Russia sends Su-57 to Syria, confronts F-35

According to Al-Masdar News on April 8, the Russian Air Force announced that it had redeployed Russia's latest generation fighter Su-57 to Syria after a period of absence on this battlefield.

Based on satellite imagery from the Hmeimim airfield in southwest Latakia, the Su-57 appears to have returned to Syria after the Israeli Air Force carried out a major attack on the Aleppo provincial government on March 27.

Twitter user Reutersanders also posted images of Russian military Pantsir systems at the Hmeimim air base. Pantsirs play a key role in defending the airport from rebel drone attacks. Twitter users also showed that Russia is deploying Kalibr missiles at the Tartus naval base.

Observers believe that Russia deployed Su-57 fighters to Syria to counter Israel's use of F-35 stealth fighters to attack Aleppo.

Mr. Vladimir Gutenev, a member of the Russian State Duma's Expert Council on Aviation Industry, said that the Su-57 fighter jet has gained a lot of combat experience in Syria while participating in terrorist attack operations.

The Su-57s were sent to Syria by Russia both to fight and to further evaluate technical parameters, especially the detection ability of the radar equipped on the Su-57 against the US stealth fighter F-22 and F-35.