Over the longer term, perhaps the 30s could be upgraded in house to 35 standard or something close?
The Su-30SM is already a beast, so I personally wouldn't worry about upgrading it to Su-35 standard as long as it has everything it needs to successfully complete its maximum capabilities. Being a 2-seater gives it other options the Su-35 doesn't have.
How useful are the 30s to Iran right now as they are, given that they would likely be inside the envelope of the National Air Defense Grid and liaising closely with air defense forces? What's the longest range they can fire?
I think they would be very useful, depending on the numbers. If Iran gets a dozen or less, that won't change things much except for using them as trainers to the Su-35s and maybe some escorting/patrolling/intercepting missions etc. Possibly anti-ship and attack missions also and work with the AD like you said oh wait, even 12 would be great! lol.
I'm pretty sure they can fire the R-37M and its derivatives for very long ranges, including the latest Russian A2A munitions. Keep those big, enemy AWACS, recon/intel and tanker aircraft further away and disrupt their duties. Disrupt and make it difficult to conduct their specific missions which is an important defensive tactic. Make that disruption force the enemy to change their mission parameters.
I think they would complement the Su-35 in many ways, but it depends on the numbers and availability of weapons. 30 Su-35s and 24 or more Su-30SMs would be a tremendous leap in the IRIAF and make a drastic impact for Iran's defensive and offensive capabilities. The more, the merrier.
Also, Could they carry Fakour 90s and launch with a nearby tomcat AM controlling the missiles?
I don't think you would need the F4s or 14s to control the Fakours. That can be done by the back-seater or even the pilot. Integrating the missiles to the Russian-built platforms would be the more challenging part IMO.
And Forget about Fakour, the real question is how can Iran buy enough R-77s and other Russian missiles to arm their legacy fleet of F4s, F14s, etc. If Iran can manage to upgrade those planes with more modern Russian avionics, that would be a huge improvement.
Yep, especially loading up on RVV-SDs and RVV-Ms plus KH-31s & KH-35s since we know they'll need to target ships and possibly critical ground targets.
And yes on the legacy Phantoms & Tomcats upgrades. It's incredible how they've been able to not only keep those machines flying, but keeping them viable as fighting platforms, especially the F-14 which could eventually benefit from a replacement by the Su-30SM.
Persiacat packing some heat.
