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00:00:00BIRDS CHIRP
00:00:30I can't wait to see what's going on in the middle of the day.
00:01:00THE END
00:01:30THE END
00:02:00THE END
00:02:30THE SUPOY SU-27 FLANKER, INTERCEPTOR, FIGHTER-BOMBER, AND NOW ALSO A LONG-RANGE STRIKE AIRCRAFT, IS A TRULY REMARKABLE AROPLANE.
00:02:44Born on the 20th of May 1977, during the Cold War with the Warsaw Pact, very little was known about it in the West, until a decade later, when the Russian Reconstruction, or Perestroika, was instituted by Premier Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987.
00:03:06And with glasnost, or openness, the West was in for some shocks, particularly from Soviet military aircraft, which had been assumed to be inferior, especially the SU-27 with its NATO codename of Flanker.
00:03:32This is the remarkable story of a remarkable aircraft, and the dedicated team of professionals who, under the supervision of their late founder, Pavel Ozypovich Sukhoi, created a masterpiece.
00:03:45The jewel in the Russian crown.
00:03:48After the First World War, Pavel Ozypovich Sukhoi found his fascination with aircraft overwhelming.
00:04:07He graduated from technical school in 1925, and went to work for Tupolev, where he learned his trade.
00:04:14As late as 1927, the Red Air Force felt that it was using too many foreign aircraft.
00:04:19New designs were needed.
00:04:21Tupolev and his chief designer, Pavel Sukhoi, came up with the ANT-5, a single-seater fighter powered by the 460 horsepower M22 engine, giving a top level speed of 160 miles an hour.
00:04:34In June 1937, the first successful polar flight was made by the specially built ANT-25.
00:04:41But that first trip was full of incident when the aircraft had mechanical problems, but just managed to limp into Vancouver.
00:04:53The second attempt, a month later, on July the 12th, was a different story, when Gromov, Danilin, and Yuma Shaev took off from a specially sloped runway and flew 6,306 miles from Moscow to Santa Quinto in California.
00:05:12They'd been airborne for an amazing two days, 14 hours, and 17 minutes.
00:05:17What's more, they had 3,300 pounds of fuel left in their tanks.
00:05:21They not only broke the world distance record at that time, but the Americans began to realize just how near Moscow was if you flew over the pole.
00:05:31Another long-distance record was set up by an all-female crew flying in the DB-2 Sukhoi long-range bomber.
00:05:391939 also saw the birth of the Design Bureau, and it also saw a military aircraft from Sukhoi.
00:05:46It was christened Su-2, it was a short-range bomber powered by the 1,100 horsepower M-88 radial engine, and it was used in limited numbers from 1940.
00:05:58But Pavel Sukhoi was an innovator and an experimenter.
00:06:02During the war years, he produced a number of experimental fighters and small bombers.
00:06:07In the jet age, Sukhoi continued to concentrate on fighter bombers and fighters of every description.
00:06:14From December 1949, the Sukhoi OKB was closed by Stalin in retaliation for a failed jet prototype.
00:06:26Sukhoi and his team went back to Tupolev, where they worked on their own projects until Stalin's death on the 5th of March, 1953.
00:06:35The first product of the new Sukhoi Bureau was the S-1 prototype of this Su-7,
00:06:41which was originally designed as an air-to-air fighter.
00:06:45But because of the more agile MiG-21, it was changed to a ground attacker.
00:06:50In the spring of 1956, the Su-7 flew at twice the speed of sound for the first time.
00:06:58Sukhoi had also been working on a delta wing all-weather fighter, the Su-9.
00:07:04Given the code name Fishpot by NATO, the Su-9 was to become one of Sukhoi's great successes.
00:07:11Sukhoi's great successes.
00:07:36During this time, his aircraft managed to break a number of speed and altitude records.
00:07:42Test pilot Vladimir Ilyushin broke the altitude record by climbing to a staggering 28,852 metres, or 86,556 feet.
00:07:53He then got the absolute sustained height record of 21,170 metres, or 64,526 feet.
00:08:01Boris Adrianov then broke the world distance record for a fighter by flying 2,092 kilometres, that's over 1,300 miles, without refuelling.
00:08:12He was followed by Anatoly Kasnioff, who broke the record again by achieving 2,337 kilometres, that's over 1,452 statute miles.
00:08:24Pavel Sukhoi was now seeing the fruits of his labours, as his aircraft were only second down the line from the mighty Mikoyan and its MiGs.
00:08:36The Su-7B became the standard tactical fighter-bomber of the Soviet Air Force, and was sold to many countries all over the world.
00:08:45The Su-15 Flagon twin-engine fighter-interceptor was a development of the Su-9 and 11.
00:08:52The highly successful Su-7 had also been developed further with an uprated Lyulka turbojet and variable geometry wings.
00:09:05It became the Su-17 tactical fighter.
