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Context. Not headlines.
Equipment catalogue · shared across conflicts

Combat aircraft · Multirole fighter

Sukhoi Su-30SM

The Russian multirole fighter that is a mainstay of the Aerospace Forces' war against Ukraine — and, in a fleet of four, the only modern fighter Armenia has ever operated, bought in 2019 and by published accounts unused in the 2020 war for want of the missiles to arm it, now the subject of an Indian-assisted upgrade discussion that says more about Armenia's supplier realignment than about the aircraft.

Su-30Russia2012 Russian service entry; Armenian deliveries from 2019

Status as of
2026-06
Last reviewed
2026-09-09

AssessmentModerate confidence

Recognition context, not a stat sheet. The catalogue covers major publicly documented systems relevant to the conflicts Vigil covers — not an exhaustive order of battle. No quantities, availability or current allocations are recorded.

The recordWhat this system is, where it comes from, who operates it and which of Vigil’s modules it is relevant to — with the evidence each of those rests on.

FieldedEvidence: Confirmed
Silhouette · not to scale

Record

FamilySu-30
VariantsSu-30SM; Su-30SM2
OriginRussia
ManufacturerIrkut
Era2012 Russian service entry; Armenian deliveries from 2019
Appears inUkraine–Russia · Nagorno-Karabakh 2020 (unused)

Conflict relevance

This is the catalogue's single record for this system. It is relevant to the modules below; each module's Force Atlas shows how it is used there.

Ukraine–Russia · Force AtlasCaucasus · Force Atlas

Operators

Russia · Primary operatorArmenia · Secondary operator

Russia: The Aerospace Forces' principal multirole fighter alongside the Su-35S, flown throughout the war against Ukraine; a catalogue stub for the Russian fleet was promoted into this record in the remaining-atlas sprint. · Armenia: Four aircraft delivered in 2019, the only modern fighters Armenia has ever operated; reported to have flown no combat missions in 2020, with the shortfall of air-to-air missiles publicly discussed afterwards.

Battlefield role

Air defence and multirole strike; in Armenian service, the whole of the manned fighter force.

Strengths

A capable modern airframe with long range and a heavy weapons load, at least on paper.

Limitations

In Armenian service, four aircraft, a Russian supply chain whose reliability is now politically uncertain, and a 2020 record of not being usable when it mattered. No basing or readiness is recorded.

Documented conflict use

Russian Su-30SMs have flown throughout the war against Ukraine, with losses visually documented; the Armenian aircraft have a record of delivery and display only, and no combat use is established.

Branch & service operators

PartialConfidence: ModerateSources: IISS Military Balance↗ · EVN Report↗ · Established international media reportingMethodologyCorrections

Assessed as of2026-06Last reviewed2026-09-09