Overnight on Dec. 20-21, two Russian warplanes, identified as a Su-27 (air superiority fighter) and a Su-30SM (two-seat multipurpose fighter), were damaged as a result of a fire at a Russian military airfield near Lipetsk, as reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense of (HUR).
“The estimated total value of the two damaged fighters that Russia was using in its genocidal war against Ukraine may amount to up to $100 million. The Su-27 and Su-30 aircraft with tail numbers ‘12’ and ‘82’ were burned thanks to thorough preparation, composure, and professionalism,” the statement said.
According to the report, preparation for the operation took two weeks, and representatives of the local resistance movement carried it out.
“Studying the patrol routes and guard rotation schedules made it possible to infiltrate the military facility of the aggressor state unnoticed and strike the Russian “Su” directly inside a protected aircraft hangar,” the statement said.
In addition, HUR published a video of the actual arson of the aircraft.
A subsequent report by defense analysts at Militarnyi identified both aircraft as the more advanced and more expensive Su-20SM (NATO: Flanker -H) by tracing the red “nose numbers” to their RF registration codes. In their report, they state:
“Even though the [HUR] indicates that one of the fighters is a Su-27, footage of the front canards shows that the red ‘12’ aircraft is a Su-30SM RF-95838. There is no Su-27 red ‘82’ as [HUR] insists, but there is a red ‘82’ Su-30SM (RF-81740).”
The Su-27 (NATO: Flanker) is the first, simplest, and least expensive air superiority-only version in the Flanker family, which also includes the Su-33, -34, and -35. The Su-30SM (NATO: Flanker-H), however, was developed from the two-seat Indian export Su-30MKI as a long-range, night, and in-the-weather interdiction version with tandem, missionized cockpits – with the front set up for the pilot/aircraft commander, and the rear set up for a weapons systems officer.
The analogs in the US would be the Su-27, akin to the US air-to-air only F-15C “Eagle,” while the Su-30SM is similar in mission to the US all-weather F-15E “Strike Eagle,” or as its crew and other US fighter pilots call it, the “Mudhen.”
The cover photo of their article clearly shows a two-seat Flanker with the nose number 82 visible ahead of the canards and the registration number (RF-81740) on the vertical tail.
Militarnyi also said both aircraft were “disabled,” not just “damaged,” and that they “belong to the 14th and 31st Fighter Aviation Regiments.”
As was reported several days ago, a Ukrainian UAV damaged a Russian Missile Submarine directly in the port area.