A video showing a Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet being “shot down” by a NASAMS surface-to-air missile system has gone viral in Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian Air Force has issued a statement clarifying that the incident was just a training exercise.
According to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the NASAMS that have been sent to Ukraine are now fully operational, and their performance has been very impressive. Shortly after this statement, the internet was flooded with rumors that the NASAMS had shot down Russia’s “most powerful” Su-35 fighters.
Yesterday, Ukrainian media and other fake accounts reported that the NASAMS defense systems had downed a Su-35 fighter.
According to StratCom’s message on Telegram, the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with the help of the Norwegian NASAMS system, shot down a sophisticated and advanced Katsap bucket with bolts, also known as a Su-35 fighter jet, near Bakhmut. According to the report, the pilot supposedly ejected but could not survive.
A pro-Ukrainian Twitter account has spread news that a NASAMS air defense system shot down a Russian Su-35 fighter. The video has already been confirmed to date from early March this year. The General Staff has now also denied all of the claims.
There are various news reports floating on the internet, in addition to a video posted by the Twitter account @UkraineRussia2 that tracks the war’s development. An aircraft on fire was seen slowly coming down after being shot by a ground-to-surface missile in the video.
A photograph showing the moment a deadly Norwegian NASAMS missile shot down a Russian Su 35C fighter jet near Bakhmut is posted online. The pilot ejected from the jet but did not survive.
Watch the video below.
🇳🇴/🇺🇦The moment of the shooting down of the latest and most technological Russian Su 35C fighter with the help of the Norwegian Nasams complex in the Bakhmut area. The pilot ejected but did not survive#NASAMS #Ukraine #UkraineWar #UkraineWar #Kherson #Bakhmut #Norwegian pic.twitter.com/axA89YnZRv
— 🇺🇦Ukrainian Front (@front_ukrainian) November 18, 2022
But, the Ukraine AirForce issued an official statement and dismissed the news as fake.
“The information that is spreading in social networks regarding the downing of the Russian Su-35 by the Ukrainians “NASAMS” air defense system does not correspond to reality! Unfortunately…”
Although the Ukrainian Air Force dismissed reports of the incident, fighting has continued to intensify in the Donetsk Oblast of Ukraine, where Bakhmut is located.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces had repelled about 100 assaults in the Donetsk region, and the fighting continued. In the eastern Donetsk region. After Ukrainian troops retook Kherson, the battle intensified.
Moreover, Russia’s constant bombardment of Ukraine’s cities has resulted in power outages in Kyiv, Odesa, and more than a dozen other regions.
Russia said bombing infrastructure was justified because these grids assisted in Ukraine’s warfighting capabilities.
In order to fend off the onslaught of Russian missiles, Ukraine has overwhelmingly relied on Western-provided air defense systems like the IRIS-T and the NASAMS.
NASAMS air defense systems can defend against drones, helicopters, cruise missiles, and aircraft, all of which are short-to-medium-range ground-based air defense systems. It is a point defense system that protects high-value targets and does not provide area defense, unlike other systems.
The Foreign Minister urged the United States to provide Patriot systems and speed up air defense equipment deliveries after an efficient NASAMS performance in Ukraine.
The effectiveness of NASAMS has “already been proven,” said Dmytro Kuleba, Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “I am also convinced that the time for ‘Patriots’ has come,” he said.
I had a call with @SecBlinken right during another massive missile attack on Ukraine this morning. We share the view that Russia bears full responsibility for its missile terror and its consequences on the territory of Ukraine, Poland, and Moldova. 1/2
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) November 17, 2022
Ukraine’s Aerial Challenges With Russian Fighter Jets
The Ukrainian Armed Forces will still have a major problem with the Su-35 despite the fact that the news of NASAMS shooting down a Flanker-E has been dispelled. It would then be an understatement to say that Ukraine would not let any opportunity slip to shoot down a Flanker-E.
Russia’s most lethal aircraft in the Ukraine war, the Su-35, is a multirole super-maneuverable fighter. Yet, according to Russian accounts, Russian fighter jets have often prevailed in combat with their Ukrainian adversaries.
The Su-35s successfully attacked enemy air defense sites using Kh-31 anti-radar missiles.
A Russian Su-35S multirole fighter jet recently shot down two Ukrainian Su-25 and MiG-29 fighter jets during a combat mission, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
A Su-35S fighter jet pilot, Klim, reported seeing a Su-25 and a MiG-29 at a distance of around 200 kilometers. He believed the Su-25s were preparing for a ground assault, with the MiG-29s serving as escorts.
The London-based Royal United Services Institute recently released a report on the Russian air campaign in Ukraine, noting that the Su-35S armed with the R-77-1 air-to-air missile (AAM) was particularly lethal and efficient against Ukrainian planes throughout the conflict.
RUSI experts say that Russian fighters such as the Su-30SM and Su-35S are much better than those of the Ukrainian Air Force.