00:09:08At about this time, in 1969, Sukhoi and his team won a design contract for a long-range interceptor that would not only replace existing fighters of the IAPVO, the Soviet Union's air defence force,
00:09:22but also be able to beat the new American F-15 Eagle in air combat.
00:09:33At the time the requirement for the flanker was issued, the IAPVO was equipped with three main fighters.
00:09:40The single-seat Su-15 Flagon, the Yak-28 Brewer, and this enormous twin-seat Tupelov Tu-128, NATO codename Fiddler.
00:09:50This was the world's largest ever operational fighter.
00:10:14It was over 80 feet or 26 meters long.
00:10:16It had a range of around 3,000 miles and a top speed of 1,150 miles an hour.
00:10:31Armament was four ash missiles, which came with both infrared and radar homing seekers.
00:10:37The Su-27 requirement also stipulated that the aircraft would have a limited role with Soviet frontal aviation, the tactical air arm.
00:10:55The Su-27 would be used as a fighter escort for long-range interdictors like the Su-24 Fencer.
00:11:02But at that time, frontal aviation's most numerous fighter and fighter-bomber was the MiG-21 Fishbed,
00:11:09which first flew in 1955 and had been designed just after the Korean War.
00:11:14Meanwhile, manufacturer of Sukhoi fighters and bombers continued apace.
00:11:26With SAM missiles and interceptors, a strike aircraft was needed to penetrate enemy defenses and fly under radar at very low levels.
00:11:48The Sukhoi OKB failed in their first attempt, but developed the Su-24 Fencer,
00:11:54which, like the American F-111, was a large two-seat swing-wing strike aircraft designed around the Soviet Union's first integrated avionics system,
00:12:04with a bombsite, weapons control and navigation systems coupled to two radars, one for attack and one for terrain following.
00:12:12If Sukhoi was to create a fighter better than the F-15, it was obvious that it had to be fly-by-wire to stabilize an unstable design.
00:12:24Unbeknownst to the West, Sukhoi had already used a crude fly-by-wire system in his T-4 Mach 3 bomber.
00:12:30One of the problems with the T-4 was that the aircraft flexed a great deal in flight,
00:12:35so conventional hydromechanical controls simply wouldn't have worked.
00:12:38Back in 1967, well before America or the West, the Russians claimed to be the first in the world to have a fly-by-wire system to stabilize the aircraft.
00:12:49Sukhoi had already got four years' fly-by-wire experience when the Bureau started on their new design,
00:12:55which was eventually to become the Su-27.
00:12:58Vladimir Ilyushin, the son of the famous Russian designer, was chief test pilot for this experimental project.
00:13:09He would also head the flying team for the 27.
00:13:12After the United States Air Force experiences in the Vietnam War,
00:13:23both the Russians and Americans looked at a ground-attack aircraft to operate in the heart of battle,
00:13:29but be able to take immense punishment from ground fire and still get its pilot back to fight another day.
00:13:36Sukhoi were the first to protect the pilot with a titanium-armoured bathtub.
00:13:40The Americans soon used the same idea in the Fairchild A-10 tank buster,
00:13:45which was more agile but much slower than the Su-25 Frogfoot.
00:13:50The prototype Sturmovic, the T-8, was first flown by Vladimir Ilyushin on the 22nd of February 1975.
00:13:57While Frogfoot was being put through its paces, work was started on the Su-27.
00:14:18The design team was led by Yevgeny Ivanov, with Oleg Samolevich as his deputy.
00:14:25After two years of preliminary design work,
00:14:28it's said that the final layout of the aircraft was finalised by just three men over a single weekend.
00:14:34Pavel Sukhoi took a close interest in the project, which was to be his last.
00:14:39The hero of the Soviet Union died peacefully in 1975,
00:14:44unaware that his last innovation was to turn the aviation world on its ear.
00:14:52And allow the design bureau, which still bears his name,
00:14:57to rise to the very summit of the Russian aerospace industry,
00:15:01eclipsing even the mighty MiG.
00:15:03The first prototype flanker, designated T-10-1,
00:15:10was wheeled out of the hangar for its maiden flight on the 20th of May 1977
00:15:14at Tsukovsky, in the capable hands of its chief test pilot, Vladimir Ilyushin.
00:15:20The aircraft was a typical shape for that era,
00:15:23with twin-tail fins, widely spaced underslung engines,
00:15:27and an integrated wing-to-fuselage.
00:15:29To westernise, it was a copy of the F-15,
00:15:32much later they were to realise that this could not have been further from the truth.
00:15:37Those early test flights were to show up some serious design faults.
00:15:41It didn't have the range,
00:15:43and there were problems with stability, which simply had to be cured.
00:15:47Even with modifications,
00:15:48the design meant that the aircraft was too heavy,
00:15:51had too much drag,
00:15:52and below expected engine thrust.
