Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker

The Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker is one of the most significant fighter aircraft of the Cold War era and the foundation for the largest family of combat aircraft in Russian aviation history. Developed in the 1970s in direct response to the American F-15 Eagle, the Su-27 entered service in 1985 and redefined Western assessments of Soviet aerospace capability.

The design philosophy behind the Su-27 was unusual: rather than the blended wing-body construction common in Western fighters of the period, the Sukhoi design bureau created an airframe with an exceptionally generous lifting body, where the entire fuselage contributes meaningfully to lift. Combined with two powerful AL-31F turbofans producing over 245 kN of combined thrust and a highly negative static stability margin managed by a fly-by-wire system, the result was an aircraft with agility that genuinely surprised Western analysts when it was first seen at the 1989 Paris Air Show.

At that show, chief test pilot Viktor Pugachev demonstrated the manoeuvre that would bear his name — the Cobra — in which the Su-27 pitched to nearly 120 degrees nose-up while maintaining forward momentum, a feat that would have destroyed most contemporary fighters. The demonstration made clear that Soviet aerodynamic research had taken a different path from Western efforts and arrived somewhere equally capable.

The Su-27’s range, 3,530 km ferry range with internal fuel alone, was another surprise. Western intelligence had underestimated the aircraft’s reach, which gave Soviet air defence forces the ability to contest airspace far beyond what the F-15 could patrol without tanker support.

The Flanker family expanded dramatically after the Cold War, spawning the carrier-capable Su-33, the multi-role Su-30 series (produced in variants for India, China, Algeria, Malaysia, and others), the dedicated ground-attack Su-34, and the advanced Su-35S with 3D thrust-vectoring engines. More than 800 aircraft of all variants remain in service worldwide as of 2026.