Mig-29 - Take-off Magazine

KnAAPO
industry | in brief
Su-35’s debut
Probably, the first flying example
of the Generation 4++ Sukhoi Su-35
heavily upgraded fighter, which is to
replace the current Su-30MK fighter
family on the global market after
2009–10, was the most-high profile
debutant of the MAKS 2007 air show.
Sporting a new yellow-and-brown
camouflage paintjob and No 901, the
first Su-35 had been completed by
KnAAPO by August 2007 and had not
flown by the time the air shows kicked
off. It was shown only as a static display
for this reason.
An An-124 Ruslan transport aircraft
airlifted it to Gromov LII’s airfield in
Zhukovsky on the eve of the MAKS
2007 show. After the show had been
over, it carried on with the ground tests
in the run-up to its flight trials. The
maiden flight is slated for November
this year. The aircraft has been fitted
with flying examples of the Saturn
117S engine rated at 14,500 kgf.
Prior to MAKS 2007, the first
Su-35 had been equipped with the
Tikhomirov-NIIP Irbis-E passive
phased array radar (PAR) and, during
the show, was displayed with
its nose cone detached for a while.
The full-scale mockup of the phased
array and a scaled-down mockup of
the whole Irbis-E radar were exhibited
by Tikhomirov-NIIP as part of its
pavilion exposition. The Irbis-E radar
features, among other things, an
electro-hydraulic actuator enabling
the phased array to scan ±60 deg.
in azimuth and ±120 deg. around its
longitudinal axis. However, the principle
advantage of the Su-35’s radar
is its 350–400km acquisition range.
This has been the world record as
far as production active and passive
fighter PARs as well as those now
14
under development are concerned.
At present, the Irbis-E is in its flight
trials on board the Su-30MK2 No 503
flying testbed, with the first series
of test mission having produced
very good results in basic declared
air-to-air and air-to-surface characteristics.
Both the existing air-launched
weapons (R-73E, RVV-AE, R-27ER1,
R-27ET1, Kh-59MK, Kh-29T and
Kh-31A/P) and unveiled full-scale
mockups of a super-long-range
two-stage air-to-air missile and the
3M-54AE two-stage long-range antiship
missile were displayed on the
Su-35’s hardpoints and laid out in
front of it. The two two-stage missiles
in question are both from the Novator
design bureau in Yekaterinburg.
The first Su-35 prototype has been
followed by two more in KnAAPO’s
jigs (the second and fourth prototypes).
They are to join the flight test
programme in 2008. At the same time,
several flying testbeds derived from
various Su-27 versions are used in the
trials to test the 117S engine, Irbis-E
radar, a new infrared search-and-track
(IRST) system, the advanced KSU-35
integrated control system, etc.
The Su-35 is expected to enter
full-rate production and delivery
already in 2009, with its production
to continue until a Russian
fifth-generation fighter hits the market.
The Su-35’s production also has
become part of the State Armament
Programme for the Period until 2015,
under which its deliveries to the
Russian Air Force are planned.
take-off november 2007 www.take-off.ru
Piotr Butowski
Yevgeny Yerokhin