00:15:54It was clear that a major redesign was needed to get the fighter into shape,
00:15:58and the man given the task after Tsukovsky's death in 1975
00:16:02was Mikhail Petrovich Siminov,
00:16:06who was eventually destined to take overall charge of the Tsukovsky Bureau.
00:16:10By today's standards, test facilities were fairly crude,
00:16:15but they had to work.
00:16:17Everything on every aircraft had to be tested to the limit,
00:16:20and that sometimes meant to destruction.
00:16:23For instance,
00:16:24how would a wing tank stand up to the sort of forces
00:16:26that you get at high Mach numbers
00:16:28where vibration could simply split it apart?
00:16:36And how would the mechanical side of the aircraft react to the pilot?
00:16:41How much actual force would he need to feel realism
00:16:44in a fly-by-wire system?
00:16:48How much would the canopy expand and contract at different temperatures,
00:16:52from very hot to freezing cold?
00:16:54Even the undercarriage had to go through rigorous testing in the lab
00:17:04to find out just how reliable it would be
00:17:06or what improvements, if any, needed doing.
00:17:12Every dial and the electronics that ran them
00:17:14had to be checked and checked again,
00:17:17redesigned and improved if need be.
00:17:24The ejection system had to work.
00:17:30The hood blows first.
00:17:45The armaments all had to go through
00:17:47the same meticulous eye for detail,
00:17:49whether it be cannons or rockets.
00:17:54Another important test was to find out
00:18:18what would happen if one of the engines got hit from behind.
00:18:21How much damage would the aircraft sustain?
00:18:23Testing of the ejection seat was carried out using a rocket sled.
00:18:32This sequence shows trials of the SU-25 two-seat trainer,
00:18:36which uses the same K-36 ejection seat as the SU-27.
00:18:40The production SU-27 supersonic all-weather fighter interceptor
00:19:02was finally rolled out in 1984
00:19:05with an impressive set of credentials.
00:19:07It had a top speed approaching 2,500 kilometers an hour.
00:19:12That's over 1,500 miles an hour.
00:19:14But it was also highly maneuverable at very slow speeds,
00:19:19as this rare Russian film shows.
00:19:21It could climb up to 19,000 meters.
00:19:27That's over 2 miles high.
00:19:29It had a range of 4,000 kilometers, or over 2,000 miles,
00:19:33and it could stay in the air for about 5 hours,
00:19:36with a maximum weapons load of 8 tons.
00:19:40Between 1986 and 1989,
00:19:42a highly modified version, the P-42 challenged the American F-15
00:19:47specially stripped Streak Eagle for a number of world records.
00:19:52The P-42 was so clean that with its uprated engines,
00:19:56it had to be tethered to a military vehicle,
00:19:58using twin cables and an electronic lock release,
00:20:02as the standard brakes simply couldn't hold it back.
00:20:05The P-42 set a total of no less than 27 new world records.
00:20:10Its rate of climb was 213 meters, or 700 feet, per second.
00:20:16The SU-27 had an integral airframe,
00:20:19with the wings and fuselage blended together
00:20:21to give it more lift and less drag.
00:20:24With its relatively fuel-efficient Saturn Lyoko turbofans,
00:20:29its aerodynamic airframe and room for more internal fuel,
00:20:32the Flanker had exceptional endurance for an aircraft of its type.
00:20:38It had two powerful horizontal stabilizers,
00:20:43flapper-ons,
00:20:45drooped leading edges,
00:20:47and a fly-by-wire system to improve both its performance and maneuverability.
00:20:53The SU-27 was designed to be unstable and run by its computers,
00:20:58but the fly-by-wire system was so efficient
00:21:01that it meant that the pilot controlled the aircraft
00:21:03in exactly the same way as a stable one.
00:21:09The same system controlled the so-called high-lift devices,
00:21:12raising the aircraft's all-important lift-to-drag ratio
00:21:15during a combat maneuver,
00:21:17again, being greater at a greater angle of attack.
00:21:21It also made sure that the pilot
00:21:23couldn't overstress the aircraft, whatever he did.
00:21:26This not only protected it from two high angles of attack,
00:21:31but meant that the pilot didn't have to worry about it,
00:21:34which gave him a psychological edge in a war situation.
00:21:37And it also meant
00:21:38that he couldn't get into an unwanted spin
00:21:40or overload the computer system.
00:21:43The fly-by-wire control system had four extra channels
00:22:02so that if any of its components failed,
00:22:05another channel would automatically take over,
00:22:07leaving the pilot free to get on with the job in hand.
00:22:10Victor Churkin was a combat pilot.
00:22:14So what did he think of the flanker?
00:22:17The Sukhoi Su-27 is very maneuverable
00:22:20and its minimal radius of turn
00:22:22is quite comparable with that of piston-engine fighters
00:22:25of the World War II.
00:22:27The fighter's good cockpit visibility
00:22:29and small deflections of its control surfaces
00:22:32make possible to pilot it confidently at small altitudes.
