Deck fighter Su-33: overview, flight performance

Eleven years have passed from the first take-off of the Su-33 to its adoption two years before the start of the 21st century. The Sukhoi Design Bureau being developed a model of a fourth-generation carrier-based fighter, nicknamed the Flanker-D (NATO), had better performance than the MiG-29K in service in terms of greater payload and flight range. Also, the aircraft could be refueled in the air and, due to the hanging container with fuel, refuel other Russian military aircraft.

What was it created for? The main purpose for which the Su-33 carrier-based fighter was created was to control the air space around the uterine ship and to “work” on the enemy’s surface targets. The wings and tail are made folding so that the fighter takes up as little space as possible on the ship. Its automatically activated air intakes make it possible to achieve speeds twice as fast as the speed of sound.

Admiral Kuznetsov and Su-33

That was the name of the aircraft carrier. In the fall of 1989, the Su-33 carrier-based fighter (then called the Su-27K) performed its first launch (and successfully aerofinished on its deck) from the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov (hereinafter referred to as AK AK). Which is named after the commander of the Navy of the USSR from 1939 to 1955 (with a short break) - 14 years.

Russian military aircraft - SU-27K and Su-33 - were designed and built under the project of creating heavy aircraft-carrying cruisers with an eye to possible construction and aircraft carriers. But the collapse of the USSR did not allow these plans to materialize. In the naval forces of Russia there is only one ship of this kind - TAKR AK.

Aircraft benefits

Compared to the Su-27, the Su-33 fighter is better armed (more space for weapons suspensions) and more effectively "works" on the surface of the sea. After upgrading the model to 33M:

1. The engine resource has increased - up to one and a half thousand flights.
2. The GLONASS navigation system has appeared.
3. The "bombing" of surface targets, including guided missiles, has become more accurate.
4. Equipment was installed warning about the "capture" of the fighter by radar beam.
5. Arsenal of weapons for attacking enemy ships has expanded. Now, URVP - guided air-to-surface missiles can take part in it.
   

Other features

The Su-33 aircraft has (in addition to the above features) a modernized AL-31F-M1 engine, an “influx” of wing, and instead of a brake parachute, a landing hook equipped with special signaling for the TAKR AK AK landing team. Armament on the fighter is located on twelve pylons, 8 of which are fixed under the wings, and the rest - on the body of a heavy fighter. In combat with airplanes and helicopters, cannons and missiles are used, both melee (unguided) and guided - homing on “heat” and on the locator. When attacking surface targets, a cannon can also be used, unguided bombs of various weights (automatic aiming, high precision) and anti-ship guided missiles.

Bomber fighter

The highly maneuverable and high-speed heavy fighter Su-33, if necessary, is very quickly and easily reformatted into a roomy bomb carrier. If missile weapons are excluded or severely restricted, then on his pendants and beam holders (both single and multi-castle) he is able to carry and drop 4 tons of FAB-500 bombs or 7 tons on a ship (and with a high probability of getting into it) FAB-250. Unfortunately, “smart” bombs are not included in the Su-33 ammunition. But when upgrading it to 33M, the bombing sight was significantly improved.

Flight performance

1. Piloting is carried out by one person.
2. Length - 21 m.
3. Height - 5.7 m.
4. Wingspan - 14.7 m.
5. Width (with wings retracted) - 7.4 m.
6. The wing area is 67.8 square meters.
7. The force acting on the wing (standard) is 383 kg / m.
8. The force acting on the wing (maximum) is 486 kg / m.
9. The base of the SU-33 chassis is 5.9 m.
10. Chassis track - 4.44 m.
11. Weight (no load) - 19.6 tons.
12. Weight (with standard fueling and ammunition) - 30 tons.
13. Weight (maximum take-off) - 33 tons.
14. The fuel weight (standard refueling) is 5.4 tons.
15. The fuel weight (the largest refueling) is 9.4 tons.
16. The volume of fuel tanks is 1 cubic meter.
17. Weight (landing standard) - 22.4 tons.
18. Weight (highest landing) - 26 tons.
19. Thrust (standard) - 76.6 kg / m.
20. Thrust (forced) - 125 kg / m.
21. Thrust (modernized) - 135 kg / m.
22. Engine weight - 1.5 tons.
23. Maximum speed (landing) - up to 250 kilometers per hour.
24. The maximum speed (at its zenith) is 2300 kilometers per hour.
25. The maximum flight range (near the surface) is up to 1000 kilometers.
26. The maximum flight range (at the zenith) is up to 3,000 kilometers.
27. Barrage time (removal up to 255 kilometers) - 2 hours.
28. Flight altitude (limit) - 17 kilometers.
29. Thrust-weight ratio (standard, afterburner) - 0.96.
30. Thrust-to-weight ratio (maximum, afterburner) - 0.76.
31. Take-off run - 105 meters.
32. Landing run - 90 meters.
    

