Two crew of a Russian Naval Aviation Su-30SM Flanker-C twin-engine fighter were ejected from the aircraft as they prepared for a flight at the military airfield in Saki, Crimea. The incident occurred last Friday (21), around 18:50 local time.
According to the Russian agency TASS, the pilots were unhurt, while a mechanic suffered burns. The fighter suffered no major damage. According to information from the Scramble magazine, the fighter registration RF-93825/Azul 37 belongs to the 43.OMShAP (43 Regiment).
The Sukhoi Su-30SM (Serijnyi Modernizirovannyi) is a subvariant of the Su-30MKI, originally developed for the Indian Air Force, similar to the Algerian Su-30MKA and Malaysian Su-30MKM versions. Between 2012 and 2018, 26 Su-30SM were delivered to Russian Naval Aviation, points out the Scramble portal.
The fighter uses two Saturn AL-31F engines with thrust vectoring nozzles, providing the aircraft with extremely high maneuverability, in addition to being able to carry a wide range of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons, such as anti-ship and anti-radar missiles, guided bombs , rockets and others, in addition to carrying a 30mm GSh-1-30 cannon.
