Russia now has #1 fighter plane in the world... SU-30-

lol

how is it the best fighter in the world, its not stealth there fore its the best targit in the sky but thats where the best titles stop getting given to this aircraft, its very manuvorable yes but it does not fly at the speed of a locked on enemy misille, from a stealth aircraft it has just got a visual of....

I swear, if Russia stuck wings on a can of soup, some of you would be telling us IT was the best fighter aircraft in the world!..sheesh

Russia does design some awesome "looking" aircraft...but if you can't put up the cash to produce the damn thing what good is it?

I'll stick with the Raptor, hey, it's actually in production...meaning there is more than just a couple of'em.

There are a hell of a lot more Flankers than Raptors. And for those of us who don't have access to the F-22, discussion around the capabilities of our opposition is important, so we aren't so quick to dismiss such things. While there are aspects of the Russian arms trade that oversell their product, the Su-30 is one aircraft that deserves to be lauded. It isn't the #1 fighter in the world, but it is definitely up there.

Originally posted by Willard856
There are a hell of a lot more Flankers than Raptors. And for those of us who don't have access to the F-22, discussion around the capabilities of our opposition is important, so we aren't so quick to dismiss such things. While there are aspects of the Russian arms trade that oversell their product, the Su-30 is one aircraft that deserves to be lauded. It isn't the #1 fighter in the world, but it is definitely up there.

All together maybe, but no single country has more su-30s than the US has raptors...Russia has only aquired 10 of them so far.

[edit on 3/20/08 by pugachev]

My comment was in relation to the "there is only one or two" comment. Fact is the production line is open, and the market is good. China would probably have more Su-30s than the US has F-22s, but not by much. But there is a world of difference between the two compartively as pointed out. Anyhow, both great aircraft.

Thats a great picture...but um...what about it? Anyway, wow, the aircraft can maneuver without weapons and full fuel load. Granted its a great aircraft but come on, I'd like to see a pilot with a full combat load and in the heat of battle do that. Great aircraft though, cant wait to see what the PAK-FA will do.

[edit on 20-3-2008 by truttseeker]

Originally posted by Willard856
China would probably have more Su-30s than the US has F-22s, but not by much.

According to the 2008 Pentagon Report on China the PLAAF currently has 76 operational Su-30MKK and 24 operational Su-30MK2. The USAF just received Raptor 4113 February 15th and Raptor's 4119/4120 are undergoing final assembly.

Originally posted by WestPoint23

Originally posted by Willard856
China would probably have more Su-30s than the US has F-22s, but not by much.

According to the 2008 Pentagon Report on China the PLAAF currently has 76 operational Su-30MKK and 24 operational Su-30MK2. The USAF just received Raptor 4113 February 15th and Raptor's 4119/4120 are undergoing final assembly.

WHEN THE HELL DID THE USAF GET 4000 RAPTORS :O

reply to post by truttseeker


www.abovetopsecret.com...

Typhoon doing ACM with full weapons load


Flanker - pfffft

Originally posted by Harlequin
WHEN THE HELL DID THE USAF GET 4000 RAPTORS

The four is disregarded when all you want to know is the number of production airframes that have been built.

reply to post by Willard856


Apologies on the one or two staement, being flippant...I accept that the Su-30 production line has cranked out more than a "couple" of these aircraft....I guess what Im trying to say is...lets wait and see till the production run is over for both of these aircraft...I'm willing to bet there will be far more Raptors in the worlds inventories than Flanker-Cs...also willing to bet that the block improvements over the course of production runs for both will put the Raptor beyond the reach of the Flanker in all categories...

Originally posted by West Coast
The best aircraft in the world isnt Russian. This aircraft is 4.5 gen tech. Its not even a true 5th generation fighter, like the F22 is, which just happens to also incorporate a stealth plane on top of its 5th gen tech...in the end, this thing while a good plane, doesnt stack up to the Raptors capabilities...

The truth. Nothing but the truth. The Raptor's interal systems are all still Top Secret but imploy an "active" radar and radio jamming system, among other things.

The F-22 will pretty much replace every plane in the fleet except cargo planes and massive bombers.

[edit on 20-3-2008 by bkcrt]

Originally posted by bkcrt
The F-22 will pretty much replace every plane in the fleet except cargo planes and massive bombers.

Problem is - if there is only 150 odd of them - thats gonna be a mighty small and overworked fleet.

Originally posted by guppy
Oh please, the SU-30 is a 4.5 generation fighter. But Russia's SU47 Berkut could turn heads:

SU-47 Berkut

Russia always shows this off at their yearly Air Show. Its pretty amazing what it can do. Berkut is probably as manueverable as the Raptor. I'm not sure about speed or stealthiness.

SU-47

According to this article the SU-47 is really just a renamed SU-37.

Wiki Article

The Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut (Russian: Су-47 Беркут - Golden Eagle), also designated S-32 and S-37 during initial development, is an experimental supersonic jet fighter developed by Sukhoi Aviation Corporation. A distinguishing feature of the aircraft is its forward-swept wing, similar to that of the Grumman X-29. Its NATO reporting name is "Firkin". The sole aircraft produced is an advanced technology demonstrator prototype and manufacture of a planned second flying prototype was cancelled. Originally known as the S-37, Sukhoi redesignated its advanced test aircraft as the Su-47 in 2002. Officially nicknamed Berkut (Golden Eagle), the Su-47 was originally built as Russia's principal testbed for composite materials and sophisticated fly-by-wire control systems. The aircraft makes use of forward-swept wings allowing superb maneuverability and operation at angles of attack up to 45° or more.

So, it's been renamed twice and is a one-of-a-kind prototype, and with a designed "borrowed" from the older U.S. X-29.

Why is anyone even talking about this flying crate? Compares with an F-22???



[edit on 3/20/2008 by centurion1211]

Just an aside question. How often is the "stall and hover" feature of vector thrusting going to be useful in air to air engagements? Seems more or an airshow feature than a combat feature. I assume it will allow for tighter turns, quick changes of direction etc, but they always want to show videos of these kind of jets nose up in the air hovering. While that is impressive, I don't see the use of it.

Originally posted by bkcrt
The truth. Nothing but the truth. The Raptor's interal systems are all still Top Secret but imploy an "active" radar and radio jamming system, among other things. The F-22 will pretty much replace every plane in the fleet except cargo planes and massive bombers.

I assume you are refering to the AESA array on the Raptor. Yes it will have the ability to do focused jamming and electronic attack, that facet will not be unique to the a/c. Any AESA equiped craft will eventually have that ability.

The Raptor will top out at 183 a/c last time I checked. and will not replace even the number of F-15 A/B/C's we have at this time. Perhaps you are refering to the F-35?

Originally posted by pavil
Just an aside question. How often is the "stall and hover" feature of vector thrusting going to be useful in air to air engagements? Seems more or an airshow feature than a combat feature.

Its not as all powerfull as people make it out to be. IT rocks at an airshow and is impressive when trying to sell the a/c to some third world strongman but as an ACM it does not seem to be the end all be all. We have had huge threads on this issue and of course proponents of super manuverability will say its the cats meow.

reply to post by centurion1211


Actually the S-47 was quite an impressive craft and the manuverability was pretty impressive too. They appear to have solved the FSW issue of aero-elastic divergence and the aircraft was never intended IMHO for serial production but rather a technology testbed. If they had gone down that route (and still may) it would have been an impressive frontline fighter.

It says S-37 not Su-37. These are two different aricraft.