Sukhoi FSW Fighters from S-22 / S-32 to S-37 / Su-47 Berkut

[Erdosain]

Enhanced by artificial intelligence

https://twitter.com/x/status/1858977164819132633

View: https://x.com/WDequid/status/1858977164819132633

 

[Erdosain]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1859334182163407041

View: https://x.com/WDequid/status/1859334182163407041

https://twitter.com/x/status/1858631290649502142

View: https://x.com/WDequid/status/1858631290649502142

https://twitter.com/x/status/1858613190202191891

View: https://x.com/WDequid/status/1858613190202191891

 

[oluen]

Aren't the air intakes on top? And there are also two sets of canards...pretty strange
And where are the intakes in post https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/th...22-s-32-to-s-37-su-47-berkut.2122/post-728170 ? There is something just below the canards...but looks very small...

 

[flateric]

Hi folks,
I tried to make a better copy of this picture, so I could see more details of the intakes.
Unfortunately, not so successful so far.
Main source:
"85th Anniversary of Sukhoi design buro"

...

 

[flateric]

one famous shot

 

[Willythekid]

Enhanced with AI.

 

[Joint Soviet Fighter]

I'm not sure Wikipedia is always the best source for factual information ;D

There's a good quote about FSW I can't quite remember to the effect that every few decades the concept is dusted off and tried out to remind everyone why it was such a bad idea.

This is a particularly interesting comment when you consider that both The Su-47 & The F-35 have very similar speed limits, albeit for different reasons, despite the fact that The Berkut is a much older design & advancements in the strength of composite materials, etc., have only increased during the last 20 years. I mean, if more modern materials were to be used in its construction, would the new speed limit for a "new" Su-47 be, idk, Mach 1.8? Would that not be operationally acceptable?

Of course, if you wanted to go really crazy, you could always axe the canards in favor of levcons & add a V-Tail, among other features. Talk about a funny looking plane.