Su-33: weapons review

Su-33 - this is the air defense of the womb. It is based on TAKR “KA” and “land aerodromes”, has the following weapons (the most complete set weight is up to 6.5 tons) and protective equipment:

1. Single-barrel gun (30 mm, 150 rounds).
2. Knots for hanging weapons - ten pieces.
3. URVV - up to 10 pieces.
4. URVP - two pieces.
5. Unguided missiles (of various types and weight categories) - up to four, twenty, or up to eighty pieces.
6. Bombs (of various types and weight categories) - 8 (half a ton), 28 (quarter tons) or 32 (centner) pieces.
7. Detection system "capture" by a radar device - 1 piece.
8. Helmet targeting system - one piece.
9. Optoelectronic detection system - one piece (has no analogues).
10. Antenna (viewing angle at the zenith) - ± 50 °.
11. Antenna (bearing angle of view) - ± 60 °.
12. Detection range of an air target (heading course) - 100 km.
13. The detection range of a heat-contrasting air target (heading course) is forty kilometers.
14. The detection range of an air target (after) is 40 km.
15. The detection range of a heat-contrasting air target (after) is 100 kilometers.
16. The number of simultaneously captured targets is ten.
    

Flight accidents

Su-33 is a reliable aircraft. Over the course of thirty years, only eight accidents occurred, and in fact four, since the rest occurred during test flights and “fine-tuning” the aircraft before it was put into service. And of the remaining four, in two cases there was a cable breakage, which slowed down the carrier-based Su-33 fighter (ship equipment), and in the other two there was a pilot error:

1. Autumn 1988 During the first test flight, the prototype of the aircraft was lost (hydraulic failure). The test pilot catapulted.
2. Summer 1991 The prototype is lost (control system failure). The test pilot catapulted.
3. Winter 1994 An error in piloting led to the death of the fighter. The test pilot catapulted.
4. Summer 1996. Having flown in inclement weather, the pilot lost control and crashed with the plane. The pilot died.
5. Spring 2000. Failure of the control system, the Su-33 crashed. The pilot catapulted.
6. Summer 2001. During an air show held near the city of Pskov, after performing aerobatics, the aircraft did not reach the landing strip a bit and caught fire during a hard landing. The ace pilot died.
7. Autumn 2005. Sank during landing maneuver (brake cable broke). The pilot catapulted.
8. Winter 2016. Similar to the previous flight accident with the same consequences.
   

Airplane today

The Su-33 aircraft is based on the TAKR AK (10 units) and at the aerodrome of naval aviation of the Northern Fleet of Russia (12 units). Thus, taking into account the lost (4 units) in various flight accidents, 26 multipurpose all-weather fighters were assembled in a serial manner. These fighters, along with ground-based air defense systems, provide air defense for the Kola zone of the Russian Arctic.

Monument

In the summer of 2013, a monument to the Su-33 carrier-based fighter was unveiled at the aircraft factory (Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Khabarovsk Territory). The aircraft until the middle of the last decade of the last century was produced at this plant, and in the current century has undergone modernization.

Major-General Timur Apakidze, fighter depicted on the monument, was assigned flight number 70, under which Major General Timur Apakidze appeared and died in an attempt to save the plane at an air show near Pskov.

Interesting fact

The story of this aircraft does not end there. He took part in hostilities. In the fall of 2016, the Su-33 as part of the AK TAKR air group attacked terrorists and rebels in the provinces of Idlib and Homs (Syria).

Airplane and Culture

At the moment, you can “fly” on the Su-33 in the Digital Combat Simulator flight simulator. Model 33 has a sophisticated weapons system and flight physics. You can also “test” the carrier-based fighter in the sixth part of the game “Ace Combat”.

In addition, this fighter can be found in the anime "Evangelion". There, he acts as a carrier-based fighter of the United Nations Navy.