By Maya Carlin, Warrior Contributor
The White House recently agreed to allow Ukrainian pilots to train on F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets, highlighting the role airframes are playing in the ongoing Russian invasion.
In late May, Moscow claimed that it scrambled an Su-27 fighter to “prevent violations” of the state border by a pair of American strategic bombers flying over the Baltic Sea.
The Pentagon responded that the two B-1 bombers were participating in a planned exercise in Europe, marking the latest in a series of incidents surrounding Russian, American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) airframes since the onset of the war.
Russia’s Sukhoi Su-27 has patrolled the skies over Russia and Ukraine for years, initially under the purview of the Soviet Union and now as a fighter for both Moscow and Kyiv.
A brief overview of the Su-27’s history
Designed to effectively counter America’s fourth-generation F-14 Tomcat and F-15 Eagle platforms, the Su-27’s origin story dates back to the Soviet Union. When the former USSR discovered the U.S. Air Force was developing the F-15 under its “F-X” program, Soviet engineers went to work to design its own indigenous fighter. The Russian company Sukhoi developed its T-10 prototype in the late 1970’s, which strongly resembled the F-15’s specifications.
Designated by NATO as “Flanker-A,” the T-10 airframe suffered from several significant issues during its development stage, including the fatal crash of its second prototype. By the mid-1980’s, however, the platform entered service with the USSR and was officially unveiled to the West at the 1989 Paris Air Show. Eventually, the Flanker-A would become the Su-27. The Sukhoi defense giant competed against two other recognizable Soviet companies, Mikoyan and Yakolev.
The Flanker-A’s specs and capabilities
Over the years, the Su-27 has evolved into several newer variants, including the Su-34 fighter bomber and the fourth-generation plus Su-35.
Able to operate autonomously in combat or in tandem with deep-penetration strike platforms, the Flanker-A can also provide close ground support. The Su-27 possesses several features that lower its radar signature, including a rounded noise, dual-engine integration and nearly horizontal wing-body structure.
Like the notoriously formidable American F-22 Raptor, the Su-27’s smaller radar cross section makes it more difficult for enemy airframes to detect. Twin turbofan engines power the Flanker-A, which enables the airframe to achieve a service ceiling of 18,000 meters and a flight range of more than 1,800 miles.
The Su-27 also sports track-while-scan capabilities and other more advanced sensors and communication systems than some of its predecessors.
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Ordnance-wise, the Su-27 can function as a “bomb truck” of sorts. As detailed by Airforce Technology, “The aircraft is equipped with a 30mm GSh-301 gun with 150 rounds of ammunition and a range of missiles, rockets and bombs mounted externally on ten hardpoints.
The aircraft’s infrared search and track system, laser rangefinder, radar and helmet-mounted target designator provide detection, tracking and attack capability.” In addition to a range of air-to-air missiles, the platform can carry air-to-ground weapons including aerial bombs, incendiary devices, cluster bombs and aerial missiles.
As Kyiv’s counter-offensive wages on and F-16s make it to Ukraine, Moscow will likely turn more to its aerial fleet to continue its offensive efforts.
Maya Carlin, a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin.
