Russia conducted an experiment on the use of a “flock” of Su-35 fighters under the control of a fifth-generation Su-57 aircraft.  EDNews.net reports citing Bulgarian Military News.

“The experiment was carried out in real combat conditions, a group of Su-35 fighters was involved in the” flock “, the role of the command and staff aircraft was performed by the Su-57,” said one of the agency’s interlocutors.

Another defense source confirmed to TASS the nature of the tests and explained that in the battle order, which the pilots call a flock or swarm, information is exchanged between fighters in real time: the information-control system of each aircraft automatically processes data from both its own sensors and sensors of other boards.

Sources explained that the use of a “flock” operating in a single information space, significantly increases the efficiency of combat missions. The interlocutors did not name the date and place of the experiment.

As the leading Russian military expert, chief editor of Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine Viktor Murakhovsky noted, such tests are important in terms of building a unified information system for the armed forces.

“Work on interaction in a general battle order [in a flock – ed.] is important. In the future, information from all aircraft sensors, as well as from air defense systems, from satellites, from ground-based equipment should come into a single system that will create a single information field for land, air and space. And in it, with the support of artificial intelligence, the distribution of combat work, including for aviation, will already take place,” the expert explained.

He added that similar work is being carried out by the United States of America, in particular for its F35 fighters. At the same time, Murakhovsky said, so far neither Russia nor the United States have been able to build such a single information system for managing all types of troops due to difficulties in creating a single data format for different types and branches of the armed forces.

Russian fleet tested joint tactic ‘hunting flock’ with S-400

As we reported on May 5 the Russian Navy has worked out a new tactic called the “hunting flock”, designed to combat enemy submarines and defend their bases.

As part of this system, which was developed last year, several small anti-submarine ships and one of the newest patrol project 22160 – “Vasily Bykov”. Ka-27 anti-submarine helicopters act as assistants-search engines for submarines.

“Vasily Bykov” is included in a single combat contour of the base, which allows real-time reporting of the coordinates of targets to the S-400 Triumph coastal long-range air defense systems.

In addition, the Gibka anti-aircraft missile system was installed on board the ship. This SAM is capable of attacking planes, helicopters and drones.

At the moment, the Navy has two patrol ships (PC) of project 22160 – “Vasily Bykov” and “Dmitry Rogachev”. Both are part of the Black Sea Fleet.

Project 22160 PCs, in turn, are designed in a modular manner, which allows you to quickly install the weapons needed to perform a specific combat mission. Thus, new systems with various auxiliary equipment are currently being actively tested.