00:22:36I always pilot the fighter with pleasure.
00:22:43I find it hard to believe
00:22:45that an aircraft whose weight exceeds 20 tons
00:22:48is so controllable.
00:22:51Because the Su-27 was designed to land on rough terrain,
00:22:55its engines are protected from any stones or rubble
00:22:57by these simple anti-ingestion protective screens
00:23:00which work totally automatically
00:23:02during the taxiing, take-off and landing phases.
00:23:08Its twin engines are set well apart
00:23:10with an integral fire protection system between them.
00:23:14The wide clearances between the fuel tanks and intake ducts
00:23:17stop the risk of any fire spreading.
00:23:20The early versions of the aircraft
00:23:27had their fuel tanks filled with polyurethane foam.
00:23:31This is a dramatic example of a fuel tank filled with foam
00:23:34and shot at by a round of ammunition.
00:23:37The same again.
00:23:38A round of ammunition fired at an unprotected fuel tank.
00:23:43All these protective measures
00:23:45meant that the flanker should survive
00:23:47if it was hit in combat.
00:23:50The engines were designed to be easy to maintain
00:23:53with jobs like changing the first stage blades
00:23:56of both a compressor and a turbine
00:23:58right on the airfield
00:23:59without having to send the whole engine
00:24:01to the repair plant.
00:24:14Two search and track systems
00:24:16were coupled to a look-down pulse Doppler radar
00:24:19an infrared target finder with a laser range finder
00:24:31and a helmet-mounted sight system
00:24:34which allows the pilot to aim his weapons at the target
00:24:37without turning the aircraft.
00:24:39A navigation system and an automatic flight control system
00:24:50means that the aircraft can take off in bad weather
00:24:53day or night
00:24:54with a 200-foot cloud base
00:24:56and 2,500-foot visibility.
00:25:09There are ten hardpoints under the aircraft
00:25:12for weapons or stores.
00:25:14Early versions carried four Archer air-to-air
00:25:16and six Alamo missiles.
00:25:26Apart from the underwing stores,
00:25:28Flanker has an internal 30-millimeter cannon
00:25:31with a potent 200 rounds of ammunition.
00:25:34The cannon is linked to the target designator
00:25:37with a rangefinder which is said to help in close combat.
00:25:40with its variety of missiles the Flanker can fight from a distance
00:25:50or at close quarters.
00:25:52One of its requirements was to escort
00:26:06the SU-24 Fencer bombers to their targets.
00:26:10While the squadrons took off,
00:26:12the Aleutian A-50 AWACS got itself into position
00:26:15to control the battle.
00:26:18The Flankers led the bombers towards the target area
00:26:21guided by the AWACS
00:26:28and literally blasted away
00:26:30through any enemy attack
00:26:32using their range of missiles.
00:26:40Until the way was clear
00:26:41for the bombers to drop their load.
00:26:51Even by 1987,
00:26:58the West hadn't had a good look at the SU-27.
00:27:03But one of its first encounters
00:27:04turned out to be too close for comfort.
00:27:07A Norwegian P-3 Orion patrol plane
00:27:10met two Flankers.
00:27:11One of the Flankers got too close
00:27:19and hit one of the Orion's props,
00:27:21damaging both aircraft
00:27:22with bits of the prop
00:27:23flying through the Orion's fuselage.
00:27:26Now the West had seen Russia's mystery aircraft,
00:27:29its aviation industries
00:27:31were suddenly spurred into action.
00:27:331989, the Paris Air Show
00:27:39was the first time
00:27:40that the Western crowds
00:27:41were to witness for themselves
00:27:43how true the rumors had been
00:27:45about the SU-27.
00:27:47Was it as agile and potent
00:27:49as they'd been led to believe?
00:27:51Test pilot Victor Pogachev
00:27:53left them in no doubt at all
00:27:55with his dazzling display.
00:27:58He pulled his 22-ton aircraft
00:28:00straight off the runway
00:28:02into a vertical figure of eight
00:28:04within an 800-metre frame.
00:28:23Pogachev stunned the crowd
00:28:25with a maneuver
00:28:25never seen in the West before.
00:28:28Pogachev's Cobra.
00:28:30A move that he'd invented himself
00:28:32and that was to become
00:28:33an international trademark
00:28:34for the Sukhoi.
00:28:40The aircraft flew straight and level
00:28:42then pitched its nose up to 120 degrees.
00:28:46Pogachev then pushed the stick forward
00:28:48and into level flight again.
00:28:50No other fighter anywhere
00:28:52could do the Cobra.
00:28:54It seemed that the rumors
00:28:55were true after all.
00:28:57This was indeed
00:28:58a truly remarkable airplane.
00:29:08Its chief test pilot,
00:29:10Vladimir Elyushin,
00:29:11was in no doubt at all.
