Following confirmation that a Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 fighter jet crashed in the Poltava region on June 27, which coincided almost exactly with the destruction of two more MiG-29s on the ground in drone strikes, multiple sources have indicated that a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-35 fighter jet was responsible for shooting down the plane.
According to reports, the Su-35 shot down the fighter jet using an "air-to-air" missile long-range R-37M from a distance of approximately 190 kilometers, which may represent the furthest successful air-to-air strike ever recorded in combat conditions.
Analysts' assessments, using open-source data, indicate that the Su-35S operated deep in Russian-controlled airspace, which remains standard practice for Russian fighters to avoid being targeted by Ukraine's ground-based air defense systems.
The R-37M air-to-air missile was developed to serve as the primary air-to-air weapon for the MiG-31BM interceptor, which is a much heavier aircraft than the Su-35, flies at much higher speeds and altitudes, and is relied upon to defend the Russian Arctic. The missile began to be integrated into the Su-35 in the early 2020s and is widely used in the Ukrainian theater of operations.
The R-37M can reach speeds approaching Mach 6 and reportedly has a maximum range of up to 400 kilometers when launched from the MiG-31BM, or 350 kilometers when launched from the Su-30SM or Su-35S, which launch them from lower speeds and altitudes. The missiles were expected to have a high probability of hitting maneuverable fighters at ranges of less than 250 kilometers, although Western assessments indicate that their reliability has proven to be lower than previously thought.
While a long-range shootdown of a MiG-29 by a Su-35 remains highly probable, it may not be an "air-to-air" with the longest range ever recorded, according to multiple sources. Following reports in October 2022 that a Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 fighter jet and its accompanying Su-24 strike fighter were shot down by Russian forces during an attack on Russia's Belgorod region, conflicting reports from a number of Russian and Indian media outlets have indicated that a Russian Su-57 fighter jet was responsible. These contradict earlier reports that the S-300V4 air defense system, using a 40N6 or possibly 48N6DM surface-to-air missile, was responsible. The Su-27 downing was carried out at a distance of 217 kilometers, which, if confirmed, would make it the longest-range downing of a fighter jet recorded to date, surpassing the 190 kilometers distance of the last reported downing of a MiG-29.
Since mid-2022, the R-37M (PBV-BD) missile has been reported to be used to hit Ukrainian fighter jets at extremely long ranges. Following a British Ministry of Defense report in January 2023 highlighting the role of Su-57 and MiG-31BM aircraft in striking Ukrainian fighter jets at very long ranges, the British conservative publication The Conversation reported in mid-February that "Russian MiG-31 and Su-57 aircraft armed with the long-range hypersonic R-37M missile have attacked Ukrainian aircraft at a distance of more than 200 km from the safety of Russian airspace." Sources quoted by the Russian state media "Sputnik" the following month reported: "The R-37M missile demonstrated the greatest effectiveness during the "special military operation". When used, the probability of hitting targets was close to one – that is, one missile is enough for one Ukrainian warplane."
Although significantly less capable than the Su-57 or MiG-31BM in terms of beyond-visual-range air combat capabilities, Russian Su-35 fighters have been responsible for numerous downings of Ukrainian fighters since the early days of hostilities. However, the fighters do not have radar systems comparable in power to those of the MiG-31, which prevents them from using the R-37M missile to its full range when relying on their onboard sensors; this means that for longer-range engagements, target data must be provided by the MiG-31, the A-50U early warning and control systems, or by forward-deployed assets such as ground-based air defense systems.
The Su-35's radar tracking range, however, is significantly greater than that of all Western fighter types, with the possible exception of the F-15SA/QA/EX, and while its "Irbis-E" radar is far from the most advanced, its enormous size and power more than make up for this, with its size being approximately three times that of the F-35's AN/APG-81 radar.