The Sukhoi Su-30 is a twin-engine, two-seat military aircraft developed by Russia's Sukhoi Aviation Corporation. It is a multirole fighter for all-weather, air-to-air and air-to-surface deep interdiction missions.
The Su-30 started out as an internal development project in the Sukhoi Su-27 family by Sukhoi. The design plan was revamped and the name was made official by the Russian Defense Ministry in 1996. Of the Flanker family, only the Su-27, Su-30, Su-34 and Su-35 have been ordered into serial production by the Defense Ministry. All the others, such as Su-37, were prototypes.
The Su-30 has two distinct branches, manufactured by competing organisations: KnAAPO and the Irkut Corporation, both of which come under the Sukhoi group's umbrella. KnAAPO manufactures the Su-30MKK and the Su-30MK2, which were designed for and sold to China, and later Indonesia and Vietnam. Due to KnAAPO's involvement from the early stages of developing Su-35, these are basically a two-seat version of the mid-1990s Su-35. The Chinese chose an older but lighter radar so the canards could be omitted in return for increased payload. It is a dedicated strike fighter designed for long-range air-to-surface attack missions, similar to the American F-15E.
The Su-30 is a multirole fighter. It has a two seat cockpit with an airbrake behind the canopy.
The Su-30MK is capable of accomplishing a wide variety of combat missions at significant distances from the home base, in any weather conditions and during radar jamming, both by day and night. This multirole aircraft is adequately fitted for the entire spectrum of tactical and operational combat employment scenarios, varying from counter-air tasks (i.e. gaining air superiority, air defence, air patrol and escort) to ground attack, suppression of enemy air defences, air interdiction, close air support and maritime attack. Additionally, the Su-30MK can perform ECCM and early warning tasks, as well as exercise command-and-control over a group of aerial combat assets performing joint missions. It has a 9 g load manoeuvrability.
Angle of attack
The Su-30MK's aerodynamic configuration is an unstable-in-longitude triplane. To increase lifting effectiveness and enhance manoeuvrability of the aircraft, foreplanes are installed. They are deflected automatically to ensure controlled flight at high angles-of-attack. Foreplanes, however, are installed only in some Su-30 variants like the Su-30MKI.
The integrated aerodynamic configuration, combined with the thrust vectoring control ability, results in unprecedented manoeuvrability and unique takeoff and landing characteristics. Equipped with a digital fly-by-wire system, the Su-30MK is able to perform some very advanced manoeuvres. They include the well-known Pugachev’s Cobra and the Bell. This allows the aircraft to rapidly strip airspeed, causing a pursuing fighter to overshoot. While performing a somersault manoeuvre the aircraft makes 360-degree turn in the pitch plane without any loss of altitude. In the Controlled Flat Spin manoeuvre the aircraft performs several full turns in the horizontal plane, with zero forward speed, virtually on the spot.
Powerplant
The aircraft's power plant incorporates two Saturn AL-31F afterburning low-bypass turbofan engines. Two AL-31F turbofans, each rated at 12,500 kgf (123 kN, 27,550 lb) of full afterburning thrust ensures Mach 2 in level flight, 1,350 km/h speed at low altitude, and a 230 m/s climbing rate.
With a normal fuel reserve of 5,270 kg, the Su-30MK is capable of performing a 4.5-hour combat mission with a range of 3,000 km. An in-flight refuelling system increases the flight duration up to 10 hours with a range of 5,200 km (3,200 mi) at cruise altitudes of 11–13 km. The long range significantly increases deployment options. The missions vary from prolonged patrols, and escorts to long-range intercepts and ground attacks.
The thrust vectoring engines on some Su-30 variants have nozzles with turn axes positioned at 32-deg angle to each other. The differential ±15-degree deflection of the engines' asymmetric nozzles enables pitch/yaw thrust vectoring control. Depending on the manoeuvre to be performed, nozzles deflections can be synchronised with or differ from the deflections of horizontal tail planes.
Two-member crew
A two-member crew configuration contributes significantly to enhanced combat capabilities, due to rational distribution of workload between crew members. While the first pilot flies the aircraft, controls weapons and performs manoeuvring dogfight, the co-pilot employs BVR air-to-air and air-to-ground guided weapons in long-range engagements, monitors tactical environment to ensure situational awareness, and performs command-and-control tasks in group missions.
Avionics
- Radar: Either a N001VE or Phazotron N010 Zhuk-27 or an N011M BARS pulse Doppler passive electronically scanned array radar. Capable of detecting and tracking up to 15 air targets, while concurrently attacking four of them. The N011M BARS radar (featuring a 20-m/65.6-ft resolution) ensures detection of large sea-surface targets at a distance of up to 400 km (250 mi), and small-size ones at a distance of up to 120 km (75 mi).
- Other avionics include an integrated optronic sighting-and-navigation system with a laser gyro navigation system; helmet-mounted displays, a head-up-display, multifunction color LCDs with image mixing ability; and a GPS system (GLONASS/NAVSTAR compatible).
- IR and laser sighting pods to detect and engage small-size ground targets are available for installation. The aircraft is provided with an ECCM facility intended to subvert hostile electronic and electro-optical countermeasures.
- The aircraft features autopilot ability at all flight stages including low-altitude flight in terrain-following mode, and individual and group combat employment against air and ground/sea-surface targets. Automatic control system interconnected with the navigation system ensures route flight, target approach, recovery to airfield and landing approach in automatic mode.
Unit Costs
- A standard Su-30K is estimated at US$34 million.
- A Su-30MKK variant is estimated at US$53 million.
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 21.935 m (72.97 ft)
- Wingspan: 14.7 m (48.2 ft)
- Height: 6.36 m (20.85 ft)
- Wing area: 62.0 m2 (667 ft2)
- Empty weight: 17,700 kg (39,021 lb)
- Loaded weight: 24,900 kg (54,900 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 34,500 kg (76,060 lb)
- Powerplant: 2 × AL-31FL low-bypass turbofans
- Dry thrust: 7,600 kgf (74.5 kN, 16,750 lbf) each
- Thrust with afterburner: 12,500 kgf (122.58 kN, 27,560 lbf) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: Mach 2.0 (2,120 km/h, 1,320 mph)
- Range: 3,000 km (1,620 nmi) at altitude
- Service ceiling: 17,300 m (56,800 ft)
- Rate of climb: 230 m/s (45,275 ft/min)
- Wing loading: 401 kg/m2 (82.3 lb/ft2)
- Thrust/weight: 0.98
Armament
The Su-27PU had 8 hardpoints for its weapon load, whereas the Su-30MK's combat load is mounted on 12 hardpoints: 2 wingtip AAM launch rails, 3 pylons under each wing, 1 pylon under each engine nacelle, and 2 pylons in tandem in the "arch" between the engines. All versions can carry up to 8 tonnes of external stores.
- Guns: 1 × GSh-30-1 gun (30 mm calibre, 150 rounds)
- AAMs: 6 × R-27ER1 (AA-10C), 2 × R-27ET1 (AA-10D), 6 × R-73E (AA-11), 6 × R-77 RVV-AE (AA-12)
- ASMs: 6 × Kh-31P/Kh-31A anti-radar missiles, 6 × Kh-29T/L laser guided missiles, 2 × Kh-59ME
- Aerial bombs: 6 × KAB 500KR, 3 × KAB-1500KR, 8 × FAB-500T, 28 × OFAB-250-270, nuclear bombs
