"Sukhoi Su-27 'Flanker'

The Sukhoi Su-27 'Flanker' is a multi-role fighter, comparable with the F-15 'Eagle' and possesses similar configuration to the smaller and lighter MiG-29 Fulcrum. This plane is primarily an all-weather counterair fighter with secondary attack capability. the Su-27 is Rusia's first genuine look-down/shoot-down fighter .Compared with the MiG-29, the Su-27 is almost twice as big (in area terms, i.e. a 1.4 linear scale), twice as heavy, and twice as powerful. Despite it's size accepted in order to achieve long mission radius with many weapons, giving great persistance in air combat, the Su-27 is able to outfly the MiG-29, which itself was specifically designed to beat the F-14, F-15, F-16 and F-18 in close combat (and is generally accepted as being capable of doing so). The first of 15 'Flanker-A'prototypes new on 20 May 1977, and was followed in April 1381 by the 'Flanker-B' initial production model that entered service in 1384 with squared-off wing tips carrying missile launch rails. The type also has a number of aerodynamic refinements such as vertical tail surfaces located farther outboard, an extended tailcone, and leading-edge flaps. The Su-27UB 'Flanker-C' is the tandem two-sear variant first revealed in 1989 with taller vertical tail surfaces. The variant has an improved radar in a slightly longer nose, and is probably as much a combat type as a trainer, with the rear-sear officer managing of the warplane's upgraded avionics and weapon systems.The Su-27K 'Flanker-D' is the navalized version of the 'Flanker-B' selected in 1332 for deployment on the navy's new conventional aircraft carriers. This version has folding wings and tailplane halves, a retractable flight refueling probe, an arrester hook under a shortened bullet fairing between the paired engines, strengthened landing gear, moving canard foreplanes to allow slower landing at higher angles of attack, and engines uprated some 12% to 15%.

News Farnborough-- While watching test pilots fly at the Farnborough Air Show, you might get the impression that the law of gravity is only a polite suggestion. There are no trophies for fancy flying, but dazzling performances can seal multibillion-dollar aircraft deals. Catching on fast to the ways of capitalism, Russia's legendary Sukhoi Design Bureau announced that its hottest new fighter, the Su-37MR, would demonstrate a seemingly impossible aerial maneuver called a kulbit, which is Russian for circle. In this maneuver, the pilot uses the plane's engine-thrust-diverting capability to lift its nose and then twirl it around 360°, virtually pivoting on its tail. By the time it has completed this tight-diameter loop, its airspeed has dropped to below 50 knots. This gives the pilot an opportunity to fire at an enemy streaking past and earns the Su-37MR the nickname "Flanker." Russian test pilot Yevgeny Frolov performed the kulbit maneuver several times. Unfortunately for Frolov, only a few journalists and janitors who were working after the show got to watch. The show's rules committee wouldn't let Frolov fly his fanciest moves during the public exhibition because they said he couldn't control his plane well enough to keep it from flying over spectator areas.. Sukhoi Design Bureau's Su-37 received a lot of attention at this year's Farnborough. Not only did pilot Yevgeny Frolov put on an incredible flying demonstration, the aircraft itself had crowds around it almost every minute it sat in the static display. Two of the main reasons for its popularity are the aircraft's twin thrust-vectored jet engines.

Capable of pitch adjustments of thrust up to an estimated 20 degrees on either side of center, and tied into the fly-by-wire system, the two AL-37FU turbofan engines can quickly adjust the fighter's thrust for optimum angle of attack.

This is the basis for the plane's ability to perform the Cobra maneuver. In the Cobra, the aircraft makes a very quick pitch-up from horizontal to 30 degrees past vertical. The airspeed of the aircraft slows dramatically as the plane continues its horizontal travel. The pilot then uses thrust vectoring to help pitch the aircraft's nose down and resume normal flight angles. Cornered after the pilot's briefing yesterday, Sukhoi Chief Test Pilot Yevgeny Frolov said the Cobra maneuver was really quite easy to perform. "You just push a button and pull back on the stick. The fly-by-wire is very responsive." The most dramatic maneuver to watch is called the "Kulbit," Russian for "circle." Like the Cobra, the aircraft is brought up sharply into a near vertical position, except instead of continuing to fly forward belly first, the plane's rotation continues in the same direction completing an entire 360 degree backward somersault. These maneuvers may be fun to watch, but in combat they could prove deadly. Both Cobra and Kulbit allow the Su-37 to rapidly strip airspeed, causing a pursuing fighter to overshoot. In both cases, the Su-37 would have the potential to end up behind the pursuer, allowing a missile shot. Sukhoi is represented by the Russian state agency, Rosvoorouzhenie, which is chartered to sell Russian armament and military equipment. Rosvoorouzhenie has 31 regional offices in countries around the world including Iraq, Iran, Libya and Cuba. "¹⁵