00:29:14Before flying this aircraft,
00:29:16I piloted vehicles
00:29:17of 142 different types
00:29:20and always came to know
00:29:22that I was, so to say,
00:29:23more intelligent
00:29:24than a flying machine
00:29:25and more capable than it was.
00:29:28In the case with the Sukhoi Su-27,
00:29:31it was the other way around.
00:29:33It appeared to be more intelligent
00:29:36than me.
00:29:38The aircraft is more capable
00:29:39than a pilot.
00:29:41So, in order to use
00:29:43its great potential,
00:29:44a pilot's self-perfection
00:29:45is essential.
00:29:47Moreover,
00:29:48when I piloted the Su-27
00:29:49for the first time,
00:29:51I understood
00:29:51this was the aircraft
00:29:53you could wait
00:29:53all of your life.
00:29:55It's worth
00:29:55being a pilot
00:29:56of this fighter.
00:29:57On account of a delight
00:29:59I felt in the air,
00:30:00a smile doesn't vanish
00:30:01from my face till now.
00:30:03I'm sure
00:30:03that everyone
00:30:04who will pilot
00:30:05the fighter
00:30:06will feel the same way.
00:30:10The Russian Navy
00:30:11had planned to build
00:30:12four new aircraft carriers
00:30:14to take them
00:30:14into the 21st century.
00:30:16In fact,
00:30:16only one was completed.
00:30:18But even that
00:30:19needed new aircraft.
00:30:21Sukhoi began
00:30:22by altering
00:30:23its basic Su-27 design
00:30:25by fitting
00:30:26Kennard four-planes
00:30:27and a restor hook,
00:30:28a beefed-up
00:30:29undercarriage,
00:30:30a refueling probe
00:30:31and twin nosewheels.
00:30:34Land trials
00:30:35were started
00:30:35at Saki
00:30:36in the Crimea
00:30:37on a dummy landing deck
00:30:39with a restor wires
00:30:40and a ski ramp
00:30:41for take-off.
00:30:42It's understood
00:30:43that during these trials
00:30:45at least one Su-27K
00:30:47was in fact lost.
00:30:51Other changes
00:30:52to the basic-27
00:30:54were that
00:30:55the distinctive
00:30:55tail cone section
00:30:56was shortened
00:30:57to miss the deck
00:30:58on landing
00:30:59and rotating.
00:31:00There was also
00:31:01the plumbing available
00:31:02to carry
00:31:03an external fuel tank.
00:31:19Trials went on
00:31:20day and night
00:31:21until it was felt safe
00:31:23with Viktor Pogachev
00:31:24to find the aircraft carrier
00:31:26to Blitzy
00:31:26and to land on it
00:31:28for the first time.
00:31:30He refueled in the air
00:31:31and tracked in
00:31:32towards the carrier.
00:31:43Then lined up
00:31:44for his final approach.
00:31:46The first time around
00:31:53was a touch and go
00:31:54just to get the feel
00:31:56of the pounding ship.
00:31:57Then
00:31:58a second attempt.
00:32:06Third time lucky.
00:32:08Yes,
00:32:09on the third attempt
00:32:10he brought the flanker in
00:32:11for a perfect deck landing
00:32:12where Mikhail Simenov
00:32:25and the engineers
00:32:26and crew
00:32:27were waiting to give him
00:32:28a hero's welcome.
00:32:31Pogachev's historic landing
00:32:33was made on November 1st, 1989.
00:32:36His take-off run proved
00:32:38that the Su-27K
00:32:39could get into the air
00:32:41after a ski run
00:32:42of 100 metres
00:32:43or 328 feet
00:32:45with no catapult.
00:32:53It was soon
00:32:54the turn of his heir apparent
00:32:55the young Yevgeny Froloff
00:32:57to bring his aircraft in
00:32:59for a perfect landing
00:33:00on the Tablizzi.
00:33:02He got the customary welcome
00:33:03from the waiting crew.
00:33:08Later,
00:33:13the carrier changed
00:33:14its name
00:33:15to the Kuznetsov
00:33:16and the aircraft
00:33:17uprated
00:33:18to the Su-33.
00:33:25The great rival
00:33:26for the naval contract
00:33:27came from Sukhoi's
00:33:28arch-competitor
00:33:29in the form
00:33:30of the MiG-29 KVP.
00:33:38It too had wings
00:33:42that folded
00:33:43for stowage.
00:33:51To get full power
00:33:53before take-off
00:33:54the Russians
00:33:55used this very simple
00:33:56chocking system
00:33:57built into the deck.
00:33:59Once the aircraft
00:33:59is at full power
00:34:00the retaining chocks
00:34:02simply disappear.
00:34:03Although the MiG
00:34:19was an equally fine aircraft
00:34:21which had been
00:34:21well proven
00:34:22over the years
00:34:23it was Sukhoi
00:34:24who won the contract
00:34:25to supply
00:34:26its 33s
00:34:27to the Russian Navy.
