The Russian military has finally offered an explanation for its mysterious, and brief, deployment of Su-5 7 stealth fighter prototypes to Syria in February.
The Su-5 7s conducted “practical” test launchings of “promising multipurpose tactical cruise missile, ” Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu said during a May 25 address in Moscow.
But there are good reasons to believe Shoigu &# x27; s justification is a lie. The Kremlin seems determined to portray its stealth fighters in the best possible light as prospects fade for mass-production of the distressed warplanes.
Two of the Russian air force &# x27; s twin-tail, twin-engine Su-5 7s spent two days at Hmemmem Air Base in western Syria, where Russia &# x27; s main military contingent has been based since Moscow intervened in the Syrian civil war on the side of regime chairperson Bashar al-Assad beginning in September 2015.
The deployment startled commentators when it was first reported by social media users on the ground near Hmemmem. Warplane-maker Sukhoi has assembled merely seven Su-5 7s for testing since the type &# x27; s first flight in 2010. The aircraft, a rough analog to the U.S. Air Force &# x27; s F-2 2 and the Chinese J-2 0, is apparently years away from being truly combat-ready.
The Su-5 7 currently absences many of its planned electronics and sensors and has been cleared to carry only a few different kinds of munitions. The jets usually appear in public carrying dummy bombs and weapons that are strictly for display.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. and allied air operations in the Middle East and keeps close tabs on Russian flights in the region, was dismissive of the Su-5 7s &# x27; February visit to Syria. “The presence of any new Russian aircraft in the region does not affect coalition operations , nor do we see this as a danger to coalition aircraft, ” a command spokesperson told The Daily Beast.
Thus the Syria deployment appeared to attain little sense until Shugoi &# x27; s announcement three months later. The Su-5 7s went to Syria to “assess the combat capabilities … of military equipment being developed, ” Shugoi said.
The Russian defense minister presented a video depicting an Su-5 7 launching a cruise missile from its bomb bay. Analysts have identified the munition as a new, radar-evading version of the &# x27; 90 s-vintage Kh-5 9.
Shugoi implied that the missile-launch was part of a “special operation in the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic.” It &# x27; s unclear whether the purported operation included attacks on rebel or militant forces-out or civilians.
Nothing in the video proves that the launching took place in Syria and not at, say, some remote air force testing site deep in Russia &# x27; s interior. Central Command told The Daily Beast that it could not confirm any missile launch by the Su-5 7s in Syria. The Russian defense ministry did not respond to an email requesting hard evidence of the alleged rocket test.
Tom Cooper, an author and expert on Russian warplanes, said he is skeptical of Shugoi &# x27; s claim. “It would be far too risky to exam a new cruise missile in Syria, ” Cooper told The Daily Beast. “What if the missile gets lost? If it lands in Turkey? Or in Lebanon? Or in Israel? “
Furthermore, Cooper added, any aerial testing in Syria would expose new and presumably advanced weaponry to close inspection by nearby U.S. and allied forces. Conducting a missile trial over Syria is tantamount to boxing up the munition and shipping it “straight to the White House, ” Cooper quipped.
Pavel Podvig, an expert on the Russian military, told The Daily Beast it &# x27; s “possible” Shugoi &# x27; s description of a missile test over Syria is merely propaganda.
There &# x27; s ample precedent for the Kremlin making inflated asserts regarding new weaponry. In March, President vladimir putin uncovered several new and supposedly “invincible” weapons types, including a nuclear-powered cruise missile with virtually unlimited range. But in exams between November and February, the nuclear-powered munition traveled no farther than 22 miles before crashing, according to news reports.
There are obvious reasons for the Kremlin to lie about the Su-5 7s &# x27; activities during their brief foray in Syria. The Russian air force has struggled to complete the stealth fighter &# x27; s development amid deep budget cuts. India had been subsidizing work on the Su-5 7, in the hope of eventually buying scores of the planes. But New Delhi quit the programme in April, citing a host of technological shortfalls.
As its relationship with the Indian cooled, the Kremlin cut its total order for Su-5 7s to simply a dozen airliners through 2025. The United States, by contrast, buys ratings of new F-3 5 stealth fighters every year. China declared its first squadron of approximately a dozen J-2 0s combat-ready in February, merely seven years after the first of the planes took off on its inaugural flight.
Justin Bronk, a combat aircraft expert at the Royal United Services Institute, told Business Insider that Russia “desperately” needs foreign investment to continue work on the Su-5 7. In that context, a dramatic–albeit possible staged–missile exam induces sense.
When it is important to Moscow &# x27; s fighting stealth-fighter program, “everything is staged for show intents, ” Cooper said. “And almost certainly in Russia.”
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