Sukhoi Su-33 it off the Indian carriers, a constraint not shared by the smaller MiG-29K. On 15 November 2016, Sukhoi Su-33 fighter jets began conducting combat flights over Syria from "Admiral Kuznetsov"s flight deck in the ongoing Syrian civil war. On 5 December 2016, it was reported that a Su-33 had crashed into the Mediterranean Sea after it failed to land on the carrier for a second time due to an arrestor cable problem. Sukhoi Su-33 The Sukhoi Su-33 (-33; NATO reporting name: "Flanker-D") is an all-weather carrier-based twin-engine air superiority fighter designed by Sukhoi and manufactured by Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association,
Sukhoi Su-27 by the Japan Ministry of Defense. Russia denied the incursion, saying the jets were making routine flights near the disputed Kuril Islands. In another encounter, on 23 April 2014 an Su-27 nearly collided with a United States Air Force Boeing RC-135U over the Sea of Okhotsk. Russia plans to replace the Su-27 and the Mikoyan MiG-29 eventually with the Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fifth-generation multi-role twin-engine fighter. A squadron of Su-27SM3s was deployed to Syria in November 2015 as part of the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War. Ethiopian Su-27s reportedly shot down two Eritrean MiG-29s and damaged another