00:34:28However brilliant
00:34:32an aircraft seems
00:34:33accidents and failures
00:34:34will happen
00:34:35as this MiG-29
00:34:37pilot found out.
00:34:38in the early stages
00:35:04of the flanker's
00:35:05development
00:35:05the second prototype
00:35:06was lost
00:35:07in a fatal crash.
00:35:09A wing fault
00:35:09killed another pilot
00:35:10and nearly destroyed
00:35:12a second T-10.
00:35:17Fortunately
00:35:18these two men
00:35:19lived to fly
00:35:20another sortie.
00:35:26To the uninitiated
00:35:27both the MiG-29
00:35:29and the Su-27
00:35:30look very similar
00:35:31but there are
00:35:32distinct differences.
00:35:34The Sukhoi
00:35:35is a much larger aircraft
00:35:37when you compare
00:35:38when you compare them closely.
00:35:40The MiG has
00:35:41a shorter nose
00:35:42and is not as drooped
00:35:44as the Sukhoi.
00:35:47Looking from above
00:35:48and behind
00:35:49the Sukhoi
00:35:50has a much wider fuselage.
00:35:56The MiG cockpit
00:35:58seems smaller
00:35:59and slightly more cramped
00:36:00than its bigger brother.
00:36:01where there's not only
00:36:05more space
00:36:05but the Sukhoi
00:36:07seems a lot more complex
00:36:08and it looks
00:36:09a little more modern.
00:36:14But both look
00:36:15positively ancient
00:36:16compared to the American
00:36:18F-15 layout
00:36:19with its state-of-the-art screens
00:36:21instead of old-fashioned dials.
00:36:23In fact,
00:36:25the whole Sukhoi program
00:36:26was developed
00:36:27because the F-15 Eagle
00:36:28was far away
00:36:29and ahead of anything
00:36:30the Russians had
00:36:31in the early 70s.
00:36:33Even in the F-15As
00:36:35which went into service
00:36:36in 1976
00:36:37the pilot sat high
00:36:39with an excellent
00:36:40all-round view
00:36:41surrounded by
00:36:42analog instruments
00:36:43with his head-up display
00:36:44on the windshield
00:36:45in front of him.
00:36:47The first F-15s
00:36:48to engage in combat
00:36:49were blooded by Israel
00:36:51on the 27th of June 1979
00:36:53when they claimed
00:36:55five MiG-21s
00:36:56of the Syrian Air Force.
00:37:00The F-15E
00:37:01is a strike-attack aircraft
00:37:03with a top speed
00:37:04of 1,650 miles an hour
00:37:06and a ferry range
00:37:07of 3,570 miles.
00:37:14Farnborough 1990
00:37:15was the first time
00:37:16we'd seen the two-seater version
00:37:17of the Su-27
00:37:19the Su-27 UB.
00:37:21To all intents and purposes
00:37:22the two-seater version
00:37:23could do everything
00:37:24that the single-seater
00:37:25could do
00:37:26in the capable hands
00:37:27of our old friend
00:37:28Evgeny Froloff.
00:37:30At take-off,
00:37:47it has a thrust-to-weight ratio
00:37:49of better than
00:37:49one-to-one.
00:37:51That's an awful lot of poke.
00:37:54Froloff threw
00:37:5522 tons of aircraft
00:37:56around the sky
00:37:57as if it were
00:37:58a small aerobatics plane
00:38:00with lightning-quick spins
00:38:01and a huge cobra
00:38:03of over 120 degrees.
00:38:06Some argue
00:38:07that this maneuver
00:38:08is Millian Airshow's stunt.
00:38:10Others argue
00:38:11that in combat
00:38:12the aircraft
00:38:12can be slowed down
00:38:13so quickly
00:38:14that any hostile missile
00:38:16would find it
00:38:16very difficult
00:38:17to hit its target
00:38:18and an enemy fighter
00:38:19on its tail
00:38:20may well overshoot
00:38:22to the SU
00:38:22just as the Harrier
00:38:23proved with its
00:38:24spectacular
00:38:25vivving maneuver.
00:38:29As Evgeny got out
00:38:30of the SU-27UB,
00:38:32he was to come
00:38:33face-to-face
00:38:34with Captain Mal McNair
00:38:35who had just demonstrated
00:38:37his CF-18 Hornet.
00:38:41The two former enemies
00:38:43were soon into
00:38:44pilots' talk
00:38:45and couldn't wait
00:38:46to have a guided tour
00:38:47around each other's aircraft.
00:38:52Mal was relieved
00:38:53to see
00:38:53that the SU cockpit
00:38:55was relatively old-fashioned
00:38:56but the Russian policy
00:38:57at the time
00:38:58was to standardize
00:38:59all fighter cockpits
00:39:00so that any Russian pilot
00:39:02could transfer
00:39:03from one type
00:39:04to another
00:39:04with as little
00:39:05interruption
00:39:06as possible.
