Sukhoi Su-33
| Sukhoi Su-33 | |
|---|---|
_DD-SD-99-06153.jpg) Su-33 on board the Admiral Kuznetsov |
|
| Type: | Air superiority fighter |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
December 22, 1987 |
| Commissioning: |
1994 |
| Production time: |
1993 to 1994 |
| Number of pieces: |
24 |
The Sukhoi Su-33 ( Russian Сухой Су-33 , NATO code name : Flanker-D ) is a variant of the Sukhoi Su-27 air superiority fighter , which was specially designed for use on aircraft carriers .
history
The development began in 1971 in what was then the Soviet Union . Within ten years, three variants of the aircraft were developed at OKB Suchoi , which were planned for use on aircraft carriers (projects 1160 and 1153 ). These projects envisaged the use of a catapult for take-off and a safety rope for landing.
From 1982, work continued on a carrier-based version of the Su-27, which was designed for use on the aircraft carriers of Project 1143.5 , today's Admiral Kuznetsov (ex.Tbilisi) and today's Chinese Liaoning (ex.Varyag, ex.Riga), was intended. For these two aircraft carriers, a ski jump deck was provided instead of catapults .
For test purposes, the OKBs Sukhoi and Mikoyan-Gurewitsch aircraft were used as "flying laboratories" (LL) (Russian: летающие лаборатории, ЛЛ). Suchoi built such a test aircraft, called the T-10-3 , with which the first attempts on the ground to take off from a ski jump deck and land with the help of hooks and rope were carried out in the years 1982-1983 . The first take-off from a ski jump deck took place on August 28, 1982. Another test aircraft was built in 1984: the T-10-25 . This machine landed on August 30, 1984 or took off for the first time on September 3, 1984 from the new ski jump “by ship type”.
1986 to 1987 two prototypes of the Su-27K (internal designations: T-10K-1 and T-10K-2) were built. The first take-off took place on December 22, 1987 with the T-10K-1. On November 1, 1989, the first landing of the T-10K-2 on the aircraft carrier Tbilisi (today: Admiral Kuznetsov ) followed.
From 1989, the construction of a small series of Su-27K began in the Komsomolsk-na-Amurje (Комсомольск-на-Амуре) plant. The first production aircraft flew on February 17, 1990.
The state tests were carried out between 1991 and 1994. In April 1993, the first copies of the carrier-based fighter were handed over to the pilots of the 279th OKIAP (Independent Airborne Fighter Regiment) of the Northern Fleet . In August 1994 the unit had 24 series machines.
On October 31, 1998, by presidential decree, the Su-27K was accepted into the armed forces of the Russian Federation under the designation Su-33 .
Since the negotiations with the People's Republic of China over an export failed and the Indian Navy used MiG-29K aircraft for its aircraft carrier Vikramaditya , it was decided in 2009 to decommission the Su-33 for cost reasons. Although the Su-33 (as of June 2015) is technically state-of-the-art, the small number of 24 aircraft makes it inefficient to keep the Su-33 in operation and to allocate the spare parts required for maintenance work to produce.
In 2017 it was finally decided to modernize the Su-33 fleet after all. The focus here was on the installation of new navigation systems including radar and devices for electronic countermeasures and the use of new weapons. According to Russian information, the modernized aircraft correspond to the status of the Su-27SM and the Su-30SM . By 2019, 20 Su-33s had been modernized to this stand.
