It happened over Syria. Or maybe it was the Baltics. Honestly, at this point, the Su-35 F-35 close encounter has become a recurring nightmare for air traffic controllers and a goldmine for defense analysts who spend their lives arguing about RCS (Radar Cross Section) and thrust-to-weight ratios. You've probably seen the grainy footage. A Russian Flanker-E pulls up alongside a Western stealth fighter, banking hard, showing off its massive missile loadout. It looks cool on YouTube. It's terrifying in the cockpit.
When these two planes meet, it isn't just a random flyby. It's a high-stakes game of chicken between two entirely different philosophies of war. One is a digital ghost designed to kill from a hundred miles away. The other is a heavy-metal gymnast that wants to get close enough to see the rivets on your wings.
Why the Su-35 and F-35 keep bumping into each other
Geopolitics is a messy business. Most of these encounters happen in "deconfliction zones." Think of it like a crowded highway where nobody uses their turn signals. In Syria, the U.S. and Russia were both operating in the same tight airspace for years. The U.S. Air Forces Central (AFCENT) has documented dozens of instances where Russian pilots flew "unprofessionally."
What does that actually mean? It means crossing within 500 feet of an F-35. It means flares being dropped in the flight path.
One specific event in 2023 caught everyone’s attention. A Russian Su-35 reportedly harassed a pair of F-35s, coming dangerously close while they were on a mission against ISIS targets. The Russians claimed the F-35s were the ones doing the "dangerous maneuvering." This is the classic "he said, she said" of international airspace.
The reality is that Russia uses the Su-35 as a visual deterrent. If they can’t see the F-35 on long-range radar—which they usually can't—they want to find it visually and let the pilot know, "Hey, we're here, and we're watching you." It’s basically psychological warfare at Mach 1.5.
The stealth vs. muscle debate
People love to compare these jets on paper. It's like comparing a sniper to a pro wrestler.
The F-35 Lightning II is built around the idea of "First Look, First Shot, First Kill." If an F-35 pilot is doing their job right, the Su-35 pilot should be dead before they even know there's a fight happening. The F-35's AN/APG-81 AESA radar is a piece of magic. It tracks targets, jams signals, and shares data with every other friendly asset in the sky.
But.
In a Su-35 F-35 close encounter, the F-35's biggest advantage—stealth—is neutralized. Once you're within visual range, the "stealth" part doesn't matter much. You're just two hunks of metal in the sky. This is where the Su-35 Flanker-E shines. It has 3D thrust-vectoring nozzles. It can literally turn on a dime, performing maneuvers like the "Pugachev’s Cobra" that would make an F-35 pilot’s head spin.
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The Su-35 is fast. Really fast. It can hit Mach 2.25 without breaking a sweat. The F-35 is limited to about Mach 1.6. If a Su-35 decides to run, or worse, decides to chase, the F-35 is at a disadvantage in a pure drag race.
The Okhotsk and Baltic incidents
It's not just Syria.
The Sea of Okhotsk and the Baltic Sea are hotspots. NATO frequently scrambles F-35s from bases in Estonia or Poland to intercept Russian Su-35s or Su-27s that are flying without flight plans. These encounters are often captured by the F-35’s Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS).
Wait, you've seen those crystal-clear infrared images of Russian cockpits? That’s the EOTS. It allows the F-35 to track the Su-35 passively. No radar pings. No warning for the Russian pilot. The F-35 just watches.
However, the Su-35 has its own tricks. The IRST (Infrared Search and Track) system on the nose of the Flanker can "see" the heat from the F-35’s engine. Russian pilots use this to hunt for stealth jets without turning on their own radars, which would give away their position. It’s a game of cat and mouse where both the cat and the mouse have thermal goggles.
What pilots say (off the record)
Talk to a veteran fighter pilot and they'll tell you that the "close encounter" is mostly about posturing. General Alexus Grynkewich, a top U.S. Air Force commander, has been vocal about the "unsafe and unprofessional behavior" of Russian pilots. He noted that the Russian tactics seem designed to provoke a reaction.
They want to see how the F-35 maneuvers. They want to record the electronic emissions of the F-35’s sensors. Every time an F-35 turns on a specific sensor during an encounter, a Russian ELINT (Electronic Intelligence) aircraft nearby is likely recording it.
On the flip side, Russian media often portrays these encounters as a "victory" for the Su-35. They claim the F-35 "hid" or was "scared off." It's mostly propaganda for the home crowd, but it highlights the cultural gap between how the two militaries view air superiority. To the West, it’s about technology and data. To Russia, it’s still about the "ace" in the cockpit.
