MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The fighter aviation division of the Russian Southern Military District received four Su-30SM (NATO reporting name Flanker-C) fighter aircraft on Friday, the district’s press service said.
"Today, four of the newest Su-30SM fighters arrived at the fighter aviation division of the Southern Military District, located in the Rostov Region. The planes flew over 4,000 kilometers [2,485 miles] from an aviation plant in Irkutsk, making two stops for refilling," the press service said.
The planes will replace the Su-27 (NATO reporting name Flanker) fighter aircraft currently used by the division.
The Su-30SM, commissioned in 2013-2014, is a two-seat derivative of the earlier Su-27UB, capable of air-to-air and air-to-ground strikes and equipped with a wide variety of precision-guided munitions.
