Modern-Aviation

Aircraft And Military Development & Applications

52-Sukhoi-Su-35-Flanker-E

At 6th place among the most advanced jet fighters is the Russian made heavy class, long-range, multi-role one-seat fighter Su-35. The jet is designed by Sukhoi from the original air superiority fighter Su-27. It was originally designated Su-27M and later named Su-35. The aircraft is considered a close cousin of the Sukhoi Su-30MKI (a modernized Su-30 variant for India), because of the similar features and components it contains. The Sukhoi Su-35 is the designation for two separate, heavily-upgraded derivatives of the Su-27 air-defence fighter. They are single-seat, twin-engine, highly-maneuverable aircraft, designed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau and built by the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association.

Maximum speed: 2,500 km/h (1,553 mph) Range: 2,237 mi Maiden flight: 28 Jun 1988 Length: 71.85 ft Wingspan: 50.20 ft Cruising speed: 1,400 km/h (869.92 mph).

The Sukhoi Su-35S Flanker-E is the most potent fighter currently in operation with the Russian Air Force. The powerful twin-engine fighter, which is an advanced derivative of the original Soviet-era Su-27, is high flying, fast and carries an enormous payload. That, combined with its advanced suite of avionics, makes the Su-35 an extremely dangerous foe to any U.S. fighter, with the exception of the stealthy Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. That is one of the reasons the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force is keen to acquire the new jet.

“It’s a great airplane and very dangerous, especially if they make a lot of them,” said one senior U.S. military official with extensive experience on fifth-generation fighters. “I think even an AESA [active electronically scanned array-radar equipped F-15C] Eagle and [Boeing F/A-18E/F] Super Hornet would both have their hands full.”

One U.S. Navy Super Hornet pilot-a graduate of that service’s elite TOPGUN school-offered a sobering assessment. “When taken as a singular platform, I like the Su-35’s chances against most of our platforms, with perhaps the exception of the F-22 and F-15C,” the naval aviator said. “I suspect the F/A-18E/F can hold it’s own and F-35 has presumed stealth and sensor management on its side.”

But one Air Force official with experience on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter said that the Su-35 could pose a serious challenge for the stealthy new American jet. The F-35 was built primarily as a strike fighter and does not have the sheer speed or altitude capability of the Su-35 or F-22. “The Su's ability to go high and fast is a big concern, including for F-35,” the Air Force official said.

As an air-superiority fighter, its major advantages are its combination of high altitude capability and blistering speed-which allow the fighter to impart the maximum possible amount of launch energy to its arsenal of long-range air-to-air missiles.The Su-35 would be launching its weapons from high supersonic speeds around Mach 1.5 at altitudes greater than 45,000 ft; the F-35 would primarily be operating in the 30,000-ft range at speeds around Mach 0.9.
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The Su-35 builds on the already potent Flanker airframe, which in many respects already exceeded the aerodynamic performance of the Boeing F-15 Eagle. The Su-35 adds a lighter airframe, three-dimensional thrust vectoring, advanced avionics and a powerful jamming capability.

“Large powerful engines, the ability to supercruise for a long time and very good avionics make this a tough platform on paper,” said one highly experienced F-22 pilot. “It's considered a fourth gen plus-plus, as in it has more inherent capability on the aircraft. It possesses a passive [electronically-scanned array and it] has a big off boresight capability and a very good jamming suite.”

The addition of the electronic attack (EA) capability complicates matters for Western fighters because the Su-35’s advanced digital radio frequency memory jammers can seriously degrade the performance of friendly radars. It also effectively blinds the onboard radars found onboard American-made air-to-air missiles like the AIM-120 AMRAAM.

Further, the Air Force official added that even modernized versions of older jets would be in serious trouble against the new Flanker variant. “I'd say our fourth-gen AESAs aren't a big advantage,” said the official. “They're more to get us back in the game against jamming.”

But even the addition of AESA radars does not really solve the problem. “We-the U.S. Department of Defense-haven't been pursuing appropriate methods to counter EA for years,” said another senior Air Force official with experience on the F-22 Raptor. “So, while we are stealthy, we will have a hard time working our way through the EA to target the Su-35s and our missiles will have a hard time killing them.”

The Su-35 also carries a potent infrared search and track capability that could pose a problem for Western fighters. “It also has non-EM [electro-magnetic] sensors to help it detect other aircraft, which could be useful in long-range detection,” the Super Hornet pilot said.

Another of the Su-35’s major advantages is that it carries an enormous payload of air-to-air missiles. “One thing I really like about the Su-35 is that it is a high-end truck: It can carry a ton of air-to-air ordnance into a fight,” the Navy pilot said.