commitment
The only combat missions of the Su-33 so far took place as part of the Russian military operation in Syria . In October 2016, the Admiral Kuznetsov ran from Severomorsk to Tartus with the carrier aircraft MiG-29K and Su-33 . Arrived off the Syrian coast, the carrier's warplanes flew attacks against ground targets in Syria. After a MiG-29K and a Su-33 crashed near the carrier during landing and take-off maneuvers, the carrier-based combat aircraft were transferred to the Hmeimim military airfield for further missions . During the two-month mission, the MiG-29 and Su-33 reportedly carried out 420 attacks on targets in Syria.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 1 |
| length | 21.19 m |
| span |
|
| Wing area | 67.84 m² |
| Wing extension | 3.48 |
| Wing loading |
|
| height | 5.93 m |
| Empty mass | 18,400 kg |
| normal takeoff mass | 29,940 kg |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 33,000 kg |
| Top speed |
|
| Landing speed | 240 km / h |
| Service ceiling | approx. 17,000 m |
| Rate of climb | 230 m / s |
| Max. Range | approx. 3,000 km |
| Takeoff route | 100–195 m (with ski jump) |
| Landing route | 90 m (intercepted) |
| Engines | two Saturn / Ljulka AL-31F - turbofans |
| Thrust |
|
| Thrust-to-weight ratio |
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Su-33 KUB
The project of a two-seat training aircraft began under the designation SU-27KU; as with the Su-27K, the designation was later changed to Su-33. Based on the experience of the Sukhoi design office with the T-10U-2, a modified Su-27UB, with which ramp starts and catch hook landings were tested in Saki, the tandem arrangement of student pilots and flight instructors for a training aircraft for carrier landings was not considered satisfactory. In the case of a tandem arrangement, the flight instructor does not have a sufficient view of the carrier deck on the final approach. Due to the difference in height of the seat arrangement, the viewing angle for the visual glide path marker of the aircraft carrier is no longer correct for the flight instructor. So Sukhoi decided to use assemblies from the ongoing development of the Su-34 and decided to arrange the seats next to each other for the Su-33KUB. The Su-27K prototype T-10K-4 (blue 59) was therefore converted to the Su-27KUB (T-10KUB-1). A dynamic load cell was also built (T-10KUB-0). Apart from the newly designed front fuselage, the Su-27KUB / Su-33KUB differs from the single-seater in the following points: by widening the cockpit and the aerodynamic transition behind it, the capacity of the first fuselage tank has been significantly increased. The wingspan was increased so that the heavier Su-33KUB could maintain the same take-off and landing speeds as the Su-33. The Su-33KUB's nose flap, aileron and landing flap system has been optimized. The hinges for folding up the wings are now further out. With the wings folded up, the wingspan of the wings is the same as the wingspan of the elevator; therefore, the Su-33KUB has no foldable elevators. The Su-33KUB has thrust vector control. As with the Su-34, entry into the cockpit is through the nose gear shaft. The entry through the nose gear shaft turned out to be too cumbersome when the crew was wearing protective clothing for a ditching. For this reason, entry into the second prototype was already planned in the conventional way through an opening one-piece cockpit hood (comparable to that of a Hawker-Hunter trainer). Various flights were carried out with the Su-33KUB. However, since no success can be seen in a possible export to India or China and the Russian Navy will probably rely on the MiG-29K in the future, the Su-33KUB program was discontinued. The first prototype was stored and the second prototype (T-10KUB-2) was not completed. The Su-33KUB was not just a training aircraft, but a fully combat-ready aircraft for use as a fighter, ground attack aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft and as a tanker . A version with a built-in hose funnel was also planned; this would have made it possible to install a 3000 l additional tank in addition to two 2000 l additional tanks under the wings instead of the UPAZ refueling container. With this the Su-33KUB could have refueled several Su-33s. A version with three interference containers as a counterpart to the F / A-18G Growler was also proposed.
