AeroWorldNet(tm) - Sukhoi Su-27KUB Enters Flight Tests [May 24, 1999]

Week of May 24, 1999

Sukhoi Su-27KUB Enters Flight Tests

By Vovick Karnozov
AWN Moscow-based columnist

The Sukhoi design bureau has confirmed that its new deck aircraft, referred to as the Su-27KUB, has been put into flight testing. The first prototype had its successful maiden flight on 29 April, with Sukhoi 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.

The Su-27KUB is a twin-seat derivative of the single-seat Su-27K deck fighter first flown in 1987 and officially accepted in service with the Russian Navy in August 1998. Both the Su-27K and Su-27KUB feature Sukhoi's characteristic "integral triplane layout", a combination of canards, main wing and stabiliser. The main external difference is that the KUB has a forward section resembling that of the Su-32FN land-based naval strike aircraft. The latter had its public debut at the 1995 Paris Air Show. Apart from the two naval airplanes, a similar nose section is used on the Su-34 interdiction aircraft intended to form the backbone of Russian Front-line Aviation in the next century.

The cockpits of these three aircraft feature a side-by-side arrangement of seats for the two crewmembers. In the case of the Su-27KUB this arrangement was chosen to provide the naval pilots with the "feeling of a friend's elbow" and to reduce the workload on the crew. This was stated by Sukhoi general designer Mikhail Simonov past October, when he publicly acknowledged that the company worked on a new deck aircraft.

At that time Simonov said that long-duration missions above the open sea in the single-seat Su-27K were a hard task for young pilots. The most difficult elements were landing in bad weather and searching for targets. Simonov believes that these problems can be eased in the Su-27KUB, where the pilot sits "elbow-to-elbow" with a weapons officer.

Although neither the Russian Navy nor Sukhoi has revealed the roles that the Su-27KUB would fulfill, it is known that the new aircraft would supplement Su-27Ks, and not supersede them. The KUB suffix means "Korabelny, Uchebno-Boyevoi", or "Ship-borne, Training, Combat" in English. In addition to the primary combat roles, the KUB will seemingly be used for training purposes, most notably practising operations from the deck of a carrier. Also, the KUB might be used for restoration of flying skills of line Navy pilots. In this role the Su-27KUB would supplement the Su-25UTG straight-wing twin-jet, a navalized version of the Su-25 attack aircraft.

There is no certainty about the Su-27KUB's combat functions as of yet. Sukhoi has not revealed information on the avionics suite installed on the airplane. It might be that the KUB would carry the Sea Snake aiming complex and other systems developed for the Su-32FN, which is a dedicated strike aircraft intended to act against sea-going targets and submarines. The Sea Snake complex built around the Argon central computer, has a coherent radar able to detect a ship at a range of 150-200 km. Also, the complex has infrared, electro-optical, acoustic, magnetic and other sensors.

So far, only two Su-32FN prototypes have been assembled. They are being used for test purposes. Production of the Su-32FN and Su-34 is being prepared at the NAPO factory in Novosibirsk, West Siberia. However, the process has been progressing slowly, due to a lack of funding. The Su-27KUB is to enter production at KnAAPO factory in Komsomolsk-upon-Amur, Russian Far East. KnAAPO is the manufacturer of the Su-27 and Su-27K.

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.