Why The 80s-Era Russian Su-27 Remains a Massive Threat

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

(Washington DC) The Su-27 flanker may have emerged in the 1980s, yet the aircraft has not only been substantially upgraded but also influenced a generation of advanced Russian fighter jets. Surprisingly, its speed and thrust to weight ration rival that of an F-22, and the Cold War era jet remains a formidable air-attack platform.

Russia’s Su-27 fighter is a legend for many apparent reasons, given its speed, thrust to weight ratio and bomb-attack capabilities While not as new as the Su-57 Felon nor is it stealth, it has influenced Russian fighter design for decades.

Su-27

Russia’s large fleet of Su-27 ‘Flanker’ fighter jets continues to have a substantial and lasting impact on the country’s Air Force because of its bomb-carrying capacity and influence upon subsequent variants such as the Su-30 and Su-35.

The 1980s-era Su-27 has evolved into a number of critical variants including the Su-34 fighter-bomber and 4th-Gen ++ Su-35, among others. The aircraft has been in service for many years and available specs state it operates at high speeds of Mach 2.3 and with an impressive thrust-to-weight ratio of 1.09.

The Su-27 can also function in a “bomb truck” capacity as it operates with 10 hardpoints and is, not surprisingly, comparable in many respects to the MiG-29 fighter introduced just a few years prior.

While the jet clearly is not “stealthy” in the modern sense of the term, the Su-27 does seem to resemble some radar signature-lowering features such as a rounded nose, blended or nearly horizontal wing-body structure, and F-22-like dual-engine integration into the fuselage.

Fewer sharp, angled, or “protruding” hard edges certainly generate a much smaller radar return signature as electromagnetic “pings” have fewer shapes off of which to bounce and deliver a rendering. In terms of body configuration, both the Su-27 and its Su-35 successor have an F-22-like fuselage.