Armament
Permanently installed armament in the bow
1 x 30 mm automatic cannon GRYAZEV-SHIPUNOV GSH-301 (9A-4071K) with up to 150 rounds of ammunition
Gun loading of 6,500 kg at 12 underwing load stations
Air-to-air guided missiles
6 × R-27ER / EM / ET (AA-10C Alamo) - infrared / radar-controlled medium-range air-to-air missiles
6 × R-27R / T (AA-10A / B Alamo) - infrared- / radar-guided medium-range air-to-air missiles
6 × R-73E (AA-11 Archer) - infrared-guided short-range air-to-air missiles
Air-to-ground free-fall bombs
2-6 × FAB-500M-54 (500 kg free fall bomb)
28 × FAB-250 (250 kg free fall bomb)
28 × FAB-100 (100 kg free fall bomb)
Unguided air-to-surface missiles
4 × B-8M1 missile launch containers with 20 unguided air-to-surface missiles each type S-8 ; 80 mm caliber
4 × B-13L rocket launch containers with 5 unguided S-13 air-to-ground missiles each ; 122 mm
4 × O-25 rocket launch container, each with an unguided air-to-ground missile S-25 ; 340 mm
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Air refueling tank
1 × Zvezda UPAS-1 Sakhalin
- External containers only for Su-33KUB, planned Su-33KUB versions
- 1 × Tekon / Elektron APK-9 radio data transmission container as a relay for the steering signals for the Ch-29, Ch-59 and KAB-500Kr
- 1 × UOMZ Sapsan (electro-optical target lighting container)
- 1 × jam container KNIRTI SAP-14
Avionics
Communication and location electronics as well as the interfaces to the weapons carried are designed for day and night operations in the maritime theater of war.
Self-defense systems
Decoys dispenser : Between the two engines in the tail spur there are two larger batteries APP-50A decoys for 14 blocks of 3 × 50 mm decoys each and a Gorizont APP 50MA decoyser (rectangular container for 12 × 50 mm heat flare decoys ) installed. There are a total of 96 decoy cartridges.
User states
Current user
Former prospect
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People's Republic of China : Negotiations since 2006 about the sale of first 50, then later only two machines and no application for license production to the People's Republic of China failed in March 2009 due to concerns about cheap Chinese counterfeits for export. Russia claims to have determined this in 2006 for Su-27SK that have already been delivered. As a result, China bought the Su-27K prototype T-10K-7 and the nose section of another Su-27K prototype in Ukraine. In mid-2010, pictures of a Chinese machine called the J-15 that looks like a copy of the Su-33 emerged. The Chinese government announced that the prototype completed its first simulated ramp start at the CFTE in Xian-Yanliang on May 6, 2010.
Web links
- www.sukhoi.org (manufacturer's website )
- Overview of the Su-27 family from airpower.at
Individual evidence
- ↑ Aviation International News: Su-33 To Begin 2nd Phase of Upgrade While Russia Mulls Carrier Options
- ↑ Navyrecognition.com: Russia's Naval Aviation to Upgrade All Su-33 Fighters to Su-30SM Level
- ↑ Warplanes of Russian aircraft carrier to be used in Syria. In: tass.ru. TASS , July 2, 2016, accessed July 14, 2016 .
- ↑ Russia sends aircraft carriers to the Mediterranean. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . October 15, 2016, accessed October 16, 2016 .
- ↑ Sean O'Connor, Jeremy Binnie, Tim Ripley: Russian carrier jets flying from Syria, not Kuznetsov. (No longer available online.) In: Janes.com. IHS Jane's 360, November 25, 2016, archived from the original on November 27, 2016 ; accessed on November 28, 2016 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Anton Lavrov: The Russian Air Campaign in Syria. (PDF) In: cna.org. College of the North Atlantic - Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, June 1, 2018, accessed July 1, 2018 .
- ^ Army Recognition: Russian army to learn several lessons from Syrian war (part 2)
- ↑ British fighter jets escort Russian aircraft carriers. spiegel.de, January 25, 2017, accessed January 25, 2017 .
- ↑ Yefim Gordon, Dimitry Komissarov: Famous Russian Aircaft: Sukhoi Su-27 & 30/33/34/35 . ISBN 978-1-910809-18-1 , pp. 255-322
- ^ The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS): The Military Balance 2018 . 1st edition. Routledge, London 2018, ISBN 978-1-85743-955-7 , pp. 197 (English, January 2018).
- ↑ above: Russian-Chinese Su-33 fighter deal collapses , in: Defense Talk | Defense Talk Online , March 11, 2009. Accessed March 12, 2009.
- ↑ FliegerRevue July 2010; P. 18; China's flanker program is picking up speed
