In military operations there are three categories of information that are leaked to the media, where according to the first, which constitutes the vast majority, they are made public immediately, the second category includes those that are leaked after a period of months to a few years, when the gradation of value it has passed them by and the third category includes those that will see the light of day after too many years or never at all, since they are very important and have many side effects if they are revealed.
In the second category belongs the information emanating from an article of a reputable Bulgarian media, entitled "The Su-30 used the Khibiny EW system while intercepting the F-35", where it mainly points out the following:
According to Russian analyst Andrey Andreev, on April 30, 2022, NATO in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and in order to secure the Baltic sent F-35As of the Italian Air Force to Estonia.
The fighter squadron is from the 32nd Airlift Wing at Amendola Air Force Base in southern Italy.
Almost immediately after their arrival, the Italian F-35s began joint patrols with the Allies to perform the "air patrol" mission. Every day the planes are in the air, just like on May 9 when the incident in question took place.
On May 9, a Russian Su-30SM was reported to have intercepted an Italian F-35 over the Baltic Sea.
The interception occurred because the F-35 approached the Russian Air Force An-12 military transport aircraft, which was escorting the Su-30SM,
“It came almost out of nowhere. I was very confused because I didn't expect to see it so close," the Italian pilot describes his first impressions of the sudden appearance of the Su-30SM.
The US fighter jet's detection and warning systems repeatedly failed to detect it and had to be restarted.
The Italian pilot says they were warned that the Russians might be using Khibiny, an electronic warfare system, but when he was confronted with it in action, when the F-35's warning and targeting instruments failed momentarily, he began to worry.
In the continuation of his narrative, he refers to the maneuvers of both the F-35 and the Russian Su-30SM, characterizing the opposing pilot as provocative based on them and how he sought to test the capabilities of the American fighter.
Speaking to Military History of Italy, the Italian pilot revealed that he says he did not expect that the most modern American fighter jet, the F-35 with all its systems and weapons could be "bypassed" so easily, especially considering that the Su- 30 is a 4th generation fighter, albeit upgraded.
Khibiny is an electronic warfare system that began its development in the era of the Soviet Union and continues to this day. The first samples of the system were rough, heavy and failed to achieve the desired functionality.
Later, sometime in the 1980s, Khibiny became a priority of joint cooperation between KNIRTI and Sukhoi Aviation.
Currently, Khibiny has already undergone several improvements and is considered an excellent electronic warfare system.
Initially, Russia intended to integrate the Khibiny into the Su-34. This officially happens when Moscow decides in 2014 that all Su-34s will receive this system. Incorporated as L-175V Khibiny.
Later, Moscow decided that the Su-30 should also get this system.
According to sources, all Su-34s deployed in the war with Ukraine received the L-175V Khibiny.
The Su-30SM is the aircraft participating in military operations in Ukraine that carries the electronic warfare system in question.
This has been proven in practice since parts of this system are now said to have been discovered after a Su-30SM was shot down by the Ukrainian armed forces near Izyum.
Then an RTU 518-PSM silencer capsule was discovered, which is part of the whole kit.
The system is designed to distort the reflected signal parameters.
This helps the system delay the detection of its carrier aircraft, and it is said that when the Khibiny is activated, enemy aircraft in the range of the Russian aircraft have difficulty finding the range, especially in speed and angle positions.
Khibiny therefore increases the time and difficulty of uncovering an object during an active real-time scan.
There is also something very interesting that has to do with the planned future deployment of F-16s in Ukraine, which will be pitted against Russian Su-30SMs participating in military operations there and known to carry the Khibiny electronic warfare system.
Now that the F-35 has been "in the dark" with the Russian Su-30SM carrying the Khibiny electronic warfare system, what will happen to the clearly inferior F-16s to be deployed in Ukraine?
