Russian Su-27 Flanker air superiority fighters deployed within the enclave of Kaliningrad have had among the many most frequent engagements with NATO forces since tensions between Moscow and the Western alliance rose to new heights in 2014. Kaliningrad has for over a decade been probably the most closely militarised areas of Russia, and lies on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania, separated from the Russian mainland NATO members Lithuania and Latvia. Whereas the territory’s location leaves it notably susceptible to Western assaults within the occasion of a significant battle, it additionally serves as a staging floor permitting Russian Iskander-M ballistic missile, Bastion cruise missile programs and lengthy vary air defence programs such because the S-400 to interact targets deeper into Europe. The enclave’s extremely strategic place has resulted within the deployment of a number of the Russian Armed Forces’ most succesful belongings to defend it, together with new motorised rifle, artillery and tank regiments which have been deployed there in December 2020. As tensions across the Kaliningrad have remained constantly excessive, Su-27s primarily based there have been among the many most incessantly scrambled of all fighter models in Russian service.
Though their capabilities have been overshadowed for over a decade by newer additions to the Russian fighter fleet, the Su-27 has continued to play a restricted function, together with collaborating in hostilities within the Ukrainian theatre. The plane was first introduced into service in each the Soviet Air Drive and the Air Defence Forces in 1984, and is extensively thought of to be essentially the most succesful class of air superiority fighter to have entered service in the course of the Chilly Struggle. This conclusion was supported by each simulated fight between the plane and U.S. Air Drive F-15s, and by the outcomes of intensive testing of the plane executed in the USA after a restricted quantity have been procured from Belarus and Ukraine within the Nineteen Nineties. Regardless of extremely formidable improve applications such because the Su-27SM3 which have been utilized to small components of the fleet, the Su-27’s standing has nonetheless diminished considerably for the reason that finish of the Chilly Struggle, with the plane’s ageing sensors and weaponry and its lack of stealth capabilities limiting its skill to go face to face with the elite of NATO fleets because it might within the Eighties and Nineteen Nineties.
Su-27s primarily based in Kaliningrad have typically intercepted or in any other case engaged Western plane notably from 2014, with a notable instance being the interception of a Swedish Air Drive Gulfstream surveillance airplane on October 3 that 12 months. The Russian fighter flew round 10 meters away from it the Swedish plane, displaying an payload of air-to-air missiles. A number of related incidents occurred over the next years. On June 9, 2017, for instance, when U.S. Air Drive B-1B, B-2 and B-52H strategic bombers have been deployed over the Baltic Sea, they have been photographed being carefully shadowed by a Su-27 from Kaliningrad. Later that month Su-27s intervened aggressively towards Polish F-16 fighters, after the F-16s had themselves aggressively intercepted the transport of Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu who was on the time flying to Kaliningrad. The next month a U.S. Air Drive RC-135 surveillance plane thought to have been monitoring digital indicators in Kaliningrad was intercepted a number of Su-27s, main it to withdraw and make an unscheduled flip into pleasant Swedish airspace.
The assertiveness with which Su-27s have been deployed from Kaliningrad has highlighted Russia’s willingness to protect its small Baltic enclave and shortly reply to any potential risk, sending a robust sign to NATO to this impact. Regardless of their superior capabilities, the Su-27s in Kaliningrad have proven no indicators of extensively deploying both R-77 or R-77M lively radar guided air-to-air missiles, and have continued to depend on older R-27s which would not have ‘fireplace and neglect’ capabilities and may solely have interaction a extra restricted variety of targets concurrently. The fighters’ capabilities have nonetheless gained better significance for the reason that outbreak of full scale hostilities within the Ukrainian theatre in February 2022 raised tensions between Russia and NATO, with Su-27s in Kaliningrad conspicuously training air-to-air fight in April that 12 months seemingly as a present of drive.
In September 2023 the Su-27s performed a central function in workout routines simulating repelling a missile assault on Kaliningrad and capturing down enemy plane, following NATO live-fire drills within the Baltic Sea. “Mock enemy plane violated the state border of the Russian Federation and tried to launch a missile and bomb assault on strategically essential navy targets within the Kaliningrad area,” state media reported on the time. Alongside intensified workout routines, Su-27s in Kaliningrad have additionally continued to be concerned in interceptions, with an instance being the interception of two B-52H bombers by a pair of the plane on November 25, 2024. The way forward for the Russian fighter fleet in Kaliningrad stays unsure, and whereas deployments of recent generations of air defence programs stays extremely doubtless, the potential for the Su-27’s direct successor the Su-57 being completely stationed on the enclave can also be extremely doable a while within the 2030s. Main delays to the Su-57’s improvement, and the cancellation of the prior Soviet MiG 1.42 subsequent era fighter program, have been among the many major elements forcing the Su-27 to stay in service for longer than supposed.
