The best fighter in the world of SU-27: history of creation, interesting facts

A highly professional team of authors, engineers, artists and historians is the studio "Wings of Russia", which created dozens of documentary chronicles on the history of aviation. A special place in her filmography is a mini-series about the SU-27 fighter, to which the article is devoted.

Briefly about the studio

The foundation date for the studio is 1984. This is due to the creation of the video tracking department of Burana, a unique project of the Soviet era. Operator S. Zhadovsky removed the landing of the MTCK from the cockpit of the MiG-25 fighter, making a really professional material.

Then the video studio prepared programs and films for the TV channels "Russian Universities", "Russia" (RTR), ORT. Only on TV-channel "Culture" for four years 100 series of telecasts "The World of Aviation" were prepared. Since 2005, the team began to be involved in the coverage of parades from Red Square. The studio has recently been cooperating with the Zvezda channel.

It was on his order in 2010 that the documentary cycle "The World's Best Fighter" was prepared, which is one of the most truthful stories about the prerequisites and peculiarities of creating the fourth-generation fighter aircraft, their technical characteristics and innovations implemented by designers.

History of the creation of a fighter

The division of combat aircraft for the purpose occurred in the First World War. Flagships of aviation, fighting against the force of attraction, have become fighters. Creating more and more advanced aircraft, designers always had to sacrifice something: speed in favor of maneuverability, range of flight in favor of combat load.

After the Second World piston engines exhausted themselves, they were replaced by jet engines. Monoplanes with swept wings in the 50's overcame the speed of sound, perfectly solving the problem of fighting at an air-to-air distance. The war in Vietnam showed that the maneuverability sacrificed to speed is necessary for close combat, allowing to "dodge" enemy missiles.

The documentary series highlights the problem of the birth of a new airplane in an acute competition between the USSR and the United States, in which Americans, who started the development of a multi-purpose combat complex in the sky as early as the 1960s (F-15), won the first stage.

The task before the Russian developers was formulated in 1971, and the best project was offered by the OKB Pavel Sukhoi. A special feature of their idea was a fundamentally new design of an airplane with a pointed nose, where not only the wing, but also the rest of the fuselage, responded to the lifting force, creating an influx effect. In the spring of 1977, an experienced aircraft was piloted by V. Ilyushin. It can be argued that on this day the best fighter in the world was born-SU-27.

The struggle for leadership

The pilot raised more than a hundred airplanes to the sky, but for the first time recognized that he had met the car smarter than the pilot. In addition to aerodynamic innovations, it collected all the best that at that time was available for combat aircraft: the thrust of the AL-31F engine exceeded the weight of the aircraft, the electric control system did not require physical expenses, the refueling system in the air allowed to increase the flight range, the radar detected the target at a distance In 100 km.

But the main thing is the unsurpassed maneuverability, which said that the best fighter in the world was created. SU-27 was already ready for serial production, when it became clear that its characteristics do not exceed the performance of the American F-15.

M. Simonov, then the chief designer, began to break down the scheme of the aircraft at the stage of the started production process. Until January 1978, a huge work was done to reduce the aerodynamic drag: in another way, the engine assemblies were arranged, the nose part was changed, the chassis structure was altered.

All this allowed in 1986 to establish more than three dozen world records and in full-time confrontation with American fighters to demonstrate their supremacy in the sky.

The documentary series of four independent films convincingly proves the advantage of the domestic aircraft, which entered service in 1985.

Interesting Facts

• During test flights SU-27 several test pilots were killed. Among them, Alexander Komarov and Evgeny Soloviev are the best in their profession.
• Based on the SU-27, several modifications have been made, including for deck aviation.
• The discharged mass of the Su-30 bomber is 8 tons, which is an unprecedented indicator. This is the best fighter in the world. Su-27 has a unique potential for further development and modernization.
• "Falcons of Russia", "Swifts", "Russian Knights" perform the figures of aerobatics at the SU-27.
• Interceptor SU-30 can be attributed to the generation of 4+ fighters. The first machines with unique radar equipment have already appeared in the troops.

To save the aviation industry in the difficult 90's, the state decided to sell abroad the best fighter in the world. Su-27 is in service with China, India and other countries. Most importantly, modern weapons are deterrent weapons that do not participate in major military battles of the modern world.