Su-35 missile loadout - confused & would like clarification

[hughjarce]

I'm confused about how many anti-ship missiles an Su-35 can actually carry.
If anyone can clarify this to me I'd appreciate it.

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Su ... ns_(Su-35S) the Su-35 has "12 hardpoints, consisting of 2 wingtip rails, and 10 wing and fuselage stations with a capacity of 8,000 kg (17,630 lb) of ordnance, with provisions to carry combinations of: ...", and then the various types of ordnance are listed.

Apart from the fact that I've read on some sites that the Su-35 can have 12-14 hardpoints (what are the 13th and 14th hardpoints used for? EW pods?), when it comes to anti-ship missiles, Wikipedia lists the following:
- 3 × 3M-54AE1
- 6 × Kh-31A/AD
- Kh-35U (does this mean 1 x Kh-35U?)
- 5 × Kh-59MK
- 1 × Yakhont (aka P-800 Oniks)

How come some of these numbers are odd? I mean why 3, 5 or 1 missiles as opposed to 4, 6 or 2 say?

As long as the 8,000kg limit isn't exceeded, can ANY 12 weapons be chosen?
And is it 1 missile per hardpoint or is it possible to fit more than 1 missile to one hardpoint?

In the image at the top of this page https://world-defense.com/threads/f15-e ... ance.5825/ it seems that more than 1 missile is attached to each hardpoint or am I mistaken about that?
If I'm correct, is the Su-35 able to do the same?
Also what are the weight limits for each hardpoint? i.e. how much weight can each of the 12-14 hardpoints carry?

There's a diagram here https://www.ausairpower.net/APA-Su-35S-Flanker.html (about a quarter of a way down the page) that appears to indicate that the Su-35 can only carry 5 anti-ship missiles, but it also looks like it's possible to carry 2 Kh-31s in addition to 5 Kh-59s since the 2 Kh-31s can use different hardpoints, so that would make 7 anti-ship missiles, not 5.
And is it possible to fit 4 Kh-59s AND 6 Kh-31s (which by my calculations would come in at 7,370kg; 5 Kh-59s otoh would take the total just over 8,000kg).
Btw what do the numbers in circles directly below the image of the aircraft mean?

I find this all very confusing. If anyone could clarify any of the above I'd appreciate it.

I looked into the weight of these missiles and found the following:

3 × 3M-54AE1:
I can't find a weight for this specific missile, the closest I can find is the 3M-54E1 which weighs 450kg, so 3 x 450kg = 1,350kg (source: https://en.missilery.info/missile/3m54e1)


6 × Kh-31AD:
6 x 715kg = 4,290kg (source: http://www.deagel.com/Offensive-Weapons ... 28005.aspx)
2 x 715kg = 1,430kg


Kh-35U: 670kg (source: https://www.military-today.com/missiles/kh_35.htm)


5 x Kh-95MK2: 5 x 770kg = 3,850kg (source: http://www.deagel.com/Offensive-Weapons ... 24004.aspx)
4 x 770kg = 3,080kg


1 × P-800 Oniks (aka Yakhont): 3,000kg (source: http://www.deagel.com/Offensive-Weapons ... 21001.aspx)

So based purely on these weights, it would seem that it would be possible to fit an Su-35 with:
- 3 x 3M-54E1: 3 x 450kg = 1,350kg
- 2 x Kh-31AD: 2 x 715kg = 1,430kg
- 1 x Kh-35U = 670kg
- 5 x Kh-59MK2: 5 x 770kg = 3,850kg
That totals: 7,300kg which is under the 8,000kg limit for the Su-35 and that's a total of 11 anti-ship missiles.
However, is it possible to fit out an Su-35 in this way? AIUI different hardpoints are rated to carry different weights, so is such a missile loadout possible on an Su-35?

The article https://www.ausairpower.net/APA-Su-35S-Flanker.html doesn't mention the 3M-54E1 or the Kh-35U so I don't know if they can be fitted to an Su-35 in addition to Kh-31s and Kh-59s.

Any explanations/clarification would be appreciated.

[weasel1962]

The pic might help. Odd number is because only 1 of the centerline points are used.