On paper, that makes the Su-35 an extremely capable platform, but as one highly experienced F-22 pilot pointed out: “Whether they can translate that into valid tactics remain[s] to be seen.”

Further, air warfare is far more complicated than comparing individual platforms-the sum total of the forces brought to bear have to be assessed in aggregate.
“It’s always sexy to compare one aircraft to another,” the naval aviator said. “The secret sauce is probably in our fighters and commensurate ‘strike’ or employment packages, to include AWACS, refuelling, and EM-capable platforms.”

Another highly experienced veteran fighter pilot added that much about the Su-35 and the capabilities of the Russian military remain unknown.

“You really don't know the capabilities of the weapons system or the skill level of the other side's pilots or their battle management system,” one former Air Force pilot with extensive experience with Soviet and Russian hardware said. “A physical platform is a shell of capability. It's what's inside that counts along with the command and control to execute. Our fifth-gen is pretty good. Weapons reliability and defensive suites might make the difference.”

General Characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 21.9 m (72 ft 11 in)
Wingspan: (with wingtip pods) 15.3 m (50 ft 2 in)
Height: 5.9 m (19 ft 5 in)
Wing area: 62 m² (667 ft²)
Empty weight: 18,400 kg (40,570 lb)
Loaded weight: 25,300 kg (56,660 lb) at 50% internal fuel
Max. takeoff weight: 34,500 kg (76,060 lb)
Fuel capacity: 11,500 kg (25,400 lb) internally
Powerplant: 2 × Saturn AL-41F1S afterburning turbofans
Dry thrust: 86.3 kN (19,400 lbf) each
Thrust with afterburner: 142 kN (31,900 lbf) each

Role: Multi-role air superiority fighter
National origin: Soviet Union / Russia
Design group: Sukhoi Design Bureau
Built by: Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft
               Production Association
First flight: Su-27M: 28 June 1988
Su-35S: 19 February 2008
Introduction: 2014
Status: In service
Primary users: Russian Air Force
                          People's Liberation Army Air Force
Produced: Su-27M: 1987-1995
                   Su-35S: 2007-present
Number built: Su-27M: 15
Su-35S: 58, 4 for export
Unit cost: US$40-65 million (Su-35S)
Developed from: Sukhoi Su-27
Variants: Sukhoi Su-37

Performance
Maximum speed:
At altitude: Mach 2.25 (2,400 km/h; 1,490 mph)
At sea level: Mach 1.13 (1,400 km/h; 870 mph)
Range:
At altitude: 3,600 km (2,240 mi; 1,940 nmi)
At sea level: 1,580 km (980 mi; 850 nmi)
Ferry range: 4,500 km (2,800 mi; 2,430 nmi) with 2 external fuel tanks
Service ceiling: 18,000 m (59,100 ft)
Rate of climb: >280 m/s (>55,000 ft/min)
Wing loading:
With 50% fuel: 408 kg/m² (84.9 lb/ft²)
With full internal fuel: 500.8 kg/m²
Thrust/weight: 1.13 at 50% fuel (0.92 with full internal fuel)
Maximum g-load: +9 g

Armaments
Guns: 1 × internal 30 mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-301 autocannon with 150 rounds
Hardpoints: 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 and provisions to carry combinations of:
Rockets: S-25
Missiles:
Air-to-air missiles:
8 × R-27RE/TE
R-40
R-60
6 × R-73E
12 × R-77M/P/T
6 × R-74
Air-to-surface missiles:
Kh-25ML
6 × Kh-29L/TE
3 × 3M-14AE
Anti-ship missiles:
3 × 3M-54AE1
6 × Kh-31A/AD
5 × Kh-59MK
1 × Yakhont
Anti-radiation missiles:
Kh-25MP
6 × Kh-31P/PD
5 × Kh-58UShE
Bombs:
8 × KAB-500KR TV-guided bombs
8 × KAB-500L laser-guided bombs
8 × KAB-500OD guided bombs
8 × KAB-500S-E satellite-guided bombs
3 × KAB-1500KR TV-guided bombs
3 × KAB-1500L laser-guided bombs
GBU-500 laser-guided bomb
GBU-500T TV-guided bomb
GBU-1000 laser-guided bomb
GBU-1000T TV-guided bomb

Avionics
Irbis-E passive electronically scanned array radar
OLS-35 infra-red search and track system
L175M Khibiny-M electronic countermeasures system

53-Tupolev-Tu-22M-Backfire