MOSCOW, August 12 (RIA Novosti) – Russia's new Sukhoi fighter jets cost more than 1 billion rubles ($28 million), Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev, the Russian Air Force commander-in-chief, said Tuesday.
"New aircrafts appear, and their cost is enormous. Each plane costs more than 1 billion rubles: Su-30, Su-35, Su-34," Bondarev told Rossiya-24 television channel.
The jets need contemporary airfields to work their best, he said. Russia has 150 airfields in use, most of them constructed during the Soviet Union.
The multipurpose Su-30 of the 4+ generation is a modification of the Su-27 and is intended to lead group combat actions in gaining air superiority, to cover ground troops and objects, eliminate assault forces, as well as conduct aerial surveillance and engage surface targets.
Multifunctional Su-35 fighters, with their medium-range missiles, are used to gain air superiority by eliminating manned and unmanned flying vehicles.
Su-34 fighter-bomber is capable of performing high-precision missile strikes, including with nuclear weapons, at land and sea targets at any time of the day.
