The Russian fighter Sukhoi Su-35 is one of the pillars of the Russian Air Force, but it faces great challenges in facing the requirements of modern airspace. Egypt, after a careful study of its capabilities, decided to back down from a deal that was aimed at strengthening its air fleet.
Arab Defense website – August 19, 2025: Since the French Rafale fighter entered service in the Indian and Egyptian Air Force, it has become the focus of attention of military observers around the world. The choice of two air forces of this size, as India ranks fourth globally with more than 2200 aircraft, while Egypt ranked eighth with more than a thousand aircraft, reflects that this fighter was not adopted in vain, but rather because it represents an added value that exceeds other competitors in its class.
The question that imposes itself is what makes Raval able to excel even on the Russian Su-35 fighters?
The answer lies in two main things: electronics and advanced air navigation systems, in addition to the integrated armament system. In a test that took place inside the Egyptian Air Force using the F3R version, Rafal faced Su-35 aircraft, which is the developed version with strong engines and the high ability to maneuver, but the result was different from expectations. Instead of maneuvering the decisive weapon, the supremacy of Rafal’s ally was thanks to the electronic warfare system “Specra”, which managed to disrupt the Bars-R radine for the SO-35 over, and even managed to disable it even from a distance of nearly a hundred kilometers.
Another interesting fact about this test is that the Rafale aircraft was able to disturb the Su-35 plane of an approximate distance of 100 km.
Spectra is a self -protection system to counter threats targeting Rafale fighter, and has been jointly developed by the Thales and MBDA Rafale fighter group. This system provides a long -term discovery, precisely, and the location of infrared threats, radio frequencies and lasers.
The system consists of the future of radar warning (RWR), a laser warning future, a rocket warning sensor, an active radar jamming system operating with Phased Array Radar Jammeer, as well as Decoy Dispenser to counter threats. It is the active radar jamming system that was able to disrupt the Su-35 radar during the test conducted by Egypt.
Rafale has three radar detectors, each covering 120 degrees, one in front of the air entrances, and one at the top of the structure. It also contains three laser warnings, two under the cockpit and one at the top of the fighter, with a coverage of 120 degrees. In addition, it contains an infrared revealing to discover the missile launch (DDM) installed at the top of the tail fin, designer to discover ManPads by its engines.
Special features a multi -spectrum warning against radars, missiles and lasers, and provides a superior field awareness of the pilot. It also has the ability to carry out SIGINT and ELINT tasks, with a resolution of less than 1 degree in determining the source of the threat. The system relies on a huge database for analyzing incoming signals and activating the appropriate confrontation procedures, as well as a specialized management unit to integrate data and take confrontations.
The fighter that was not convincing Cairo: Details of the Su-35 deal with Egypt’s failure
The Russian fighter Sukhoi Su-35 is one of the most prominent symbols of the contemporary Russian Air Force, as it is a heavy fighter plane with one seat and equipped with two engines that give it a superior maneuvering ability. This fighter was designed by Sukhoi’s office depending on the legendary Su-27, which appeared in the Soviet era, to be an advanced development. Its maximum speed is 2.25 Mach, with the possibility of carrying a wide range of weapons guided by Joe-J and Awla-Earth, which in the eyes of Moscow made it the legitimate heir of its airspace.
The first combat appearance of the fight was in January 2016 when Russia deployed four planes from it to Syria, to practice the battlefields in practice and since then become the most important plane in the service of the Russian Air Force, especially in light of the incompleteness of the Fifth Generation Fighter’s readiness. It took the development of Su-35 years of research and development, and Russia is marketing as a fighter belonging to the “fourth generation ++” fighter, a description that places it between traditional aircraft and the fifth ghost generation.
Today, Su-35 is used extensively in the ongoing war in Ukraine, but its marketing record remained limited. With the exception of a deal with China to buy 24 aircraft, whose motives are believed to have been associated with the Chinese interest in its engine, Moscow has not achieved a little success in its marketing to other countries.
The major paradox came from Egypt, where a military official revealed to the “Davis” website that Cairo decided to back down from the purchase of 24 Su-35 fighters after an in-depth technology study, which concluded that the plane does not correspond to the requirements of the Egyptian Air Force or with the nature of the modern threats. Egypt had signed the deal in 2018 with a value of nearly two billion dollars, and had already received five planes in 2021, but the practical tests showed fundamental palaces in the fighter capabilities, which led to the permanent cancellation of the deal by 2020. As a result, Egypt turned to other alternatives, and 30 French “Rafale” fighters requested the update of its fleet from the American F-16 fighters, and also showed interest in Chinese J-10C fighters, as part of the strategy of diversifying arms sources.
The Egyptian report shed light on the shortcomings revealed by the tests. The most prominent of which is the weakness of the L-35 electronic warfare system in the face of confusion and misinformation, as experiments showed that the fighter is unable to confront modern digital jamming techniques based on radio frequency memory (DRFM), which makes it vulnerable to electronic disability. The radar warning systems (RWR) and disability did not rise to the level of their western counterparts, and did not achieve the required integration with the rest of the sensors such as radar and infrared tracking system (IRST), which weakens the field awareness and delays his response to threats.
One of the most prominent criticisms of the “IRBIS-E” radar, a PESA technology, is a radar, which is negatively switched off, while Cairo was calling for a newer radar of ASA. AESA radars are more able to track multiple targets simultaneously, and have high resistance to confusion thanks to its ability to change the frequency quickly, as well as produce clearer and more accurate images of the artificial opening radar. As for “IRBIS-E”, it is limited and more vulnerable to confusion, as it does not match the western radars that rely on more efficient materials such as gallium nitride (GAN), while the Russian radar still depends on the gallium gallium (GAS), with limited energy and thermal consumption.
Military historian Tom Cooper indicated that Egypt conducted a direct test between Su-35 and the French Raval using the planes it received, and the result was clear: the Soo-35 radar did not stand up to its French rival. Even the developed versions of the Su-35 still suffer from problems related to the extent of detection and resistance to jamming, in addition to the quality of the materials used in the building of the radar.
Also, Su-35 cannot carry out combat tasks independently without support from early warning aircraft (AWACS), which reduces their effectiveness in the absence of this support, which contradicts the Egyptian combat doctrine that emphasizes the self-preparation of the task.
At the level of the engines, the SO-35 is equipped with two SATURN AL-41F1S engines supporting the directed payment technique, which gives it a high maneuvering capacity and flying at a speed exceeding the speed of sound without the need for a subsequent burning at a speed of more than 1.1 Mach. Despite these advantages, the engine suffers from a high sound and thermal imprint and consumes large quantities of fuel, which reduces the range of the plane and its operational effectiveness. Its high temperature also makes it more likely to monitor through infrared tracking systems and a thermal researcher. Unlike the ghost fighters such as F-35, Su-35 has not succeeded in reducing its thermal mark, despite the use of thermal and ceramic coatings since 2008.
The Egyptian experience showed that Su-35, despite its speed and ability to maneuver, suffers from serious deficiencies in electronic warfare systems, radar and operational independence, as well as its heat imprint and high noise. These gaps were also reflected in the Ukrainian battlefield, as Russia lost between 7 to 8 aircraft of this model despite using it with caution.
However, some fighter capabilities cannot be overlooked, as they are able to take off with a maximum weight of up to 34.5 tons, with a top speed of 2500 km per hour, with an operational range between 1500 and 4,500 km, and a service ceiling of 20 thousand meters. These characteristics give them the ability to carry out long -term tasks and operations at high altitudes, but they were not sufficient to persuade Egypt to keep them as a future fighting.
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