Sukhoi Su-30 MKI Vs F-22 Raptor:- Can 2 Su-30MKI defeat 1 F-22 in a dogfight battle?

This is something no one can answer. Even the F-22 and Su-30MKI pilots can’t seem to answer this in real war situation. Even though the Indians did perform in some air exercise like Red Flag with the Americans, that don’t demonstrate the full potential of the ability of each jets. Both try not to show itself to be worthy in combat when using its full technology potentials and probably some manourves and tactics.

On paper, the F-22 will rein supreme in certain areas like stealth but when it comes down to dog fighting, the Su-30MKI will have some edge in the agility at low to medium attitude and at below transonic speed. Some though the F-22 super cruise will be the main cards but that is not the reality as super cruise will take time to spool up.

Both will be equipped with HMS for off foresight shoot however the advantage goes to the Su-30MKI as its second man can be the eyes of the pilot. Where it all lies is tactics. My assumption is both pilots are incredibly good. The US pilot would have studied and understood the best tactic to counter the Indian Su-30MKI while India will have some assumption on how to counter such tactic but based on assumption only.

At BVR, the F-22 will have the first shot. A bleep on the Sukhoi radar would give the F-22 position away but it then disappears. This is due to weapon’s bay door being open prior to firing a BVR missile.

F-22 can then shoot a Su-30 MKI with an AIM-120 AMRAAM “fire-and-forget”, frees the aircrew from the need to further provide guidance, enabling the aircrew to aim and fire several missiles simultaneously at multiple targets and perform evasive maneuvers while the missiles guide themselves to the targets. The missile also features the ability to “Home on Jamming,” giving it the ability to switch over from active radar homing to passive homing – homing on jamming signals from the target aircraft. Software on board the missile allows it to detect if it is being jammed, and guide on its target using the proper guidance system to guarantee a proper kill. Disadvantage is that AIM-120 AMRAAM is prone to jamming by Bars PESA Radar and Electronic Warfare Suite of SU-30 MKI and has much reduced effectiveness.

When you talk about 2 Su-30MKI fighting a lone F-22 in a dogfight, the Su-30MKI would win the day but on a BVR engagement, its probable…that the F-22 may win if the Indian pilot do not know how to counter a BVR engagement. Can the Su-30MKI see the F-22 at a distance. Depends what the Russians have given them. I am not surprise if there is some elements of the electronic warfare that can identify a stealth on radar, thus negating the special advantage afforded to the F-22 fighter pilot!…

The exposure of weapons bay prior to firing can give a glimpse on the Su-30MKI radar. It could also provide some probability of where the jet may head. Furthermore when the F-22 fires the AIM-120, it will alert RWR on the Su-30MKI. The Sukhoi could take action by deploying an IRST to counter heat signatures. Do we really know how effective is the IRST? We don’t. But IRST detection range has increased and becomes more capable in the last 5 years.

The supreme advancement of the F-22 is a testament to American development towards maintaining air supremecy against all foes and it expect to do so in the next 20–30 more years. However technology has over shadowed stealth where AI electronics can counter radar detection. Russian and Chinese jets are working tirelessly to research, and developed and deploy technologies that can detect stealth jets such as the F-22 and now the F-35 at a long range under various frequencies. Did Israel buy the idea of the stealth F-35. It did but the capability could have been mixed, hence the reason to buy another batch of F-15 Eagle. The F-22 could have gone into action against Russian jets but when up against a much more agile Su-35, it could have dwindle to a stage of embarrassment to the US establishment if an F-22 got shot down by the Super Flanker.

The F-22 super cruise capability is truly amazing. However in combat, its pretty much useless other than going to in to save in a nick of time or projecting air power in the quickest time.Time flies and so does the air to air weapons development. We will see India deployed Extended Range R-77 Adder missiles in the future that could give it a longer arm and hit targets at long distance. It could also be lured by IRST which can cause some problems for the F-22

If USAF Plans an attack on Indian Mainland :

There are 36 F-22 for training purposes while 149 are for combat purposes. WITH SERVICE AVAILABILITY RATE OF NEARLY 60 TO 63%, 93 OF THEM COULD FLOWN TO MISSIONS AT ANY TIME ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD AT SHORT NOTICE.

On the other hand there are 230 SU-30 MKIs in IAF Service and have a serviceability of 60%–65% means about 130–150 SU-30 MKIs.

Also wide number of ground based radars can detect F-22 if they plan an attack on Indian mainland and SU-30 MKIs can be sent to combat them so the element of surprise is gone. F-22 will also come under SAM threat ( India has a lot of ageing SAM batteries and are deploying new ones like S-400 or QRSAM or Barak-8 as well as Akash . Stealth is not invincible : Serbs shot down a NightHawk with a S-125 right! ) and they can also be tracked by Indian AWACS aircraft ( which India is deploying in numbers ). SU-30 MKIs K-100 BVRAAM can take out the tankers and AWACS aircraft providing logistic support to F-22 and F-22 fleet can be overwhelmed by SU-30s.

A lot also depends on pilot skills which neither fighter jets lack.

In several war games , F-22 has shown vulnerability towards Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafales as they were able to lock them up. In 2013 Indradhanush Exercise SU-30 MKIs were able to defeat Typhoons by 12–0. not only in one-on-one combat, but also in situations where one IAF pilot was pitted against two Typhoons. Besides clobbering the RAF during within visual range (WVR) dogfights, the Sukhois also held an edge over the British jets in beyond visual range (BVR) combat though not in as dominating a manner.

A lot will say the Su-30MKI is not match for today’s F-22 but no one really knows the capability of the Su-30MKI and Malaysia’s MKM model. The Su-30MKI repent the jewel in the crown of India’s most prestigious air force which i can say many Indians are truly proud of.

Regardless of the fact that there is a generation gap between F-22 “Raptor” and Su-30 MKI both of them can give each other a hard knuckle in either Within Visual Range Combat or Beyond Visual Range Combat.

It could of course be even when or if the F-22 truly engages the Su-30MKI. Tactics and technology will rule the day!

Source:-  Quora