Russia claims to have tested its new Su-57 fighter in combat
Russian military conducted a test, during which a "swarm" of Su-35 fighters flew under the control of the 5th generation Su-57 aircraft, reported TASS, citing two sources in the defense industry.
"The experiment was conducted in real combat conditions. A group of Su-35 fighters was part of the "pack" and the role of the command-staff aircraft was performed by the Su-57," TASS quoted one of the interlocutors as saying.
Another source confirmed to TASS the nature of the tests. According to the source, "swarm" (or "flock") is the name given to the combat formation of the aircraft group. During the flight, there is an information exchange between the fighters in real time: the information-control system of each "member of the pack" automatically reads and processes the data of both their own sensors and sensors of other aircraft.
The sources noted that the use of such a "flock", which shares a single information space, increases the efficiency of combat missions. The interlocutors did not say where and when the experiment was conducted.
According to Russian media reports, Su-35 aircraft took part in the Victory Parade on June 24 at the Khmeimim air base in Syria.
"Work on interaction in general combat order (in the "flock") is important. In the future, information from all sensors of the aircraft, as well as from air defense systems, from satellites, from ground facilities should come into a single system, which will create a single information field for the ground, air and space control. And with the support of artificial intelligence, the combat assignments will be distributed, including aviation," said the leading Russian military expert, editor-in-chief of the magazine "Arsenal of the Fatherland" Viktor Murakhovsky. He stressed that such tests are important in terms of building a unified information system for the armed forces.
Murakhovsky noted that similar tests are carried out by the United States of America, in particular for its F-35 fighter jets.