The Su27UB entered service at the same time as the Su27. It was a two seater aircraft designed for training in operational units. It had all of the same weapon systems and similar manouverability, it's only difference was a small reduction in range due to increased drag from the enlargened cockpit. Later it was though to use the extra person in an operational sense. They were able to share the workload for long missions and for this the two seater Su30 was developed. This being used for both training and operational aircraft greaty reduced costs from having dedicated aircraft for the role of training. Changes from the Su27 are small but signifigant. Since it was developed slightly after and with greater knowledge from the Su27 many features of the aircraft could be refined and improved on with new technologies and materials.
The front seat is in exactly the same position as the single seat version. The Second seat is considerably raised to give good downward visibility. The rear cockpit also has a HUD and has all of the controls in the front seat. To compensate for the raised and enlargened cockpit the vertical fins had to be enlargened by 0.425m.
The Su30 is a long range air-superiority fighter. Due to the in-flight-refueling capability it can either remain on station for long periods or cover a large area on patrol. It incorperates a new navigation and fire and control system allowing to to operate in the command role for a tactical formation. Similarly like the Mig31 it can operate in a formation where only the command aircraft needs to illuminate through the use of radar while the data is share with the other aircraft trough a secure datalink.
The Su30MK is another development which has imporved air to ground capability. It is a truely multirole aircraft with either a very quick turn around time or is able to complete both air to air and air to ground missions in the one flight. Two additional under wing storage points were added to allow up to 12 stores to be carried. In the Su30MK the second seater takes the more traditional role of the weapons system operator while in the Su27UB and Su30 they are really a copilot.
A modified prototype of the Su30 was the first aircraft in the world to accellerate through the speed of sound vertically (up not down!). While other aircraft have been able to travell supersonic vertically none had perviously been able to acellerate to that extent (at least not reportedly). The Su30 was able to do this thanks to an increased amount of composites used in the airframe to save weight.
| Specifications for the AL-31F | Data |
|---|---|
| Thrust, (sea level, static, dry), (kg) | 7 600 |
| Thrust, (sea level, static, after burning), (kg) | 12 500 |
| Internal fuel, kg | 9 400 |
| In flight refueling provision | Present |
| Specification | Measurement |
|---|---|
| Wing Span | 14.70 m |
| Length (excluding nose probe) | 21.94 m |
| Height | 6.36 m |
| Wing surface | 62 m2 |
| Aircraft State | Weight |
|---|---|
| Empty | 17 000 kg |
| Normal take-off | 24 000 kg |
| Thrust to weight ratio | 1.04 |
| Maximum take-off | 33 500 kg |
| Thrust to weight ratio | 0.75 |
| Action | Data |
|---|---|
| Max speed at height | Mach 2.0 |
| Ceiling | 59 055 ft |
| Take off run | 1 805 ft |
| Landing run | 2 200 ft |
| Range | 1 865 miles |
| Range with one in-flight-refueling | 3 230 miles |
| Number and Category | Type |
|---|---|
| One 30 mm cannon | 150 rounds |
| Up to 12 Air to Air missiles including: | R-27 (AA-10 "Alamo") |
| R-73A (AA-11 "Archer") | |
| R-60 (AA-8 "Aphid") | |
| 17 635 lb of air to surface weapons on 12 hardpoints | A large range of weapons including most of the precision guided weapons avalible |
Copyright © 1996 Andrew Juniper
