Russian Su-35 Has Close Encounter With F-35 Near Alaska

Footage released on April 4 has shown a close encounter between a U.S. Air Force F-35A and a Russian Aerospace Forces Su-35 near Alaska, with the F-35 seen encroaching on the Russian jet and successfully positioning itself forward and to the right of it. The Russian fighters were escorting <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/enhanced-tu95-bomber-cruise-missile-ukraine" target="_blank">Tu-95MS strategic bombers</a> near the coast of the American state, as they have done frequently during patrols. Although Su-35s have been involved in close encounters with American combat aircraft in the past, this is their first such encounter with U.S. Air Force F-35s. Prior such encounters have <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/mq9-dangerous-su35-syria" target="_blank">included several </a>with MQ-9 Reaper drones over Syria, and a <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/su35-headbutting-f16-alaska" >threatening approach</a> to a U.S. Air Force F-16 near Alaska in September 2024. The latter incident saw&nbsp;a&nbsp;Su-35 cut in front of and across the F-16’s path at very close range, in what was referred to by some sources as a ‘headbutting’ manoeuvre. When configured for stealth operations, the F-35 is notably less well equipped than the F-16 to engage the Su-35 within visual ranges, as the fighter are incapable of carrying visual range air-to-air missiles without compromising their stealth profiles. This provides the Su-35 with a major advantage at such ranges despite the limited capabilities of its R-73/74 visual range missiles.<img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/04/05/article_67f1ad139957d8_69787123.png" title="F-35 and Pair of Su-35s with Tu-95MS Near Alaska" >Russian Su-35s were on November 30 deployed alongside Chinese <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/j16-flying-low-chinese-beach-backbone-fleet" target="_blank">J-16 fighters </a>to escort respective Tu-95 and H-6 strategic bombers for <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/super-flankers-united-j16s-su35-jointly-escort" >operations</a> near Alaska, raising concerns in the United States that the much more sophisticated Chinese aircraft could in future place further pressure on Alaskan defences. The Su-35’s engagement with an F-35 closely follows confirmation in the final week of March that the scale of the fighter class’ production <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-expanding-su35-fighter-production-scale-two-reasons-why" >will be expanded</a>, which will allow Russia both to operationalise new squadrons more quickly in its own fleet and to better meet export orders, namely those from Iran and Algeria. The Su-35 entered service in the Russian Aerospace Force just months before the U.S. Air Force operationalised the F-35A, and is considered a ‘4++ generation’ aircraft compared to the fifth generation F-35. The fighter has a significantly longer range, carries a significantly larger primary radar and a far greater weapons payload, and has a superior flight performance across the spectrum of parameters including a supercruise capability. The F-35, however, benefits from avionics that are thought to be far more sophisticated, as well as world leading stealth capabilities. The F-35 is thought to have a significantly superior overall combat performance at beyond visual ranges for both air-to-air and strike operations.&nbsp;