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132-636: The Sukhoi Su-35 (Russian: Сухой Су -35; NATO reporting name : Flanker-E/M ) is the designation for two improved derivatives of the Su-27 air-defence fighter. They are single-seat, twin-engine , supermaneuverable air superiority fighters , designed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau and built by Sukhoi . The type was originally developed by the Soviet Union from the Su-27 and was known as

264-628: A friendly fire incident that downed the Su-35. Ministry of Defense of Ukraine claimed that Ukrainian air defences shot down two Su-35s in February 2024. According to them this was its "greatest results in downing Russian jets since October 2022" when they claimed to have downed ten Su-34s and one A-50 that month. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Russia has lost more than five Su-35 fighters since

396-685: A Turkish F-16 fighter was intercepted by Russian Su-35Ss and forced to retreat as it was attempting to bomb the Syrian Democratic Forces 's headquarters in Manbij . On 12 November 2019, Russian Su-35Ss intercepted an Israeli fighter during airstrikes on Damascus. On 7 December 2019, several Israeli aircraft were intercepted by Russian Su-35Ss and forced to retreat during an attempt to bomb the T-4 Airbase . Russian Su-30SM and Su-35S fighters were used for air superiority missions during

528-518: A Ukrainian MIM-104 Patriot missile shot down a Su-35 fighter over Bryansk region. On 22 May 2023, another Ukrainian MIM-104 Patriot missile shot down a Su-35 over Bryansk region. On 28 September 2023, a Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile shot down a friendly Su-35 near the Tokmak region. The preliminary report suggests the S-300 missile's fire control radar could not identify friend or foe, leading to

660-482: A barrier at the end of the runway and was destroyed by fire; the pilot ejected and sustained burn injuries. The cause of the accident was the failure of the engine management system, as a result of which the afterburner was not turned off. Although the Su-35 project was aimed primarily at the export market, the actual launch order for 48 Su-35S aircraft was placed by the Russian Defence Ministry at

792-409: A constant rate of altitude change. The Kerrison Predictor is an example of a system that was built to solve laying in "real time", simply by pointing the director at the target and then aiming the gun at a pointer it directed. It was also deliberately designed to be small and light, in order to allow it to be easily moved along with the guns it served. The radar-based M-9/SCR-584 Anti-Aircraft System

924-471: A critical part of an integrated fire-control system. The incorporation of radar into the fire-control system early in World War II provided ships the ability to conduct effective gunfire operations at long range in poor weather and at night. For U.S. Navy gun fire control systems, see ship gun fire-control systems . The use of director-controlled firing, together with the fire control computer, removed

1056-466: A different series of numbers with a different suffix (i.e., SA-N- versus SA-) for these systems. The names are kept the same as a convenience. Where there is no corresponding system, a new name is devised. The Soviet Union did not always assign official "popular names" to its aircraft, but unofficial nicknames were common as in any air force . Generally, Soviet pilots did not use the NATO names, preferring

1188-611: A greater variety of weapons) to existing air force aircraft. The Su-27SM, as the modified aircraft is called, made its first flight in December 2002. The initial success of this project led Sukhoi in December 2003 to proceed with a follow-up "deep" modernization programme. Known internally as T-10BM, the programme was aimed at a more thorough redesign of the airframe to narrow the qualitative gap between Russian aircraft and foreign fourth-generation aircraft . The resultant design, also designated Su-35, would serve as an interim solution pending

1320-563: A group led by Dreyer designed a similar system. Although both systems were ordered for new and existing ships of the Royal Navy, the Dreyer system eventually found most favour with the Navy in its definitive Mark IV* form. The addition of director control facilitated a full, practicable fire control system for World War I ships, and most RN capital ships were so fitted by mid 1916. The director

1452-600: A mock aerial engagement with an Su-30MK in front of spectators. The aircraft then flew in Berlin and Paris , and would be a regular feature at Moscow's MAKS Air Show . The Russian government cleared the aircraft for export during Sukhoi's unsuccessful sales campaign in South Korea during the late 1990s and early 2000s; the company also marketed the aircraft to Brazil, China and the United Arab Emirates. As

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1584-600: A multitude of air-to-ground weaponry . The Su-35 is powered by a pair of Saturn AL-41F1S turbofan engines, formerly known as izdeliye (Product) 117S. A highly upgraded variant of the AL-31F, the AL-41F1S is closely related to the Su-57's Saturn AL-41F1 ( izdeliye 117), differing primarily in the engine control system. The engines are equipped with thrust-vectoring nozzles, which have their rotational axes canted at an angle;

1716-522: A native Russian nickname. An exception was that Soviet airmen appreciated the MiG-29 's codename "Fulcrum", as an indication of its pivotal role in Soviet air defence. To reduce the risk of confusion, unusual or made-up names are allocated, the idea being that the names chosen are unlikely to occur in normal conversation and are easier to memorise. For fixed-wing aircraft, the number of syllables indicates

1848-484: A new computerized bombing predictor, called the Low Altitude Bombing System (LABS), began to be integrated into the systems of aircraft equipped to carry nuclear armaments. This new bomb computer was revolutionary in that the release command for the bomb was given by the computer, not the pilot; the pilot designated the target using the radar or other targeting system , then "consented" to release

1980-541: A result of such tests. In December 2018, United Aircraft Corporation has reported 100th serial Su-35S was produced at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant. In 1996, three production Su-27Ms were delivered to the air force's 929th State Flight Test Centre named for V. P. Chkalov (GLITs) at Vladimirovka air base  [ ru ] , Akhtubinsk, to perform weapons trials. In 2001, the air force decided to transfer several Su-27Ms to re-equip

2112-644: A second batch of Su-35s. According to Asia Times , Chinese source remarked further purchase of Su-35 is not feasible as Russian jet offers little value over the Chinese J-16 , due to the latter having superior radar, avionics and other equipment. On 20 September 2018, the U.S. imposed sanctions on China's Equipment Development Department and its director, Li Shangfu , for engaging in ″significant transactions″ with Rosoboronexport, specifically naming China's purchase of ten Su-35s in 2017 as well as S-400 surface-to-air missile system-related equipment in 2018. In

