Analysts of the Defense Express portal drew attention to a footage of the Su-30SM2 fighter jet of the Russian occupation army with long-range R-37M missiles posted online.
How will the Su-30 with R-37M missiles threaten Ukraine?
Analysts note that these are the first shots that confirm the possibility of Su-30 long-range missiles being used by Su-30 fighters.
Until recently, only the MiG-31BM and Su-35S could use these missiles.
Analysts emphasise that this demonstrates the intentions of the occupation army of the Russian Federation to increase the use of the R-37M.
These missiles are capable of hitting air targets at a distance of about 200 km, and according to some sources, even at a distance of up to 300 km.
Analysts warn that this far exceeds the range of AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, which are the standard armament of US F-16 fighter jets.
According to data from open sources, the launch range of the latter can exceed 120-150 km, but this applies only to late versions of the missile, such as AIM-120C-7 or AIM-120D.
The authors of the material emphasise that there are no guarantees that Ukraine will receive the new versions of AMRAAM.
How many R-37M missiles are in service in Russia
Even more interesting is the question of how many R-37M Russia has. Unfortunately, the volume of production of these missiles is unknown, but there are relatively few photos of aircraft with this product.
As for the declared Su-30 model, according to The Military Balance, at the beginning of 2023, Russia had 80 Su-30SM and 19 Su-30SM2 fighters in the Russian Air Force, and another 19 Su-30SM and four Su-30SM2 in the naval aviation of the Navy.
If we talk about MiG-31BM and Su-35S, the Russians have about 100 and 110 of them, respectively. Therefore, formally, the fleet of potential R-37M carriers in Moscow is not small at all.
