Airplane Reportedly Performed 'Flawlessly'

The 3rd serial multi-purpose fighter — Su-35S-3 joining the flight test program Tuesday. Piloted by test pilot Taras Artsebarsky, the airplane took off from the airfield at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association. Various modes of propulsion and integrated control systems, as well as stability and controllability characteristics, were tested in the flight, which lasted over two hours. Engines, systems and equipment all reportedly operated 'flawlessly'.

The Su-35 fighters have already flown more than 400 flights on the flight tests program. The first and second Su-35s were delivered to the 929th State Flight Test Center (GLITS) for the State Joint Tests (SJT), and on August 15 last year they started to implement the agreed program. At the same time the first serial production fighter — Su-35S-1 has also joined the program.

The first and second Su-35s carried out preliminary flight tests. The basic set of flight and technical specifications of the on-board equipment and the characteristics of super maneuverability, stability and control characteristics, the characteristics of the power plant, the work of the navigation system were fully confirmed during the tests. The maximum ground-level speed is 755 knots, with the speed at altitude nearly 1,300 knots. The airplane has a service ceiling of 59,000 feet. The detection range of targets in the “air-to-air” mode is over 250 miles, significantly higher than that of the combat aircraft currently in service. The onboard OLS (optical locator station) can detect and track multiple targets at ranges exceeding 50 miles. The system is ready to undergo testing for operational use.
 
The special features of the aircraft include a new avionics suite based on digital information control system integrating onboard systems, a new phased antenna array radar with a long aerial target detection range and with an increased number of simultaneously tracked and engaged targets (30 aerial targets tracked and 8 targets engaged plus the tracking of 4 and engagement of 2 ground targets), and new enhanced vectored thrust engines. The Su-35 has a diverse suite of long-, medium- and short-range weapons. It can carry guided aerial munitions for anti-radar and anti-ship actions as well as general purpose munitions, guided and unguided aerial bombs. The radar signature of the fighter has been reduced by several times as compared to that of the fourth-generation aircraft by coating the cockpit with electro-conducting compounds, applying radio absorption coats and reducing the number of protruding sensors. The service life of the aircraft is 6,000 hours flight hours; the life cycle is 30 years of operation. The assigned service life of vectored thrust engines is 4,000 hours. (Image provided by Sukhoi)

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