2244-597: A trainer aircraft for the Su-35. The Su-35S attained full operational capability (FOC) in late 2018. In July 2020, the Russian Knights aerobatic team received eight new Su-35Ss as an addition to its previously acquired Su-30SM aircraft. The 185th Combat Training and Combat Application Center, also known as an aggressor squadron of the Russian Aerospace Forces, has received three new Su-35S on 9 September 2022. In January 2016, Russia made

2376-524: A variety of armament, ranging from 12-inch coast defense mortars, through 3-inch and 6-inch mid-range artillery, to the larger guns, which included 10-inch and 12-inch barbette and disappearing carriage guns, 14-inch railroad artillery, and 16-inch cannon installed just prior to and up through World War II. Fire control in the Coast Artillery became more and more sophisticated in terms of correcting firing data for such factors as weather conditions,

2508-401: Is being tracked. Typically, weapons fired over long ranges need environmental information—the farther a munition travels, the more the wind, temperature, air density, etc. will affect its trajectory, so having accurate information is essential for a good solution. Sometimes, for very long-range rockets, environmental data has to be obtained at high altitudes or in between the launching point and

2640-454: Is delivered alongside the Su-30M2 and Su-30SM and the heavier Su-34 strike aircraft . The first two are domestic variants of KnAAPO's Su-30MK2 and Irkut 's Su-30MKI two-seat export aircraft. According to reports, the simultaneous acquisition of three fighter derivatives of the original Su-27 was to support the two aircraft manufacturers amidst a slump in export orders. The Su-30M2 serves as

2772-518: Is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs the same task as a human gunner firing a weapon, but attempts to do so faster and more accurately. The original fire-control systems were developed for ships. The early history of naval fire control was dominated by the engagement of targets within visual range (also referred to as direct fire ). In fact, most naval engagements before 1800 were conducted at ranges of 20 to 50 yards (20 to 50 m). Even during

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2904-456: Is not made for helicopters. Before the 1980s, reporting names for submarines were taken from the NATO spelling alphabet . Modifications of existing designs were given descriptive terms, such as " Whiskey Long Bin ". From the 1980s, new designs were given names derived from Russian words, such as " Akula ", or "shark". These names did not correspond to the Soviet names. Coincidentally, "Akula", which

3036-486: The American Civil War , the famous engagement between USS  Monitor and CSS  Virginia was often conducted at less than 100 yards (90 m) range. Rapid technical improvements in the late 19th century greatly increased the range at which gunfire was possible. Rifled guns of much larger size firing explosive shells of lighter relative weight (compared to all-metal balls) so greatly increased

3168-863: The Antonov An-124 or "Candid" for the Ilyushin Il-76 . The initial letter of the name indicates the use of that equipment. The alphanumeric designations (eg AA-2) are assigned by the Department of Defense . The first letter indicates the type of aircraft, e.g., "Bear" for a bomber aircraft refers to the Tupolev Tu-95 , or "Fulcrum" for the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 fighter aircraft. For fixed-wing aircraft, one-syllable names are used for propeller aircraft and two-syllable names for aircraft with jet engines. This distinction

3300-645: The MiG-29 . India has been reluctant to order the Sukhoi/HAL FGFA due to high cost, and it has been reported that India and Russia are studying an upgrade to the Su-35 with stealth technology (similar to the F-15 Silent Eagle ) as a more affordable alternative to the FGFA (Su-57). The aircraft is competing with 7 other aircraft in a fresh tender which is referred as MMRCA 2.0 in the Indian media, for

3432-664: The Mirage IIIs . Since the Brazilian government was also looking to develop the country's aerospace and defence industries, Sukhoi partnered with the Brazilian defence contractor Avibras during the tender. The two companies submitted the Su-27M to the US$ 700-million tender, and included an offset agreement wherein the Brazilian industry would have participated in the manufacturing of certain aircraft equipment. The tender

3564-570: The N001 Myech ("Sword") radar of the Su-27, which could track 10 targets and only direct two missiles towards one target at a time, the new radar could track fifteen targets and direct missiles towards six of them simultaneously. The extra weight of the N011 radar at the front of the aircraft necessitated the addition of the canards; engineers would only later discover the aerodynamic advantages of these devices. In addition, an N012 self-defence radar

3696-546: The N035 Irbis-E ("Snow Leopard") passive electronically scanned array (PESA) radar, which is a further development of the N011M radar that had been evaluated on Su-27M test-beds and constitutes the core of the Su-35's weapons-control system. It is capable of detecting an aerial target up to 400 km (250 mi; 220 nmi) away, and can track thirty airborne targets and engage eight of them simultaneously; in addition,

3828-540: The Russian Knights aerobatics team , and so the team's pilots took familiarisation flights with the aircraft. The three production and two other pre-production Su-27Ms arrived at the team's Kubinka air base near Moscow in 2003. However, they were used as a source of spare parts for other aircraft in the demonstration fleet. Initially, one static and three flyable prototypes ( bort no. 901, 902, 904) were built between 2007 and 2009. The third one (bort no. 904)

3960-753: The Soviet Armed Forces . The definitive production version of the Su-27, which had the factory code of T-10S, started mass ("serial") production with the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO) in 1983. The following year, this Su-27 version reached initial operational readiness with the Soviet Air Defence Forces . Having begun work on an upgraded Su-27 variant in 1982, the Sukhoi Design Bureau

4092-588: The Su-27M . It incorporated canards and a multi-function radar giving it multi-role capabilities. The first prototype made its maiden flight in June 1988. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union Sukhoi re-designated it as the Su-35 to attract export orders. Fourteen aircraft were produced and used for tests and demonstrations; one example had thrust-vectoring engines and was in turn redesignated

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4224-668: The Su-30MKI two-seat fighter for the Indian Air Force . The tenth Su-27M (T10M-10) also served as a test-bed for the Saturn AL-41F1 engine that is intended for the Sukhoi Su-57 (previously known under the acronym "PAK FA") jet fighter. With the need to update Russia's aging fleet of Su-27 aircraft, Sukhoi and KnAAPO in 2002 started integrating glass cockpits and improved weapons-control systems (to accommodate

4356-702: The Su-37 . A sole Su-35UB two-seat trainer was also built in the late 1990s that resembled the Su-30MK family. In 2003, Sukhoi embarked on a second "deep" modernization of the Su-27 to serve as an interim export aircraft awaiting the development of the Sukhoi PAK FA (Su-57) program. Also known as the Su-35, this version incorporates technology from the PAK FA program and has a redesigned cockpit and weapons-control system and features thrust-vectoring engines in place of