The technical reality of a dogfight
Let’s be real for a second. If a Su-35 F-35 close encounter ever turned into an actual dogfight, the world is in a lot of trouble because that means World War III has started.
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If it did happen, the F-35 would rely on its AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles. These are "high-off-boresight" missiles. The pilot doesn't have to point the plane at the Su-35; they just have to look at it through their $400,000 helmet and squeeze the trigger.
The Su-35 would rely on its sheer agility and its massive payload of R-73 or R-77 missiles. It carries more weapons than the F-35 can fit in its internal bays. If the Su-35 can survive the initial long-range missile volley, it has a massive edge in a "knife fight" at 20,000 feet.
But getting through that initial volley is the hard part. The F-35’s stealth isn't just a coating; it's the entire shape of the plane. On a radar screen, an F-35 looks like a metal bird or a golf ball. A Su-35 looks like a barn door.
Misconceptions about "intercepts"
Most people think an "intercept" means the planes are about to fight.
Actually, an intercept is just an escort. When a Su-35 intercepts an F-35, they often fly in formation for a while. Pilots have been known to wave at each other. Sometimes they show off their missile racks. It's a professional acknowledgement of presence.
The danger comes when a pilot gets "bored" or aggressive. In 2023, a Russian jet (a Su-27, not a 35, but the cousin) clipped a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone. That’s the kind of "close encounter" that keeps generals awake at night. A mid-air collision between a Su-35 and a manned F-35 would be a catastrophic international incident.
The Role of Electronic Warfare
In any modern Su-35 F-35 close encounter, the real battle is invisible.
The Su-35 carries the Khibiny electronic warfare suite. It’s designed to spoof incoming missiles and "blind" enemy radars. The F-35 has the ASQ-239 Barracuda. This system is basically a supercomputer that eats radio frequencies for breakfast.
When these jets get close, they aren't just looking at each other. They are trying to jam each other. They are trying to "cyber-attack" each other's sensors. It’s a silent war of ones and zeros happening while the pilots are pulling 7Gs.
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Why this matters to you
You might think, "I'm not a pilot, why should I care?"
You should care because these encounters dictate global defense spending. Every time a Su-35 "outmaneuvers" an F-35 in a staged PR video, it gives politicians a reason to spend another $100 billion on the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program.
It also affects global stability. Syria was a powder keg. One nervous pilot with a twitchy finger during a close encounter could have sparked a direct conflict between nuclear powers. The "rules of the road" in the sky are the only thing preventing that.
What to watch for next
The frequency of these encounters is increasing. As more F-35s are delivered to NATO allies like Finland, Poland, and Germany, the chances of meeting a Russian Su-35 in the wild go up.
Keep an eye on the "deconfliction hotlines." These are the literal telephones that U.S. and Russian commanders use to talk to each other so they don't accidentally start a war. When those lines go silent, that's when the close encounters get really scary.
Don't buy into the hype from either side. The Su-35 isn't a "stealth killer" and the F-35 isn't an "invincible god of the sky." They are both highly specialized tools with glaring weaknesses. The Su-35 is vulnerable to what it can't see, and the F-35 is vulnerable if it gets caught in a brawl.
Actionable insights for followers of aviation news
If you want to stay ahead of the curve on the Su-35 F-35 close encounter news cycle, follow these steps:
- Check the AFCENT press releases. The U.S. Air Force Central Command is surprisingly transparent about these incidents. They often release "unclassified" footage a few days after an encounter.
- Learn to identify "Hotspots." Look at maps of the Kaliningrad exclave and the Hmeimim Air Base in Syria. If there is military movement in these areas, an encounter is likely within 48 hours.
- Ignore the "Who wins?" YouTube videos. Most are based on video game footage (DCS World). Instead, look for analysis from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) or the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. They use actual sensor data and flight physics.
- Monitor "Squawk" codes. Use flight tracking apps to look for "blocked" or "NATO" callsigns near Russian borders. Often, you can see the tankers (KC-135s) that support the F-35s. If the tankers are up, the fighters are out.
These planes are the pinnacle of 20th and 21st-century engineering. Seeing them in the same frame of video is a testament to how small the world has become—and how thin the line is between a routine patrol and a global crisis. Keep your eyes on the skies, but maybe keep your finger off the panic button for now.