TSAMTO, July 4. 2022 marks the 45th anniversary of the first flight of the prototype Su-27 fighter developed by the P.O. Sukhoi Experimental Design Bureau, which marked the beginning of the famous Su-27/Su-30 family.
The message dedicated to the anniversary date was distributed by the press service of Rosoboronexport JSC.
The press release notes that in the XXI century, the Su-27/Su-30 have become one of the most popular in the world: they were purchased by Angola, Belarus, Venezuela, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, China, Malaysia, Uganda and other countries. The enormous merit in this is both personally the aircraft designer Pavel Osipovich Sukhoi, and the team of his unsurpassed Design Bureau, who managed to derive a technically perfect formula for the global success of the Sukhoi brand.
"Air supremacy is one of the fundamental factors in any confrontation. That is why we pay great attention to the creation of new promising platforms. At one time, the Su-27 became a technologically breakthrough machine and the progenitor of a whole family of outstanding aircraft: the Su-30, Su-34 and Su-35. Today, these machines form the basis of the Russian aerospace forces, successfully perform tasks on a daily basis, even in very difficult conditions. This is a vivid demonstration of our technological capabilities," said Vladimir Artyakov, First Deputy General Director of Rostec State Corporation.
Currently, the family of highly efficient Russian multipurpose heavy-class aircraft complexes of the Su brand offered for export is represented by generation 4+/4++ Su-30SME, Su-34E and Su-35 aircraft.
"Rosoboronexport has delivered about 700 Su-27/Su-30 combat aircraft abroad since 2000. In 2021, the company's order portfolio was replenished with new contracts for the supply of Su-30SM," said Alexander Mikheev, General Director of Rosoboronexport JSC (part of Rostec State Corporation). – Over the past 10 years, the share of Russian aircraft supplies in total exports has been 40-50%, and today even exceeds this figure. Currently, our partners highly appreciate the fact that engines, avionics, weapons, systems and assemblies in Russian combat aircraft are exclusively Russian-made. This guarantees the independence of the buyer states from the unfair actions of third countries. At the same time, the principle of an open architecture for the construction of avionics and weapons complexes, implemented in Russian fighters, allows foreign customers, with the participation of the Sukhoi Design Bureau, to integrate into their composition separate systems and samples of automated control systems of their own production."
The largest operator of combat aircraft of the Su brand are the Russian Aerospace Forces. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Su-30SM and Su-35 aircraft effectively perform combat missions to intercept air targets and strike high-precision weapons at military facilities at low, medium and high altitudes. Their on-board equipment allows the use of aviation weapons with maximum accuracy. According to the Hero of Russia pilot Major Viktor Dudin, the Su-35 is a perfect fighter that surpasses all foreign analogues.
The Su-35 is a powerful aviation complex of the 4++ generation, which uses the technologies of the 5th generation fighters. The Su-35 solves the entire range of fighter tasks in a wide range of altitudes and flight speeds. A large number of suspension points ensures the use of up to 12 medium-range air-to-air guided missiles or 6 air-to-surface missiles in one combat mission. Powerful onboard radar provides detection of aerial targets at long ranges (up to 350 km). The Su-35 also effectively fights ground (surface) targets, including without entering the enemy's air defense zone. In addition, the Su-35 is able to control group actions of aviation in the air, performing the functions of an AWACS aircraft.
Key advantages of Su-class fighters:
- super maneuverability, which provides a serious advantage in close air combat, including allowing you to disrupt the enemy's retaliatory missile attacks;
- powerful guided and unguided missile weapons plus a 30 mm aviation cannon;
- autonomy of basing and the possibility of refueling in the air;
- open architecture for the construction of avionics and weapons complexes.
"The intensity of military threats in the world is not decreasing, which determines the increased interest in the proven reliability and effectiveness of Russian combat aircraft, which in many respects surpasses the same Western models," Alexander Mikheev stressed. – In the foreseeable future, the dominant combat effectiveness of Russian aircraft will remain, and the modernization of platforms is ongoing, which is clearly seen in the example of the Su-57. In this context, it is curious that some Western media, throwing in fakes about the alleged "technological lag of the Russians," are silent about the fact that often the mere appearance of Russian fighters in the sky changes the situation in the military theater radically not in favor of the enemy."
One of the most famous foreign operators of Su-30 type fighters is India, where the program of licensed production of Su-30MKI, which form the basis of the country's Air Force, has been successfully implemented. Rosoboronexport JSC, within the framework of the Make in India program, is ready to supply additional technical kits for the assembly of the Su-30MKI and carry out joint work on their modernization, including the integration of the latest aviation weapons, avionics, etc. At the same time, the existing portfolio of projects in the aviation sector allows the company to globally develop technological cooperation in a huge range of areas.
By the way, the world-famous aerobatic aviation groups "Russian Knights" and "Falcons of Russia", performing on the Su-27 / Su-30/ Su-35, hundreds of times broke the ovation of the audience at international air shows in dozens of countries around the world. Even the presidents and prime ministers of the customer countries who participated in the demonstration flights of these beautiful aircraft have repeatedly been convinced of the flight perfection and reliability of the Russian Su fighters. This summer, the legendary aircraft will be demonstrated within the framework of the International Military-Technical Forum "Army-2022", the press service of Rosoboronexport JSC reports.