4488-623: The grenade launcher developed for use on the Fabrique Nationale F2000 bullpup assault rifle. Fire-control computers have gone through all the stages of technology that computers have, with some designs based upon analogue technology and later vacuum tubes which were later replaced with transistors . Fire-control systems are often interfaced with sensors (such as sonar , radar , infra-red search and track , laser range-finders , anemometers , wind vanes , thermometers , barometers , etc.) in order to cut down or eliminate

4620-423: The heads-up display (HUD). The pipper shows the pilot where the target must be relative to the aircraft in order to hit it. Once the pilot maneuvers the aircraft so that the target and pipper are superimposed, he or she fires the weapon, or on some aircraft the weapon will fire automatically at this point, in order to overcome the delay of the pilot. In the case of a missile launch, the fire-control computer may give

4752-534: The 2009 MAKS Air Show (as part of a larger deal worth US$ 2.5 billion for 64 fighter aircraft). During the early stages of the flight-test programme, Sukhoi estimated that there was such a market for 160 aircraft, with a particular emphasis on Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Some of the candidate countries, such as Algeria, Malaysia, and India, were already operators of the Su-30MK family. As

4884-649: The Air Standardization Coordinating Committee (ASCC), which is separate from NATO . Based in Washington DC, AFIC comprises representatives from the militaries of three NATO members (Canada, the United Kingdom and United States) and two non-NATO countries (Australia and New Zealand). When the system was introduced in the 1950s, reporting names also implicitly designated potentially hostile aircraft. However, since

5016-400: The Dreyer table) for HMS Hood ' s main guns housed 27 crew. Directors were largely unprotected from enemy fire. It was difficult to put much weight of armour so high up on the ship, and even if the armour did stop a shot, the impact alone would likely knock the instruments out of alignment. Sufficient armour to protect from smaller shells and fragments from hits to other parts of the ship

5148-639: The Finnish border, and at Centralnaya Uglovaya air base near Vladivostok. The introduction of the Su-35S into the service with the Russian Aerospace Forces is a part of the Russia's state armament programme for 2011–2020 that was formulated following the war with Georgia in 2008 with an aim to significantly increase the number of modern military equipment in the Russian Armed Forces. The aircraft

5280-690: The Iranian Defense Minister, Mohammad-Reza Gharaei Ashtiani , made vague statements alluding that Iran is reconsidering the acquisition of the Su-35 due to increasing investment towards indigenous fighter building capabilities, leading to some sources to declare that the deal has collapsed. Despite this, the Iranian Air Force has received deliveries of the Yak-130 advanced jet trainer , which are used to train aspiring cadets before they graduate to actual fighter aircraft, such as

5412-548: The Russian government had placed a follow-up order for 50 aircraft. Apart from the launch order at the 2009 MAKS Air Show, the Russian government and the state-owned Vnesheconombank development bank agreed to provide Sukhoi with capital for the aircraft's production. In November 2009, KnAAPO (which was renamed KnAAZ in 2013 after it became part of the Sukhoi Company) started manufacturing the first production aircraft,

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5544-420: The Su-27 more than the Su-27M. During tests of the thrust-vectoring engines and the Su-27M's aerodynamic layout, Sukhoi had concluded that the loss of manoeuvrability due to the removal of the canards – the addition of which imposed a weight penalty on the airframe – could be compensated for by the addition of thrust-vectoring nozzles. Industry progress in the fields of avionics and radars has also reduced

5676-463: The Su-27) without additional structural reinforcement. More importantly, when working with the relaxed-stability design and the accompanying fly-by-wire flight-control system , the aerodynamic layout improved the aircraft's manoeuvrability and enabled it to briefly fly with its nose past the vertical while maintaining forward momentum. Because of this, theoretically, during combat the pilot could pitch

5808-455: The Su-27, the Su-27M is visibly distinguished from the basic version by the addition of canards , which are small lifting surfaces, ahead of the wings. First tested in 1985 using an experimental aircraft, the canards, in complement with the reshaped wing leading-edge extension , redirected the airflow in such a way so as to eliminate buffeting at high angles of attack and allowed the airframe to sustain 10- g manoeuvres (as opposed to 9 g on

5940-458: The Su-27M up 120 degrees in under two seconds and fire missiles at the target. Other notable visible changes compared to the T-10S design included taller vertical tails , provisions for in-flight refuelling and the use of two-wheel nose undercarriage to support the heavier airframe. Besides the increase in manoeuvrability, another feature that distinguished the Su-27M from the original design

6072-581: The Su-27SK and Su-33 to create the J-11B and J-15 , respectively, there were fears of China copying the airframe and offer the copied design on the export market. At one stage, Rosoboronexport demanded that China issue a legally binding guarantee against copying. Chinese industry was reportedly interested in the AL-41F1S engine and Irbis-E radar. According to The Diplomat , China held a specific interest in

6204-529: The Su-35 deal would be the last major order from China, as the Sino-Russian military cooperation saw "very little action or real substance. China doesn't need Russia as much as Russia needs China." Chinese officials had reportedly first shown interest in the Su-35 in 2006, it was not until Zhuhai Airshow 2010 that Alexander Mikheyev of the Rosoboronexport , the Russian state agency responsible for

6336-640: The Su-35 fighters during the Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir's visitation of Moscow in November 2017. In the mid-1990s, Brazilian and Russian authorities conducted talks on the possible acquisition of the Su-27M. In 2001, the Brazilian government launched the F-X tender, the objective of which was to procure at least 12 aircraft to replace the Brazilian Air Force 's ageing aircraft, primarily

6468-568: The Su-35 to Turkey after it was removed from the F-35 programme by United States due to the purchase of the S-400 missile system. CEO of Rostec Sergey Chemezov , said, "If our Turkish colleagues express a desire, we are ready to work out the deliveries of Su-35 fighter jets". Previously in May 2019, Sergey Chemezov had said that Russia was ready to cooperate with Turkey on the export and local production of

