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On the ground, 44k from article 'New
wing of deck fighter Su-27KUB'
Two-seat trainer/strike (KUB stays for Korabelnyj
Uchebno-Boevoj, Navy Training/Combat) version of the Su-27K
(Su-33) naval deck fighter. Trainer features general "integral triplane
layout" of latest Sukhoi aircraft. It has side-by-side cocpit similar
to the Su-34 strike aircraft, but has a 'round' nose of its naval predecessor.
Su-27KUB also has completely new larger (by 1/3) wing, providing 15...20%
range increace and low landing speed. Another wing novelty is its automatic
'adaptation' to the flight condition via flaps and slats fine adjustment.
Side-by-side arrangement for trainer was chosen to provide the naval
pilots with the "feeling of a friend's elbow" and to reduce the
workload on the crew (according to Sukhoi general designer Mikhail Simonov).
It also will reduce workload during combat missions, where the pilot sits
"elbow-to-elbow" with a weapons officer.
Takeoff! 48k photo sent me by Andre
Matter
Maiden flight was performed successfully on April 29 1999 by KB test
pilots Victor Pugachev and Sergei Melnikov at the controls. Reportedly,
the flight lasted for about an hour and was performed from the aerodrome
of Gromov's Flight Test and Research Institute (LII) in Zhukovsky near
Moscow.
Aircraft has typical for Su-27 family infrared seeker and (probably)
same N011 multifunctional radar as Su-30MK and Su-35. Despite
no details revealed, it seems quite probable that Su-27KUB will carry strike
equipment (Sea Snake aiming complex and other systems developed for the
Su-34), efficient against sea-going targets and submarines.
22k Su-27KUB in flight, from Venik
In all likelihood, the Su-27KUB will be built in small numbers, several
dozen units at maximum. This would be more than just enough for the Russian
Navy, which has only one operational carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, commissioned
in 1989. Normally, the ship carries 28 Su-27K and Su-25UTG airplanes and
24 Ka-27 helicopters. Foreign orders for the Su-27KUB might come from India
and China, the two friendly nations that either operate or intend to operate
aircraft carriers.
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