How the American F-16 jets, which will arrive in Ukraine, perform in combat, compared to the equivalent

Rumors circulated over the weekend that Tehran is expecting an imminent delivery of Su-35s, based on an article by SNN, an official Iranian news agency with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Iranian officials publicly disputed the article, and SNN later debunked the report on Telegram.

However, Iran is expected to eventually receive the Russian fighter jets, given Deputy Defense Minister Mehdi Farahi’s announcement late last November that Tehran had finalized an agreement with Moscow for a unspecified number of Su-35s and helicopters.

However, before Iran receives the Su-35s, we could soon see how these Russian aircraft perform in combat with the F-16s, as Ukraine’s armed forces are set to take to the skies dozens of American jets promised by Kiev’s allies. Instead, Su-35s were used in attacks throughout the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Although the two aircraft have some common capabilities, a number of characteristics set them apart.

Both the F-16 and the Sukhoi Su-35 are multi-role fighter jets. While the F-16 can reach Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound), Russian sources say the Su-35 has a top speed of Mach 2.25.

Guy McCardle, editor-in-chief of the Special Operations Forces Report (SOFREP), told Newsweek that the F-16 is “powered by a single jet engine” while “the Su-35 has two jet engines, providing more power and redundancy in case one of them stops working’.

“The American airframe is lighter” than the Russian one, according to McCardle, but the Su-35 has “greater firepower and survivability than the F-16.”

The differences don’t stop there, and McCardle pointed out some unique advantages that each plane possesses.

“The F-16 features a frameless cockpit canopy for better visibility and a side-mounted control stick for easier control and maneuvering,” McCardle said. The Russians’ Flanker-E aircraft “has thrust vectoring engines that assist in maneuvering, a robust radar system capable of attacking multiple targets simultaneously, and advanced countermeasures against enemy radar,” he further explained.

McCardle added that in terms of performance, “the F-16 can take off from shorter runways because it is lighter and more agile than the Flanker-E. The Su-35 is designed for longer missions and therefore has a longer range and payload capacity.”

In a March 2023 interview with Voice of America, US Air Force Reserve Lt. Col. Dan Hampton said the Fighting Falcon is “more resilient,” adding, “I wouldn’t bet on the Su-35 in combat or on any other Russian-made aircraft”.

Hampton also explained that the Su-35s lack the advanced radar systems fitted to the F-16, making the Russian jets “easy to see, easy to detect on radar and easy to hit with a long-range missile.” action”.

The reserve officer also stated that the Su-35 has a larger wingspan of 15 meters and a length of 21 meters, compared to the 10-meter wingspan and 15-meter length of an F-16. This “very large” frame is more of a negative for what Hampton calls “a not-so-good airplane.”

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