6600-509: The Su-35's engine, and was already test-flying the J-11D , which reportedly has less range, payload, and maneuverability than the Su-35 but has an active electronically scanned array radar instead of the less advanced PESA radar of the Su-35. Rosoboronexport insisted on China purchasing a minimum of 48 aircraft to offset risks of copying; after the Kremlin intervened in 2012, the minimum quantity

6732-610: The Su-35's weapons and combat maneuverability. Twelve production Su-35Ss were delivered in December 2013, followed by another twelve production aircraft in February 2014, ten of which were handed over to the 23rd Fighter Aviation Regiment stationed in the Far East with the remaining two tasked with carrying out the final phase of state joint tests. The handover marked its official entry into operational service. Several Su-35Ss were later transferred to Lipetsk to further develop combat tactics and to train service personnel. The Russia's Su-35Ss are also permanently based at Besovets air base near

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6864-408: The Su-35. The trainers have received IRIAF livery and serial numbers . On 28 November 2023, Iran's deputy defense minister announced that Iran had finalized a deal for the purchase of Su-35 aircraft from Russia, although further details on the quantity or timeline were not shared. An order for 24 Su-35s was reported in April 2024, but these reports were denied by Iran's SNN media agency. Following

6996-415: The Su-35UB so as to combine thrust-vectoring engines with features of the Su-27M. Modified from an Su-30MKK airframe, the aircraft made its first flight on 7 August 2000, and afterwards served as an avionics test-bed. While the original Su-27M never entered mass production due to a lack of funding, Sukhoi refined the Su-27M's use of canards and the Su-37's thrust-vectoring technology and later applied them to

7128-435: The Su-57. Following the Russian purchase of Iranian suicide drones during the invasion in Ukraine , the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) is reportedly considering the procurement of the Sukhoi Su-35 in exchange for further delivery of ammunition, drones and ballistic missiles to the Russian Armed Forces, according to US officials. It was also reported that training of Iranian pilots has begun in Spring 2022 and that

7260-440: The air, and other adjustments. Around 1905, mechanical fire control aids began to become available, such as the Dreyer Table , Dumaresq (which was also part of the Dreyer Table), and Argo Clock , but these devices took a number of years to become widely deployed. These devices were early forms of rangekeepers . Arthur Pollen and Frederic Charles Dreyer independently developed the first such systems. Pollen began working on

7392-429: The aircraft aloft for its 55-minute first flight from Zhukovsky. Bogdan later piloted the second prototype on its maiden flight on 2 October from KnAAPO's Dzyomgi Airport . The flight-test programme was expected to involve three flying prototypes, but on 26 April 2009, a day before its scheduled maiden flight, the fourth Su-35 (there's a static test aircraft) crashed during a taxi run at Dzyomgi Airport. The aircraft struck

7524-731: The aircraft avionics. Su-35s in Syria have been seen carrying unguided bombs, with Russian sources claiming that the Su-35 has carried out strikes against ground targets using guided weapons. On 20 August 2019, two Russian Aerospace Forces Su-35Ss, operating from the Khmeimim Air Base, intercepted two Turkish Air Force F-16s over the southern Idlib and forced them to leave the Syrian airspace. Russian Su-35Ss again intercepted several Israeli aircraft over southern Syria on 10 September 2019 and prevented them from carrying out airstrikes. Another interception allegedly occurred on 19 September 2019, when two Russian Su-35Ss intercepted Israeli aircraft preparing to attack suburbs of Damascus . On 15 October 2019,

7656-514: The aircraft in Akhtubinsk and Lipetsk as a "negative experience", with a particular emphasis on the layout of the cockpit and its adverse impact on the workload of the single pilot. Designers, test pilots and avionics software specialists therefore worked together to redesign the cockpit and its attendant systems and improve the human-machine interface . The information management system of aircraft's avionics suite had been changed so that it now has two digital computers which process information from

7788-464: The aircraft may be delivered in 2023. The deal may include 24 Su-35s originally built for Egypt, but no official reports of delivery have emerged so far. The deal was confirmed by Iranian state-owned media Tasnim News Agency on 28 December 2022 and on 15 January 2023 by an Iranian MP who said that supplies will begin in the spring and also said that Iran has ordered from Russia air defense and missile systems as well as helicopters. However, in July 2023,

7920-430: The aircraft was to be available for export starting in 2010, During the type's international debut at the 2013 Paris Air Show, Mikhail Pogosyan, General Director of Sukhoi's parent company United Aircraft Corporation , stated that there was an estimated demand for 200 aircraft, split evenly between the domestic and export markets. It was not until the end of 2015 when the first export contract was signed with China; by then,

8052-418: The amount of information that must be manually entered in order to calculate an effective solution. Sonar, radar, IRST and range-finders can give the system the direction to and/or distance of the target. Alternatively, an optical sight can be provided that an operator can simply point at the target, which is easier than having someone input the range using other methods and gives the target less warning that it

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8184-444: The analog rangekeepers, at least for the US Navy, was in the 1991 Persian Gulf War when the rangekeepers on the Iowa -class battleships directed their last rounds in combat. An early use of fire-control systems was in bomber aircraft , with the use of computing bombsights that accepted altitude and airspeed information to predict and display the impact point of a bomb released at that time. The best known United States device

8316-482: The astonishing feat of shooting down V-1 cruise missiles with less than 100 shells per plane (thousands were typical in earlier AA systems). This system was instrumental in the defense of London and Antwerp against the V-1. Although listed in Land based fire control section anti-aircraft fire control systems can also be found on naval and aircraft systems. In the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps , Coast Artillery fire control systems began to be developed at

8448-668: The barrels and distortion due to heating. These sorts of effects are noticeable for any sort of gun, and fire-control computers have started appearing on smaller and smaller platforms. Tanks were one early use that automated gun laying had, using a laser rangefinder and a barrel-distortion meter. Fire-control computers are useful not just for aiming large cannons , but also for aiming machine guns , small cannons, guided missiles , rifles , grenades , and rockets —any kind of weapon that can have its launch or firing parameters varied. They are typically installed on ships , submarines , aircraft , tanks and even on some small arms —for example,

8580-437: The bearings and elevations for the guns to fire upon. In the turrets, the gunlayers adjusted the elevation of their guns to match an indicator for the elevation transmitted from the Fire Control table—a turret layer did the same for bearing. When the guns were on target they were centrally fired. Even with as much mechanization of the process, it still required a large human element; the Transmitting Station (the room that housed