00:39:12The Hornet,
00:39:13on the other hand,
00:39:14was equipped
00:39:14with the very latest
00:39:15glass cockpit
00:39:16with most of the pilot's
00:39:18information transmitted
00:39:19on computer screens.
00:39:21So, how did the Sukhoi
00:39:22compare with
00:39:23Western fighters?
00:39:24Mal McNair.
00:39:26I think it compares
00:39:27pretty favorably
00:39:28with Western fighters
00:39:29as far as
00:39:29airshow performances.
00:39:31As far as
00:39:31what it would do
00:39:32as a weapons platform,
00:39:34that hasn't been proven yet
00:39:35and hopefully won't be proven
00:39:36in the future
00:39:37but,
00:39:37in my personal opinion,
00:39:40not opinion of my government,
00:39:41I think the Western fighters
00:39:42still hold an edge
00:39:43in the avionics
00:39:44and the weapons systems
00:39:46we have on board.
00:39:47So, how do you do
00:39:49the Cobra?
00:39:50Well,
00:39:50come in level
00:39:51at 220 knots
00:39:52with 85% power,
00:39:54pull back
00:39:54with about 35 pounds
00:39:56of pressure
00:39:56on the stick
00:39:57to override
00:39:57the angle of attack
00:39:58limiter.
00:39:59The aircraft
00:40:00rears up
00:40:01with its underside
00:40:02becoming a huge airbrake.
00:40:04Push the stick forward
00:40:05and ease in some power
00:40:07to return straight and level.
00:40:09If you make a mess of it,
00:40:10press the small white button
00:40:12on the top right
00:40:12of the control column
00:40:13which engages
00:40:14a system
00:40:15that will automatically
00:40:16correct the aircraft
00:40:17whatever its attitude.
00:40:21The Su-35
00:40:23was designed
00:40:24as a follow-on
00:40:25from the basic Su-27
00:40:26with much better
00:40:28dogfighting capabilities
00:40:29and was the first
00:40:30derivation aircraft
00:40:32to have an unstable
00:40:33integral triplane
00:40:34or three-wing
00:40:35aerodynamic configuration.
00:40:38It has a new
00:40:39glass cockpit
00:40:39with a vastly uprated
00:40:41and completely new
00:40:42digital fly-by-wire
00:40:43control system
00:40:44which is quadruplex
00:40:46using four channels
00:40:47in pitch
00:40:48and three in yaw.
00:40:50It has a totally
00:40:51new radar
00:40:52allowing 15 targets
00:40:53to be tracked
00:40:54at a time
00:40:55with six
00:40:56that can be engaged
00:40:57at a range
00:40:57of 225 miles.
00:41:00It also has
00:41:00a redesigned tail cone
00:41:02with a reshaped tip
00:41:03housing a dielectric
00:41:04radome
00:41:05rather than the usual
00:41:06brake chute cover
00:41:07giving it over-the-shoulder
00:41:08radar coverage.
00:41:31The aircraft is capable
00:41:32of automatic terrain
00:41:34following and avoidance
00:41:35and it can attack
00:41:36ground targets
00:41:37without even
00:41:38entering the battle area.
00:41:49Apart from new
00:41:50uprated engines
00:41:51the SU-35
00:41:52has new tail fins
00:41:53taller than the
00:41:5427UB
00:41:55and each one
00:41:57houses an auxiliary
00:41:58fuel tank.
00:42:00Finally,
00:42:01the SU-35
00:42:02can carry
00:42:02a very long-range
00:42:04anti-AWACS missile
00:42:05to knock out
00:42:06the enemy's
00:42:07combat control system.
00:42:13Yet another derivation
00:42:15of the basic SU-27
00:42:16is this
00:42:1727IB
00:42:19Platypus
00:42:19fighter-bomber.
00:42:21Anatoly Ivanov
00:42:22climbs up
00:42:23the nosewheel ladder
00:42:24into the spacious
00:42:25cockpit.
00:42:25cockpit.
00:42:31The cockpit
00:42:32itself
00:42:32is surrounded
00:42:33by titanium
00:42:34armour
00:42:34some 17mm
00:42:36thick.
00:42:37It's thought
00:42:38that the original
00:42:38concept of the aircraft
00:42:40was as a naval
00:42:41trainer
00:42:41with its
00:42:42side-by-side
00:42:43seating.
00:42:44An altitude
00:42:45pressure of 7,000 feet
00:42:47is maintained
00:42:47in the cockpit
00:42:48up to 30,000 feet
00:42:50which means
00:42:51the crew
00:42:51don't have to work
00:42:52with their oxygen
00:42:53masks on.
