su-27. First flight on July 28, 1988. A total of 7 aircraft were produced.
Su-35 / T-10M-8 - pre-production of Su-35. 5 aircrafts were produced between 1992-1995.
Su-35 - serial aircraft, a total of 3 aircrafts were produced in 1995.
Su-37 / T-10M-11 - experimental aircraft Su-37 - fighter with engines with a controlled thrust vector, converted T-10M-11. The first flight as a Su-37 was on April 2, 1996
Su-35UB / T-10UBM - combat training aircraft Su-35, the first flight on August 7, 2000. The aircraft was created on the basis of the Su-30MKK and differs from it in other engines.
Su-35 / Su-35BM / T-10BM - prototypes of the Su-35 second generation. The aircraft lacks PGO, the glider is strengthened, the shape of the keels is changed - it has become more like the classic Su-27 shape, a new “board” is installed on the aircraft. A new type of engine was used - AL-41F1S / “product 117C”, which provides supersonic flight without afterburner. Engines are equipped with a controlled thrust vector. The first flight was completed on February 19, 2008.
Su-35S - serial aircraft of the second generation Su-35. Production of the series began in 2010 at KnAAPO (Komsomolsk-on-Amur). The first Su-35S made its first flight in Ramenskoye 07.07.2008