8712-410: The beginning of the Ukraine war, either to friendly fire, crashed or Ukrainian forces shot down the aircraft using Western-supplied air defences. During the early 1990s, sales arrangements for the Su-27M were discussed with China. In 1995, Sukhoi officials announced a co-production proposal contingent on Beijing's agreement to purchase 120 aircraft. However, the Russian Foreign Ministry allegedly blocked

8844-435: The canards. The type made its first flight in February 2008. Although it was designed for export, the Russian Air Force became the launch customer in 2009, with the production version designated Su-35S. China's People's Liberation Army Air Force has also placed orders. The first aircraft design to receive the Su-35 designation had its origins in the early 1980s, at a time when the Su-27 was being introduced into service with

8976-563: The condition of powder used, or the Earth's rotation. Provisions were also made for adjusting firing data for the observed fall of shells. As shown in Figure 2, all of these data were fed back to the plotting rooms on a finely tuned schedule controlled by a system of time interval bells that rang throughout each harbor defense system. It was only later in World War II that electro-mechanical gun data computers , connected to coast defense radars, began to replace optical observation and manual plotting methods in controlling coast artillery. Even then,

9108-563: The control of the gun laying from the individual turrets to a central position; although individual gun mounts and multi-gun turrets would retain a local control option for use when battle damage limited director information transfer (these would be simpler versions called "turret tables" in the Royal Navy). Guns could then be fired in planned salvos, with each gun giving a slightly different trajectory. Dispersion of shot caused by differences in individual guns, individual projectiles, powder ignition sequences, and transient distortion of ship structure

9240-488: The deal "serves both countries", as Russia relied on foreign sales to maintain its military production capacity, while China sought to enhance its military capabilities through the advanced weapon platforms such as the Su-35. However, the low number of purchases also signified that the deal was symbolic in nature, as the two countries are still competing over influence in Central Asia, according to Moritz Rudolf of Mercator Institute for China Studies . Ben Moores of IHS believed

9372-457: The deployment to Syria of several new Russian military systems, various countries had reportedly expressed interest in the Su-35. These countries included Algeria, Egypt, and Vietnam. Other countries that had also expressed interest in the aircraft include Kazakhstan, North Korea, and Pakistan although a Russian official denied that the country was in talks with the latter about the Su-35. Sudan has reportedly also expressed an interest in acquiring of

9504-587: The deputy head of the Ukrainian Navy Aviation Office, was killed in action. His Mi-14PS was shot down by a Russian Su-35. On 19 July 2022, the Ukrainian Air Force command claimed that a Su-35 was shot down by Ukrainian air defences near Kakhovka , but at the time there were no photos confirming the loss. In early February 2023, photos of the crash site emerged, confirming the crashed plane was an Su-35S. On 14 May 2023,

9636-403: The direction and elevation of the guns. Pollen aimed to produce a combined mechanical computer and automatic plot of ranges and rates for use in centralised fire control. To obtain accurate data of the target's position and relative motion, Pollen developed a plotting unit (or plotter) to capture this data. To this he added a gyroscope to allow for the yaw of the firing ship. Like the plotter,

9768-498: The empty weight of the aircraft, while maintaining a similar maximum take-off weight to the Su-27M. While the Su-27M design had the avionics to give the aircraft the nominal designation as a multi-role fighter, flight tests with the Russian Air Force revealed difficulties in deploying the aircraft's armament efficiently. According to Aviation Week & Space Technology , air force pilots described weapons trials with

9900-505: The end of the 19th century and progressed on through World War II. Early systems made use of multiple observation or base end stations (see Figure 1 ) to find and track targets attacking American harbors. Data from these stations were then passed to plotting rooms , where analog mechanical devices, such as the plotting board , were used to estimate targets' positions and derive firing data for batteries of coastal guns assigned to interdict them. U.S. Coast Artillery forts bristled with

10032-517: The end of the Cold War, some NATO air forces have operated various aircraft types with reporting names (e.g. the "Fulcrum" Mikoyan MiG-29 ). The United States Department of Defense (DOD) expands on the NATO reporting names in some cases. NATO refers to surface-to-air missile systems mounted on ships or submarines with the same names as the corresponding land-based systems, but the US DOD assigns

10164-404: The engine inlets and front stages of the engine compressor to halve the Su-35's frontal radar cross-section and minimise the detection range of enemy radars. The radar cross section of the Su-35 is reportedly 1 to 3 square meters. The multi-role Su-35 can deploy air-to-air missiles of up to 300-kilometre (190 mi) range, and can carry the heavy Oniks anti-ship cruise missile , as well as

10296-454: The enhanced N011M radar, as did the twelfth developmental Su-27M. The Su-37's ability to maintain a high angle of attack while flying at close to zero airspeed attracted considerable press attention. It later received different engines and updated fly-by-wire controls and cockpit systems for evaluation. Apart from the single-seat design, a two-seat aircraft was also constructed. Working in cooperation with Sukhoi, KnAAPO's own engineers designed

10428-512: The export and import of defence products, signified that Russia was ready to start talks with China over the Su-35. Russian officials publicly confirmed that talks had been going on in 2012, when a protocol agreement on the purchase was signed. There were subsequent reports of the two countries signing a contract and of imminent deliveries, but negotiations would not actually conclude until 2015. Sales discussions were protracted due to intellectual property rights concerns. China had reverse engineered

10560-484: The fall of shot. Visual range measurement (of both target and shell splashes) was difficult prior to the availability of radar. The British favoured coincidence rangefinders while the Germans favoured the stereoscopic type . The former were less able to range on an indistinct target but easier on the operator over a long period of use, the latter the reverse. Submarines were also equipped with fire control computers for

10692-409: The fire control computer became integrated with ordnance systems, the computer can take the flight characteristics of the weapon to be launched into account. By the start of World War II , aircraft altitude performance had increased so much that anti-aircraft guns had similar predictive problems, and were increasingly equipped with fire-control computers. The main difference between these systems and

10824-425: The firing solution based upon the observation of preceding shots. The resulting directions, known as a firing solution , would then be fed back out to the turrets for laying. If the rounds missed, an observer could work out how far they missed by and in which direction, and this information could be fed back into the computer along with any changes in the rest of the information and another shot attempted. At first,

