The Su-33,30sm,30sm2 had them, but they decided against it for the Su-35.

Why did they drop them?

Went over to the Rose City Airfest in Tyler, TX to watch FEMA and the Viper Demo team along with some other great acts. The Skyhawk looks insanely fun to fly! Full res recap with more pics here: https://www.scotttuckerphoto.com/blog/rose-city-airfest-2026

Seems to have exploded early, causing fragments to result in, at least, a fuel leak.

No footage confirming a full shootdown such as wreckage or similar has been released and the Saudis have yet to comment on the incident. Therefore the fate of the aircraft is currently unknown.

First flew in 1990, the Rockwell-MBB X-31 was developed to investigate whether thrust vectoring and advanced flight-control systems could make future fighter aircraft dramatically more maneuverable in air-to-air combat, particularly at very high angles of attack where conventional fighters lose control.