Combat aircraft

In the fi nal instalment of Combat

Aircraft’s review of fi ghter aircraft in

Russian service, we start with the

navy’s Su-33.

REPORT Piotr Butowski

long-stroke shock absorbers and twin

nosewheels, and an arrester hook (and

no drag chute). Greater use is made of

anti-corrosion materials. For stowage

on board ship, the outer wing panels,

tailplanes, radome (which can be raised)

and tailboom incorporate folding. The

two modi ed AL-31F series 3 turbofans

have emergency afterburning added as

well as anti-corrosion protection.

The Su-33’s  re-control system is

slightly modi ed when compared to

that of the Su-27, most di erences

relating to the software. It combines

the RLPK-27K (N001K) radar, increased-

range OLS-27K (izdeliye 46Sh) infra-red

search and track (IRST), and the Shchel-

3UM helmet-mounted target cueing

system. The navigation suite has been

supplemented with the Rezistor-K42-

Bort system that allows fully automatic,

T

HE CARRIERBASED FIGHTER

is dependent upon its ship,

and since Russia has only one

carrier — which rarely puts

out to sea — the fate of the

Su-33 is uncertain. Back in the

1980s the Su-33 carrier-based  ghter

(NATO reporting name ‘Flanker-D’)

was considered very important for

the Soviets, as they were planning the

construction of a fairly large carrier

 eet. However, those plans ended

with the solitary Admiral Kuznetsov, for

which only a small batch of 26 Su-33

 ghters was produced during 1993-96,

plus nine Su-27K test aircraft. Five of

the operational  ghters were lost in

service; previously, two prototypes had

also crashed.

In the 1990s, Sukhoi realized that there

was not going to be further production

of the Su-33, and the company lost

interest in it. The  rm refreshed the Su-

33 programme for a brief period when

India was seeking a  ghter for its carrier

Vikramaditya (the former Gorshkov),

and when China was looking to equip

its future Liaoning (previously the

Varyag). However, in 2004 India selected

the MiG-29K and China decided to

develop the indigenous J-15 carrier-

borne  ghter, using as a pattern the

T10K-7 prototype that was acquired in

Ukraine in 2004.

Compared to the standard Su-27,

the Su-33 has canards to decrease the

aircraft’s angle of attack during take-o

and landing, large  aperons occupying

the wing’s full trailing edge with two-

section single-slotted  aps built into

the  aperon to decrease the approach

speed, reinforced landing gear with

SEA DOG

THE OLD

Performing a

touch-and-go

on the Admiral

Kuznetsov in 2011,

Su-33 ‘64 Red’ is

currently stored

at Severomorsk

awaiting an

overhaul.

Sergey Kuznetsov

FORCE REPORT // RUSSIAN FIGHTERS

86 May 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net

86-87 Russian Fighters Su-33 C.indd 86 20/03/2018 11:21