FIGHTER FLIGHTS

MCDONNELL DOUGLAS F-15 VS SUKHOI SU-27

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012 MIGFLUG 40 COMMENTS

Sukhoi legendary and super agile Su-27 Flanker

While comparing Western to Eastern technology and fighter jets we cannot skip over two widely
compared aircrafts: Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker and the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle (now Boeing F-15
Eagle). In the eastern aviation world Sukhoi stands for a legend. The Sukhoi design bureau made such
successful aircraft as the SU-24 Fencer strike fighter and the SU-27 Flanker, series of air superiority
fighters. The Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker was the top of Soviet technology at the time of its debut in the mid
80s. Large but exceptionally agile, it had powerful engines and a big load of weaponry. With the
Flanker fighter jet, the Soviet aviation industry made a leap forward in military technology. The Su-27 is
a really great aircraft and a huge success of Soviet aviation, not only because it holds 27 absolute
records. It is an exceptionally maneuverable machine, one of the most agile aircrafts ever built.
Russians proudly demonstrate it during air shows the Russian Knights aerobatic team of the Russian
Air Force performs with six Su-27.
Flanker is an extremely nimble aircraft, can be controlled even at very low speeds and high angles of
attack. A Cobra (Pugachevs Cobra) briefly sustained level flight at a 120 angle of attack is a
dramatic and very demanding maneuver usually demonstrated by Su-27 during airshows.
Video: Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker doing Pugachevs Cobra
http://youtu.be/daOPK07baBw
Would you like to try some of those maneuvers sitting in a cockpit? Well, its still possible on another
powerful plane MiG-29 Fulcrum. If you are interested click here to get more information.

The unbeatable F-15 Eagle and Su-27 Flanker

The Russian Su-27 Flanker could easily compete with the United States Air Force F-15 Eagle. Both, the
F-15 and the Su-27 Flanker were designed as powerful air superiority fighters. A Flanker performs
better than the Eagle in a dogfight, but is the difference that big? Each pilot would probably share a
different opinion. The F-15 Eagle is a twin-engine, all-weather, extremely maneuverable, tactical
fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) to gain and maintain air supremacy in
aerial combat. It takes place among the most successful modern fighter jets, with over 100 aerial
combat victories and no losses in dogfights. The only losses the F-15 fleet faced was due to ground
fire. Here is what the F-15s killed during the Gulf War alone, according to the USAF:
- 5 MiG-29 Fulcrum
- 2 MiG-25 Foxbat
- 8 MiG-23 Flogger

- 2 MiG-21 Fishbed
- 2 Su-25 Frogfoots
- 4 Su-22 Fitter
- 1 Su-7
- 6 Mirage F1
- 1 Il-76
- 1 Pilatus PC-9 trainer
- 2 Mi-8 helicopter
The Su-27 on the other hand has a kill/loss ratio of 6-0, and two losses due to ground fire. One ground
fire loss each was in the Abkazhia War and in the Angolan Civil War, 5 kills in the Ethiopian-Eritrean
War and one in the first Chechen War.
The Eagles air superiority is achieved through a combination of superior maneuverability (low wing
loading) and acceleration (high engine thrust/weight ratio), range, weapons and multimission avionics
(including a head-up display, advanced radar, inertial navigation system, flight instruments, ultrahigh
frequency communications, tactical navigation system, instrument landing system, an internally
mounted, tactical electronic-warfare system, identification friend or foe system, electronic
countermeasures set and a central digital computer). The F-15 is equipped with electronics and
weaponry enabling the pilot to detect, acquire, track and attack enemy aircraft while operating in
friendly or enemy-controlled airspace.
The Eagle would probably have an advantage at longer ranges because of its superior avionics.

The Eagles and Flankers armament comparison

The F-15 can carry a wide range of air-to-air weaponry. The Eagle can be armed with combinations of:
AIM-120 advanced medium range air-to-air missiles on its lower fuselage corners, AIM-9L/M Sidewinder
or AIM-120 missiles on two pylons under the wings, and an internal 20mm Gatling gun located in the
right wing root.
The Sukhoi Su-27 armament includes a single 30 mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-30-1 cannon in the
starboard wingroot, up to 10 hardpoints for missiles and other weapons. Flankers standard missile
armament for air-to-air combat is a combination of Vympel R-73 (AA-11 Archer), Vympel R-27 (AA-10
Alamo) weapons, with extended range and IR guided models. Flanker has a comparable weapon
aresenal to the Eagle in some respects.

General
Characteristics
Primary
function Contractor
Power
plant Thrust Wingsp
an

Length

F-15 Eagle
Air superiority
tactical
fighterMcDonnell
Douglas Corp.
(Boeing)Two Pratt
& Whitney F100PW-100, 220 or
229 turbofan
engines with
afterburners(C/D
models) 23,450
pounds each
engine42.8 feet
(13 meters)

Sukhoi Su-27
Flanker
Air superiority
tactical
fighterSukhoi2
Saturn/Lyulka AL31F turbofans with
afterburner12,500
kgf (122.6 kN,
27,560 lbf)
each14.7 m (48 ft
3 in)

21.9 m (72 ft)

Height

63.8 feet (19.44

meters)
5.92 m (19 ft 6 in)

Weight
Maximum takeoff
weight:

18.5 feet (5.6

meters)

Speed

Ceiling

28,000 lb (12,700
kg) (C/D models)

Range

Crew

68,000 pounds
(30,844
kilograms)

Armament
Unit Cost
Initial operating
capability
Inventory

Mach 2.5+
(1,650+ mph,
2,665+ km/h)

65,000 feet
(19,812 meters)

3,450 miles (3,000

nautical miles)
ferry range with
three external fuel
tanks

F-15A/C: one. F15B/D/E: two

One internally
mounted M-61A1
20mm 20-mm,
six-barrel cannon
(940 rounds); four
AIM-9 Sidewinder
and four AIM-120
AMRAAMs or eight
AIM-120
AMRAAMs, carried
externally.

16,380 kg (36,100
lb)

30,450 kg (67,100
lb)

Mach 2.35
(2,500 km/h, 1,550
mph)

18,500 meters
(62,523 feet)

3,530 km (2,070
mi) at altitude;
(1,340 km / 800 mi
at sea level)

One and two

1 30 mm GSh30-1 cannon with

150 rounds; 8,000
kg (17,600 lb) on
10 external pylons;
up to 6 mediumrange AA missiles
R-27, 4 shortrange heat-seeking
AA missiles R-73

$30 million

1984
A/B $27.9mio (98
fiscal constant)

September 1975

Total force, 249

680