In one embodiment, a system for steering an input packet stream includes a traffic splitter configured to split an input packet stream into a first packet stream and a second packet stream, and a photonic switching fabric coupled to the traffic splitter, where the photonic switching fabric is configured to switch the first packet stream. The system may also include an electrical packet switching fabric coupled to the traffic splitter, where the electrical packet switching fabric is configured to switch the second packet stream, and a traffic combiner coupled to the photonic switching fabric and to the electrical packet switching fabric, where the traffic combiner is configured to merge the first switched packet stream and the second switched packet stream to produce a first packet flow.