A Soviet Air Force Su-35M soaring through the sky.
The Sukhoi Su-35 (Russian: Сухой Су-35) is a designation for two separate heavily-upgraded derivatives of the Su-27. They are single-seat, twin-engine supermaneuverable multirole fighters, designed by Sukhoi and built by Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO). It entered service in the mid to late 1990s in the Soviet Air Force.
The first variant was designed during the 1980s as an improvement on the Su-27 and was known as the Su-27M. This derivative incorporated canards and a multi-function radar that transformed the aircraft into a multi-role aircraft, which was structurally reinforced to cope with its greater weight. The first prototype made its maiden flight in June 1988. Mass production of the Su-35 began in 1997.
Variants[]
- Su-27M/Su-35: Single-seat fighter design with a factory code of T-10M (Modernizerovany, "Upgraded"). The first two prototypes had a new forward fuselage, canards and updated fly-by-wire flight-control systems. Like three of KNAAPO's nine flying pre-production aircraft (T10M-5, T10M-6 and T10M-7), they were converted from Su-27 airframes. The third aircraft (T10M-3) was the first of seven pre-production aircraft to have the taller vertical tails, two-wheel nose undercarriage and in-flight refuel capability. The Su-27M was powered by AL-31FM turbofan engines. Two prototypes, nine pre-production and three production aircraft were constructed by 1995; two static-test aircraft was also constructed (T10M-0 and T10M-4). The aircraft did not enter mass production.
- Su-37: Technology demonstrator, converted from the eleventh developmental Su-27M (T10M-11). The Su-37 featured a digital fly-by-wire flight-control system, a glass cockpit, the N011M radar, and AL-31FP engines with thrust-vectoring nozzles. The aircraft was later fitted with standard-production AL-31F engines, and had its flight-control system and cockpit systems revised.
- Su-35UB: Two-seat trainer designed and built by KnAAPO. The single aircraft (T-10UBM-1) featured the canards and taller vertical tails of the Su-27M and a forward fuselage similar to the Su-30MKK. The Su-35UB also shared the avionics suite of the Su-30MKK, although it had a different fly-by-wire flight-control system to accommodate the canards. The aircraft was powered by AL-31FP engines with thrust-vectoring nozzles. Although a training aircraft, the Su-35UB was designed to be fully combat-capable.
- Su-35BM: Single-seat fighter that is a major redesign of the original Su-27. The type features significant modifications to the airframe, including the removal of canards and dorsal air brake as found on the Su-27M. It features the updated N035 Irbis-E RDF and a redesigned cockpit. The aircraft is powered by thrust-vectoring AL-41F1S turbofan engines that are capable of supercruise. Also known as T-10BM (Bolshaya Modernizatsiya, "Major Modernization"), Su-35BM is not the actual designation used by Sukhoi, who markets the aircraft as "Su-35".
- Su-35S: Designation of production T-10BM design for the Soviet Air Force. According to Aviation Week & Space Technology, "S" stands for Stroyevoy ("Combatant").
