This was one of 15 Su-33s deployed by the 279th Independent Ship-borne Fighter Aviation Regiment on board the aircraft carrier Kuznetsov for the cruise to Syria in late 2016. Original colours should have been light grey (FS 25622, on undersurfaces too), blue (FS35250), and dark blue (FS 15012), with radomes and other dielectric panels in traffic white (FS17925), but in most of cases, the camouflage pattern was quite bleached. As usual, the Russian Navy’s ensign was applied below the rear part of the cockpit, and the crest of the Sukhoi on the fin. Envisaged as air superiority fighters, the Russian Navy’s Su-33s were only equipped with air-to-air missiles (usually a pair each of R-27Rs and R-73s), and up to two 500kg bombs. (Artwork by Tom Cooper)