Ethiopia receives 12 Russian Su-35 jets, plans S-400 acquisition

[RescueRanger]

PM Abiy Ahmed makes the announcement during a Moscow summit as Ethiopia battles armed groups in Tigray and Amhara.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed holds a framed certificate alongside officials in front of a fighter jet in an image shared on his X account on October 28, 2026 [Handout/Abiy Ahmed]

 

[Yasser76]

Love it! Ethiopia now flaying more advanced Flankers then IAF!

 

[Ali_Baba]

And more advanced than Iran!!! Makes you wonder why Iran can't sort it's act out ?

I still think that the J10CE is a much better platform than the Su-35S with regards to radars, EW and missiles etc. Su35S has the advantage on range, load characteristics of course.

 

[Yasser76]

And more advanced than Iran!!! Makes you wonder why Iran can't sort it's act out ?

Gotta be Putin holding back right? The Indians and Iranians would love this bird.

 

[RescueRanger]

Gotta be Putin holding back right? The Indians and Iranians would love this bird.

 

[Ali_Baba]

Gotta be Putin holding back right? The Indians and Iranians would love this bird.

The Su-35SM with its AESA radar, and DIRCM amongst other things is a much better bird but that is specifically for Russia only for now. The Su-57E has the same radar, so it is the latest that Russia has.

 

[Yasser76]

The Su-35SM with its AESA radar, and DIRCM amongst other things is a much better bird but that is specifically for Russia only for now. The Su-57E has the same radar, so it is the latest that Russia has.

Ah, so the bog standard SU-35 has no AESA?

 

[Yasser76]

Gotta love'em hey @RescueRanger "We dont care"

 

[Ali_Baba]

Ah, so the bog standard SU-35 has no AESA?

PESA only. The AESA comes with the new variant of Su-35SM(Russia specific).

 

[Ali_Baba]

The Su-35SM would work very well for Iran given its size, I guess we will find out if Russia is as close to Iran, and Iranians "think" ( or want or need ).

Algeria has even received the Su-57E, and Ethiopia has the Su-35S but Iran, "nada".

Very shocking when you consider how much Iran helped Russia during the Ukraine war.

 

[muhammed45]

The Su-35SM would work very well for Iran given its size, I guess we will find out if Russia is as close to Iran, and Iranians "think" ( or want or need ).

Algeria has even received the Su-57E, and Ethiopia has the Su-35S but Iran, "nada".

Very shocking when you consider how much Iran helped Russia during the Ukraine war.

The Core Problem with Buying Russian or Chinese Jets: The issue isn't that Russia refuses to sell them; rather, the limited number of imported jets Iran could acquire cannot provide a strong deterrent against the combined might of the USAF and NATO (6,000 fighter jets, AWACS, and aerial tankers).
The Alternative Proposal: Instead of spending money on these platforms, the budget should be used to mass-produce and replace indigenous hypersonic gliding warheads that Iran's armed forces already possess and can easily reproduce.
The Risk of Reliance: In an all-out war against a massive coalition, relying on imported military hardware from unreliable sources (like Russia or China, whose political stances can suddenly shift) is a major vulnerability. In a survival war, limited budgets must be spent on weapons that can be produced domestically and at will.

And btw, congrats to Ethiopian air force. This thread is dedicated to them not IRIAF

 

[Yasser76]

The Core Problem with Buying Russian or Chinese Jets: The issue isn't that Russia refuses to sell them; rather, the limited number of imported jets Iran could acquire cannot provide a strong deterrent against the combined might of the USAF and NATO (6,000 fighter jets, AWACS, and aerial tankers).
The Alternative Proposal: Instead of spending money on these platforms, the budget should be used to mass-produce and replace indigenous hypersonic gliding warheads that Iran's armed forces already possess and can easily reproduce.
The Risk of Reliance: In an all-out war against a massive coalition, relying on imported military hardware from unreliable sources (like Russia or China, whose political stances can suddenly shift) is a major vulnerability. In a survival war, limited budgets must be spent on weapons that can be produced domestically and at will.

And btw, congrats to Ethiopian air force. This thread is dedicated to them not IRIAF

So you are saying Iran needs to wait to reequip with it's own jets that will be better then what is on the open market?

 

[muhammed45]

So you are saying Iran needs to wait to reequip with it's own jets that will be better then what is on the open market?

Maybe not better, maybe even inferior technology compared to Chinese AESA equipped fighter jets but still easily replaceable. IRIAF would choose the latter one my friend.

 

[Ali_Baba]

The Core Problem with Buying Russian or Chinese Jets: The issue isn't that Russia refuses to sell them; rather, the limited number of imported jets Iran could acquire cannot provide a strong deterrent against the combined might of the USAF and NATO (6,000 fighter jets, AWACS, and aerial tankers).
The Alternative Proposal: Instead of spending money on these platforms, the budget should be used to mass-produce and replace indigenous hypersonic gliding warheads that Iran's armed forces already possess and can easily reproduce.
The Risk of Reliance: In an all-out war against a massive coalition, relying on imported military hardware from unreliable sources (like Russia or China, whose political stances can suddenly shift) is a major vulnerability. In a survival war, limited budgets must be spent on weapons that can be produced domestically and at will.

And btw, congrats to Ethiopian air force. This thread is dedicated to them not IRIAF

Given that we have see F-5 knock offs, F4 Phantoms, Mig29's all operating over Tehran very recently in the exercise, does that not suggest that Iran itself see's a need for an air force and that air force is now at the point where it needs to be replenished ??

We have seen attempts like the "IAIO Qaher-313" ... which clearly show that Iranian jet technology is not at the point it can ever create a local platform. Engines are hard, new airframe design is hard and EW/Electronics even more so..

 

[retaxis]

Thing is Iran is also under international military sanctions so selling weapons to Iran can cause a lot of trouble for countries who are already on edge.

China could have sold Iranians some jet fighters but they would have never been able to do much in an airspace dominated by America.