10956-489: The first combat deployment of the Su-35S when it sent four aircraft to Syria. This occurred following the increased tensions between Russia and Turkey as result of reported incursions by Russian aircraft into the Turkish airspace and the shooting down of a Russian Su-24 bomber by a Turkish F-16 fighter in November 2015. Its combat deployment to Syria helped to find and subsequently resolve number of problems, for example with

11088-777: The first delivery, the People's Liberation Army 's website opined that with the J-20's commissioning, Russia understood that the Su-35 would "lose its value on the Chinese market in the near future...we hope very much that Su-35 will be the last (combat) aircraft China imports." China has received a second batch of ten aircraft in 2017, and another ten in 2018. The Su-35S entered service with PLAAF in April 2018, and are based in Guangdong province in southeast China. In June 2019, Russia offered China

11220-508: The first prototype, like several subsequent aircraft, lacked the many physical alterations of the new design. It made its first flight after conversion on 28 June 1988, piloted by Oleg Tsoi, followed by the second prototype in January 1989. Following the conversions of the two Su-27M prototypes, the actual production of the aircraft was transferred to the country's Far East where it was carried out by KnAAPO. The third aircraft ( T10M-3 ), which

11352-438: The flight- and weapons-control systems. The information is then displayed on two 9 in × 12 in (23 cm × 30 cm) multi-function liquid crystal displays, which replaced the smaller multi-function cathode-ray tube displays found on the Su-27M. The pilot can also view critical flight information on the head-up display , and is equipped with Hands On Throttle-And-Stick (HOTAS) controls. The Su-35 employs

11484-459: The flight-test programme of the Su-27M proceeded, engineers discovered that the pilot failed to maintain active control of the aircraft during certain manoeuvres, such as the Pugachev's Cobra . The eleventh Su-27M ( T10M-11 ) was therefore equipped with thrust-vectoring engine nozzles in 1995, and the resultant Su-37 technology demonstrator made its first flight on 2 April 1996. It also tested

11616-606: The general assembly of which was completed in October 2010; by then, pilots and engineers had successfully completed preliminary tests of the aircraft's systems. The first Su-35S took its maiden flight in May 2011, and would be delivered (along with other aircraft) to Akhtubinsk to start state joint tests with the Defence Ministry to prepare the aircraft for service. Because production of the Su-35S occurred alongside trials, some early-production aircraft were later modified as

11748-508: The guns were aimed using the technique of artillery spotting . It involved firing a gun at the target, observing the projectile's point of impact (fall of shot), and correcting the aim based on where the shell was observed to land, which became more and more difficult as the range of the gun increased. Between the American Civil War and 1905, numerous small improvements, such as telescopic sights and optical rangefinders , were made in fire control. There were also procedural improvements, like

11880-460: The individual gun crews. Director control aims all guns on the ship at a single target. Coordinated gunfire from a formation of ships at a single target was a focus of battleship fleet operations. Corrections are made for surface wind velocity, firing ship roll and pitch, powder magazine temperature, drift of rifled projectiles, individual gun bore diameter adjusted for shot-to-shot enlargement, and rate of change of range with additional modifications to

12012-492: The individual gun turrets to the director tower (where the sighting instruments were located) and the analogue computer in the heart of the ship. In the director tower, operators trained their telescopes on the target; one telescope measured elevation and the other bearing. Rangefinder telescopes on a separate mounting measured the distance to the target. These measurements were converted by the Fire Control Table into

12144-562: The introduction of the PAK FA fifth-generation fighter (which eventually became the Su-57 ), many features of which the aircraft would incorporate. Initially, the aircraft was primarily aimed at the export market, being offered by KnAAPO as a single-seat alternative to the two-seat Su-30MK variants built by Irkutsk Aviation Plant (IAP). In many respects, the T-10BM design outwardly resembles

12276-607: The maintenance of a fighter aircraft's kinetic energy . The engine gives the Su-35 the limited ability to sustain supersonic speed above Mach 1.1 without the use of afterburners , also known as " supercruise ". Following the completion of design work, KnAAPO constructed the first prototype, which was finished in mid-2007. The prototype, Su-35-1, was then transferred to the Gromov Flight Research Institute at Zhukovsky Airfield , in preparation for its maiden flight. On 19 February 2008, Sergey Bogdan took

12408-464: The manual methods were retained as a back-up through the end of the war. Land based fire control systems can be used to aid in both Direct fire and Indirect fire weapon engagement. These systems can be found on weapons ranging from small handguns to large artillery weapons. Modern fire-control computers, like all high-performance computers, are digital. The added performance allows basically any input to be added, from air density and wind, to wear on

12540-482: The mid-1990s, the United Arab Emirates evaluated the Su-27M, but later acquired the Mirage 2000 due to the country's close relationship with France. In February 2017, the country was to sign a preliminary agreement for the Su-35 purchase and also signed an agreement with Rostec , Russia's state-owned corporation responsible for the development of advanced industrial products, to develop a fifth-generation aircraft based on

12672-532: The multi-function radar is capable of providing high-resolution images of the ground using synthetic aperture mode . The aircraft is equipped with an OLS-35 optoelectronic targeting system ahead of the cockpit to provide other forms of tracking including infra-red search and track . For defences against enemy tracking, the Su-35 is equipped with the L175M Khibiny-M electronic countermeasure system, while engineers have applied radar-absorbent materials to

12804-537: The nozzles operate in one plane for pitch, but the canting allows the aircraft to produce both roll and yaw by vectoring each engine nozzle differently; this configuration was first implemented on the Su-30MKI and is also used on the Su-57. The Su-35's thrust-vectoring system and integrated flight- and propulsion-control systems allow the aircraft to attain 9- g manoeuvres and " supermaneuverability ", enabling it to perform post-stall manoeuvres at low speeds. This differs from Western air combat doctrine, which emphasises

12936-549: The ones on ships was size and speed. The early versions of the High Angle Control System , or HACS, of Britain 's Royal Navy were examples of a system that predicted based upon the assumption that target speed, direction, and altitude would remain constant during the prediction cycle, which consisted of the time to fuze the shell and the time of flight of the shell to the target. The USN Mk 37 system made similar assumptions except that it could predict assuming

