Meet Russia's Most Powerful Sky Killer
The large, twin-engine Russian-made fighter, equivalent to the US F-15 Eagle, has long range, high speed, heavy weaponry, state-of-the-art avionics and excellent maneuverability.
The multi-purpose Su-27 fighter can operate in all weather conditions and its derivatives remain the best fourth-generation fighters in service with the armed forces of Russia, China and India, said Sebastian Roblin, a military expert at the National Interest magazine.
"The large twin-engine fighter jet made in Russia is equivalent to the US F-15 Eagle, with long range, high speed, heavy weaponry, advanced avionics and excellent maneuverability," the expert said.
Mr. Roblin said that the Su-27M, Su-30, Su-33, Su-35 as well as the Chinese Shenyang J-11 aircraft are all built on the Su-27 platform. According to the NATO classification system, these aircraft are all called Flanker.
These fighters have often proven more effective in tests than their American counterparts. The last Flanker (the Su-35 fighter) also showed the difference between American and Russian combat doctrine.
The Su-27’s capabilities are impressive. It can reach speeds of Mach 2.35 and carry eight air-to-air missiles and a variety of bombs. The Su-27 is known for its unusual agility, allowing it to remain controlled at very low speeds, or shut down its engines suddenly during dives, and perform aerobatic maneuvers. Contemporary American aircraft such as the F-15 are not capable of performing the “Pugachev’s Cobra” maneuver like the Su-27.
The Su-27 airframe has also proven to be versatile. The Russian Air Force has equipped it with a wide range of avionics, upgrading it to improve its close-combat and ground-attack capabilities. Several countries around the world have even modified the Su-27 to suit their own requirements.
Mr. Litovkin also noted that a large number of aircraft prototypes have been built on the Su-27 platform.
Military expert Viktor Litovkin commented: "Simply because the Su-27 is an excellent aircraft, in which you can change the internal design: install a new radar navigation system, a new avionics system, equip new weapons, control systems and even install vector thrust engines, which surpass all modern aircraft engines not only of the fourth generation, but in some indicators even surpass fifth-generation aircraft. Because not all fifth-generation aircraft, for example, the F-35 or F-22, have engines of this type, or have the maneuverability of the Su-30SM or Su-35".
The US military focuses on stealth and speed, while Russia continues to build highly maneuverable aircraft, Roblin concluded.