00:42:54The Platypus
00:43:03is equipped
00:43:04with air-to-air
00:43:05refuelling
00:43:06which gives it
00:43:07a very long range
00:43:08and the crew
00:43:09can even
00:43:09lean back
00:43:10on one of the seats
00:43:10and take a nap
00:43:11on a long
00:43:12endurance flight.
00:43:19The SU-32FN
00:43:21confusing,
00:43:23isn't it?
00:43:23The SU-32FN
00:43:25is an updated
00:43:26version of the
00:43:2727IB
00:43:28with a beefed-up
00:43:29main gear
00:43:30having two wheels
00:43:31per side
00:43:31and a double
00:43:32nose wheel.
00:43:33When it arrived
00:43:34at the Paris Air
00:43:35Show in 1995
00:43:37it had flown
00:43:38non-stop
00:43:39from Moscow
00:43:39with no in-flight
00:43:41refuelling
00:43:41at all.
00:43:42every country
00:43:55has its display
00:43:56teams
00:43:56the British
00:43:57with the
00:43:57red arrows
00:43:58the French
00:43:59with their
00:43:59patrie de France
00:44:01the Russians
00:44:02are no exception
00:44:03one of their
00:44:04teams is the
00:44:05Russian Knights
00:44:06their leader
00:44:07flies the
00:44:08SU-27UB
00:44:09conversion
00:44:10trainer.
00:44:26The rest of the team
00:44:27fly a mixture of
00:44:29single-seaters
00:44:30and two-seaters.
00:44:32Their show is not as
00:44:33flamboyant as the Reds
00:44:34but it doesn't need to be
00:44:36as it's still unique.
00:44:38The pilots are chosen
00:44:39from the 234th
00:44:41Prokhorovsky Guards
00:44:42Fighter Regiment
00:44:43at Kubinka.
00:44:47The Sukhoi
00:44:48SU-27
00:44:50aerobatics
00:44:51demonstration team
00:44:52the Russian Knights.
00:44:54multiplication team
00:44:57information
00:44:58the Bric prima
00:45:00sallie
00:45:01mult reunited
00:45:02I don't know.
00:45:32I don't know.
00:46:02I don't know.
00:46:32I don't know.
00:47:02I don't know.
00:47:32I don't know.
00:48:02I don't know.
00:48:04I don't know.
00:48:06The archers are the smaller of the two and they're usually found on the outboard rails.
00:48:10They have thrust vectoring vanes, which make the missiles very agile at short range of up to, well, a couple of miles.
00:48:18The R-27 Alamos are generally stored on the inboard rails.
00:48:28This is one of the weapons.
00:48:29This is one of the weapons the former Soviet Union is alleged to have stolen from the West.
00:48:34Well, it does have a resemblance to the Sparrow missile.
00:48:37Both missiles are long range.
00:48:39They're both missiles that are launched once the target has been spotted on the aircraft's radar.
00:48:43They also have a small radar of their own for guidance and detonation on the target.
00:48:49Maximum range, it's about 35 miles.
00:48:52Apart from the Alamo and the Archer, the Sukhois use the long range AAML and very long range anti-AWACS weapon.
00:49:12The naval Sukhois, the 27K and the SU-33s, carry a centerline KH-41 Mosquito anti-shipping missile and a clutch of long range weapons.
00:49:22But all missiles are constantly being updated.
00:49:30As Sukhoi progress by bettering a basically superb machine, what are they up against in the 21st century?
00:49:37Dassault has invested heavily in Rafale.
00:49:40On June the 8th, 1995, the Dassault One single-seater shot down a MICA missile guided by a new radar developed by Dassault.
00:49:50Rafale comes in different sizes, with a two-seater, a single-seater, a naval version,
00:49:56and it should replace half a dozen strike interceptor and reconnaissance types in the French Air Force.
00:50:01Lockheed Boeing won a contract to produce the replacement for the F-15 Eagle, the F-22.
00:50:10It'll cruise long range at supersonic speeds without afterburners,
00:50:19and it uses stealth technology to beat advanced radar defense systems.
00:50:23The contract was won after a contest with McDonnell Douglas.
00:50:37Its problem is, of course, its massive cost.
00:50:50Another aircraft in competition with Sukhoi will be Eurofighter, which progresses as we head towards the millennium.
00:50:59It's a joint venture between Germany, Britain, Italy, and Spain, with each country contributing in the development.
00:51:09In September 1996, DA-2, or Development Aircraft 2, in the capable hands of test pilot John Turner, gave a well-paced performance at Farnborough 96.
00:51:21He was limited in power with two tornado engines instead of the planned Eurojet 200 engines.
00:51:28But Farnborough was about to witness one of the greatest air displays in its 50-year history, from a Sukhoi, the new Su-37.
00:51:39So, as we go out of this business, it's the first year.
00:51:52So, it's the first year, when we come here, it's the first year.
00:52:00I have done it.
00:52:04And if you come here, there will be a few more units in which we will know.