13068-471: The plane maintain a constant attitude (usually level), though dive-bombing sights were also common. The LABS system was originally designed to facilitate a tactic called toss bombing , to allow the aircraft to remain out of range of a weapon's blast radius . The principle of calculating the release point, however, was eventually integrated into the fire control computers of later bombers and strike aircraft, allowing level, dive and toss bombing. In addition, as

13200-543: The primitive gyroscope of the time required substantial development to provide continuous and reliable guidance. Although the trials in 1905 and 1906 were unsuccessful, they showed promise. Pollen was encouraged in his efforts by the rapidly rising figure of Admiral Jackie Fisher , Admiral Arthur Knyvet Wilson and the Director of Naval Ordnance and Torpedoes (DNO), John Jellicoe . Pollen continued his work, with occasional tests carried out on Royal Navy warships. Meanwhile,

13332-402: The problem after noting the poor accuracy of naval artillery at a gunnery practice near Malta in 1900. Lord Kelvin , widely regarded as Britain's leading scientist first proposed using an analogue computer to solve the equations which arise from the relative motion of the ships engaged in the battle and the time delay in the flight of the shell to calculate the required trajectory and therefore

13464-631: The procurement of 114 multi-role combat aircraft. According to Kommersant , the Algerian military had requested a Su-35 for testing in February 2016; it was reported the country was satisfied with the fighter's flight characteristics and so Moscow is waiting for a formal application. On 27 December 2019, Algeria has reportedly signed a contract for 14 aircraft as part of large military deal that also includes purchase of Su-34 and Su-57 fighters. However, neither Russian nor Algerian governments ever confirmed that such deal exists. In July 2019, Russia offered

13596-660: The production aircraft were delivered in 1996 to the Russian Air Force for weapons testing. By the time of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Sukhoi had been demonstrating the Su-27M to senior defence and government officials. With its debut to a Western audience at the 1992 Farnborough Airshow , the company redesignated the aircraft as Su-35. The aircraft subsequently made flying demonstrations overseas in an effort to attract export orders, starting in November 1993 with Dubai , where Viktor Pugachev flew it in

13728-414: The range of the guns that the main problem became aiming them while the ship was moving on the waves. This problem was solved with the introduction of the gyroscope , which corrected this motion and provided sub-degree accuracies. Guns were now free to grow to any size, and quickly surpassed 10 inches (250 mm) calibre by the 1890s. These guns were capable of such great range that the primary limitation

13860-640: The rangekeeper. The effectiveness of this combination was demonstrated in November 1942 at the Third Battle of Savo Island when the USS ; Washington engaged the Japanese battleship Kirishima at a range of 8,400 yards (7.7 km) at night. Kirishima was set aflame, suffered a number of explosions, and was scuttled by her crew. She had been hit by at least nine 16-inch (410 mm) rounds out of 75 fired (12% hit rate). The wreck of Kirishima

13992-465: The sale of the Su-27M and Tupolev Tu-22M bomber over concerns about the arrangements for Chinese production of the Su-27 derivatives . In November 2015, China became the Su-35's first export customer when the Russian and Chinese governments signed a contract worth $ 2 billion to buy 24 aircraft for the People's Liberation Army Air Force . This deal drew international commentaries due to its significance. David Ochmanek of RAND Corporation said

14124-414: The same reasons, but their problem was even more pronounced; in a typical "shot", the torpedo would take one to two minutes to reach its target. Calculating the proper "lead" given the relative motion of the two vessels was very difficult, and torpedo data computers were added to dramatically improve the speed of these calculations. In a typical World War II British ship the fire control system connected

14256-401: The target or flying the aircraft. Even if the system is unable to aim the weapon itself, for example the fixed cannon on an aircraft, it is able to give the operator cues on how to aim. Typically, the cannon points straight ahead and the pilot must maneuver the aircraft so that it oriented correctly before firing. In most aircraft the aiming cue takes the form of a " pipper " which is projected on

14388-429: The target ship could move a considerable distance, several ship lengths, between the time the shells were fired and landed. One could no longer eyeball the aim with any hope of accuracy. Moreover, in naval engagements it is also necessary to control the firing of several guns at once. Naval gun fire control potentially involves three levels of complexity. Local control originated with primitive gun installations aimed by

14520-410: The target. Often, satellites or balloons are used to gather this information. Once the firing solution is calculated, many modern fire-control systems are also able to aim and fire the weapon(s). Once again, this is in the interest of speed and accuracy, and in the case of a vehicle like an aircraft or tank, in order to allow the pilot/gunner/etc. to perform other actions simultaneously, such as tracking

14652-558: The two prototypes and four production aircraft were conducting flights to test the type's technical characteristics, which were assessed by the end of that year to have generally complied with requirements. A batch of six production aircraft was handed over in December 2012. In February 2013, five of these at the Gromov Flight Research Institute in Zhukovsky started the second stage of the trials, focusing on

14784-588: The type of the aircraft's engine. Single-syllable code names denote reciprocating engine or turboprop , while two-syllable code names denote jet engine . Bombers have names starting with the letter "B", and names like "Badger" ( Tupolev Tu-16 ), "Blackjack" ( Tupolev Tu-160 ) and "Bear" ( Tupolev Tu-95 ) have been used. "Frogfoot", the reporting name for the Sukhoi Su-25 , references the aircraft's close air support role. Transports have names starting with "C" (for "cargo"), resulting in names like "Condor" for

14916-482: The use of plotting boards to manually predict the position of a ship during an engagement. Then increasingly sophisticated mechanical calculators were employed for proper gun laying , typically with various spotters and distance measures being sent to a central plotting station deep within the ship. There the fire direction teams fed in the location, speed and direction of the ship and its target, as well as various adjustments for Coriolis effect , weather effects on

15048-501: The war. At least seven air-to-air victories were reported over Ukrainian fighters and one over a Ukrainian Naval Aviation Mil Mi-14 . On 3 April 2022, a Russian Su-35S was shot down by Ukrainian forces , with the pilot ejecting and being captured; the pilot stated that his Su-35S was shot down near Izyum while battling Ukrainian air defenses. On 9 May, the Ukraine Defence Ministry confirmed that Colonel Ihor Bedzay,

15180-444: The weapon, and the computer then did so at a calculated "release point" some seconds later. This is very different from previous systems, which, though they had also become computerized, still calculated an "impact point" showing where the bomb would fall if the bomb were released at that moment. The key advantage is that the weapon can be released accurately even when the plane is maneuvering. Most bombsights until this time required that

15312-407: The weight and size of such components, which shifts the centre of gravity of an aircraft rearward. Accordingly we saw SW, designers removed the canards (and the dorsal air brake ) found on the Su-27M; the size of the vertical tails, aft-cockpit hump and tail boom were also reduced. With such changes, as well as the increased use of aluminium and titanium alloys and composites, designers had reduced

15444-409: Was assigned to an attack submarine by NATO, was the actual Soviet name for the ballistic missile submarine NATO named " Typhoon-class ". The NATO names for submarines of the People's Republic of China are taken from Chinese dynasties . Fire-control system A fire-control system ( FCS ) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer , a director and radar , which

15576-490: Was discovered in 1992 and showed that the entire bow section of the ship was missing. The Japanese during World War II did not develop radar or automated fire control to the level of the US Navy and were at a significant disadvantage. By the 1950s gun turrets were increasingly unmanned, with gun laying controlled remotely from the ship's control centre using inputs from radar and other sources. The last combat action for

15708-555: Was high up over the ship where operators had a superior view over any gunlayer in the turrets . It was also able to co-ordinate the fire of the turrets so that their combined fire worked together. This improved aiming and larger optical rangefinders improved the estimate of the enemy's position at the time of firing. The system was eventually replaced by the improved " Admiralty Fire Control Table " for ships built after 1927. During their long service life, rangekeepers were updated often as technology advanced, and by World War II they were

15840-522: Was housed in the rearward-projecting tail boom, making the aircraft the first in the world to have such a radar. Other changes to the aircraft included the use of uprated turbofan engines, as well as the increased use of lightweight composites and aluminium-lithium alloys in the aircraft's structure. In 1987, Sukhoi started converting the first prototype (designated T10M-1 ) from a T-10S airframe at its experimental plant in Moscow. Although it had canards,

15972-488: Was instructed in December 1983 by the Soviet Council of Ministers to use the Su-27 as the basis for the development of the Su-27M (T-10M). Nikolay Nikitin would lead the design effort throughout much of the project's existence, under the oversight of General Director Mikhail Simonov , who had been the chief designer of the Su-27 along with Mikhail Pogosyan . While sharing broadly the blended wing-body design of

16104-454: Was later destroyed when it crashed into a barrier during its taxi runs. The first contract for 48 production aircraft was signed at the 2009 MAKS Air show in Moscow. In May 2011, Sukhoi delivered the first Su-35S to Akhtubinsk to conduct state joint tests with the Defence Ministry to prepare for operational service. The first of two stages of the trials commenced in August 2011. By March 2012,

16236-444: Was lowered to 24. Another problem was China's insistence that the Su-35 include Chinese-made components and avionics. The Kremlin again intervened and conceded to this demand, allowed the deal to proceed; it was viewed as a major concession since the sales of such components are reportedly lucrative. The contract did not include any technology transfer . The Chinese military received the first four aircraft in December 2016. Followed by

16368-405: Was seeing the target, leading to the use of high masts on ships. Another technical improvement was the introduction of the steam turbine which greatly increased the performance of the ships. Earlier reciprocating engine powered capital ships were capable of perhaps 16 knots, but the first large turbine ships were capable of over 20 knots. Combined with the long range of the guns, this meant that

16500-564: Was suspended in 2003 because of domestic political issues and then scrapped in 2005, pending the availability of new fighters. The Su-27M was preferred over the next favourite, the Mirage 2000BR ; had the aircraft been purchased, it would have been the first heavy fighter delivered to Latin America. NATO reporting name The assignment of reporting names is managed by the Five Eyes Air Force Interoperability Council (AFIC), previously known as

16632-454: Was the Norden bombsight . Simple systems, known as lead computing sights also made their appearance inside aircraft late in the war as gyro gunsights . These devices used a gyroscope to measure turn rates, and moved the gunsight's aim-point to take this into account, with the aim point presented through a reflector sight . The only manual "input" to the sight was the target distance, which

16764-557: Was the first new-built Su-27M and first to be constructed by KnAAPO, made its first flight in April 1992. By then, the Soviet Union had disintegrated , and the ensuing economic crisis in Russia throughout the 1990s meant that the original plan to mass-produce the aircraft between 1996 and 2005 was abandoned, with the aircraft to serve as experimental test-beds to validate the canards, the flight-control system and thrust-vectoring technology. In total, two prototypes, nine flying pre-production and three production aircraft were constructed by 1995;

16896-410: Was the limit. The performance of the analog computer was impressive. The battleship USS  North Carolina during a 1945 test was able to maintain an accurate firing solution on a target during a series of high-speed turns. It is a major advantage for a warship to be able to maneuver while engaging a target. Night naval engagements at long range became feasible when radar data could be input to

17028-421: Was the new weapons-control system . The centrepiece of this system was the multi-function N011 Bars (literally "Leopard") phased-array radar with pulse-Doppler tracking that allowed it to detect targets below the horizon . First installed on the third prototype, the radar transformed the Su-27M from simply being an air-defence fighter into a multi-role aircraft capable of attacking ground targets. Compared to

17160-523: Was typically handled by dialing in the size of the target's wing span at some known range. Small radar units were added in the post-war period to automate even this input, but it was some time before they were fast enough to make the pilots completely happy with them. The first implementation of a centralized fire control system in a production aircraft was on the B-29 . By the start of the Vietnam War,

17292-562: Was undesirably large at typical naval engagement ranges. Directors high on the superstructure had a better view of the enemy than a turret mounted sight, and the crew operating them were distant from the sound and shock of the guns. Gun directors were topmost, and the ends of their optical rangefinders protruded from their sides, giving them a distinctive appearance. Unmeasured and uncontrollable ballistic factors, like high-altitude temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind direction and velocity, required final adjustment through observation of

17424-521: Was used to direct air defense artillery since 1943. The MIT Radiation Lab's SCR-584 was the first radar system with automatic following, Bell Laboratory 's M-9 was an electronic analog fire-control computer that replaced complicated and difficult-to-manufacture mechanical computers (such as the Sperry M-7 or British Kerrison predictor). In combination with the VT proximity fuze , this system accomplished

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