Sukhoi S-37 (Su-37) Multirole Canard Delta

[Stargazer]

I just wonder what Babak's S-37 do in that row)))

I asked myself the very same thing! Perhaps I ought to have edited it out!

 

[Bruno Anthony]

SOVIETS WORKING ON SUPERSONIC SU-25 SUCCESSOR

177 words
26 June 1991
Aerospace Daily
ASD
Pg. 517
Vol. 158, No. 62
English
Copyright 1991 McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Sukhoi is working on a supersonic follow-on to the Su-25 armored attack aircraft, according to published reports in Yugoslavia.

The authoritative Aerosvet magazine quoted Soviet sources who described the Su-37 as a supersonic fourth-generation combat aircraft called the Shturmovik. Provisional details listed for the canard-equipped plane reveal a 38.71 ft. swept wingspan with a total area of about 538 square feet.

Powered by a single 40,000 pounds-thrust afterburning turbofan, maximum takeoff weight of 55,116 pounds reportedly includes an external weapons load of 18,740 pounds on no fewer than 18 external pylons--plus a 30mm cannon. Low-level combat radius is quoted as 431 nautical miles with an 11,023 pound combat load.

Maximum speed is estimated at 809 knots at sea level or Mach 2 at altitude, with a practical operating ceiling of about 50,000 feet. The Aerosvet report also mentions folding wings for the Su-37, implying possible use for deck operations from the new Tbilisi-class carriers.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

The article from Aerosvet referred to:

 

[Bruno Anthony]

Thanks PaulMM.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Aviation Week Article

http://archive.aviationweek.com/image/spread/19911111/13/1/zoom

 

[JFC Fuller]

This is a fascinating concept; a high-speed armoured, low-level ground attack aircraft with anti-helicopter capability - a sort of low altitude battlefield superiority fighter-bomber. I can't think of anything similar from any other country.

Apparently the radar would have been a set from Leninets called Kinzhal which was also the originally planned set for the Su-39 upgrade and may have been a competitor to the Arbalet system ultimately used on the Mi-28N and Ka-52. There was obviously an EO system as the housing can be seen on the underside of the fuselage aft of the cockpit and air intakes, does anybody know what system this would have been?

 

[Grey Havoc]

All I've been able to discover so far is that it was likely developed by Research Institute 801 and the Leningradskoye Optiko-Mekhanicheskoye Obyedinenie, with the latter also handling the production side of things.

 

[flateric]

All I've been able to discover so far is that it was likely developed by Research Institute 801

NII-801 is not NII-801 since something about 1966. Was renamed to Applied Physics Research Institute (NIIPF) then and became NPO Orion back in 1983.

 

[Grey Havoc]

Thought the two renamings were in 1988 and 1994 respectively, thanks for the correction.

 

[paralay]

Apparently the radar would have been a set from Leninets called Kinzhal which was also the originally planned set for the Su-39 upgrade and may have been a competitor to the Arbalet system ultimately used on the Mi-28N and Ka-52

Radar "the Beetle" (1986) from MiG-29M, most likely

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Leninets were the third airborne radar design OKB alongside NIIP and Phazotron. They specialised in air-to-surface radars like Rubin (Tupolev bombers), Orion (Su-24), and the B004 radar for the Su-34. Little has been heard from them in this space since the 1990s, when the Kinzhal was touted as a millimetric radar (8mm wavelength) with very high resolution for ground mapping, suggested for the Su-39 and with a helicopter variant for all weather Ka-50 / Mi-28 versions.

Apparently they worked with NIIP on modernising the Zaslon to Zaslon-AM.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

There's quite a bit more on the Kinzhal radar in Ildar Betretdinov's book on the Su-25. The radar was designed by a team lead by M A Gramagin at Leninets (NIIREK) in St Petersburg.

It possessed a coherent digital signal processing architecture and was intended to search for, detect and track moving and static ground targets, and allow terrain avoidance / following.

The “Kinzhal” equipment consisted of the radar and the digital data processor, the radar information was displayed on the HUD and on the television screen. It was essentially identical to the Longbow in frequency (8mm = 35GHz) with consequent limited range and potential susceptibility to signal attenuation in clouds.

Weight was 150kg. Range against a 10 sq m RCS fixed target was 5-7km, 25-30km against a 100 sq m RCS fixed target. Range against moving targets was 15-20km.

8 prototype radars were built for lab and flight tests but proved disappointing. Kinzhal never met its requirements, and as no funding was no available to continue its development and rectify the faults, the existing and functional Kopyo was used to replace it.

Leninets went on to design a successful civilian weather radar, and continued work on the Sh-141 weapons system for the Su-34 (inherited from the T-60S). And make Gilette razors under license, bizarrely.

 

[hesham]

From Аэрокосмическое обозрение 2009 06.

 

[Avimimus]

Reading that article about 'podded 30mm' makes me suspect that the 30mm SPPU would've been fit to this aircraft. I also wonder what anti-tank missiles are being referenced...

 

[JFC Fuller]

The Su-39 (originally intended to have the same Kinzhal radar and to perform a similar role) was displayed with the 9K121 Vikhr.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

The Su-39 (originally intended to have the same Kinzhal radar and to perform a similar role) was displayed with the 9K121 Vikhr.

Yes the Vikhr is probably correct.

 

[T-50]

I know the Suchoi company while they were developing the S 37 fighter (not the super Flanker)to compete with Gripen and Rafale, they build a full size mock up of this single engined fighter this under the guidance of Mr Babak.Could someone tell me if there are photos of this mock up?

 

[iverson]

I know the Suchoi company while they were developing the S 37 fighter (not the super Flanker)to compete with Gripen and Rafale, they build a full size mock up of this single engined fighter this under the guidance of Mr Babak.Could someone tell me if there are photos of this mock up?

It sounds like the S-54 and S-56

I've attached some pictures, three of the S-54B model, and a drawing and photo for the S-56. I do not know anything about them. But I believe both were fighter versions of a two-seat trainer design.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

erm, nope. He's talking about Babak's S-37 / Su-37 canard delta Su-25 replacement. (https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/sukhoi-s-37-su-37-multirole-canard-delta.94/)

I've not seen a mockup photo.

 

[necobread]

People say this thing is unrelated to the Sukhoi FSW but I think this thing shares at least some DNA as they have an almost identical frontal fuselage design and naval features

 

[fightingirish]

Source: Russian publication "Sukhoi Design Bureau - 85th anniversary", only for distribution among Sukhoi employees and in some Russian libraries. Page 927.

 

[TinWing]

Source: Russian publication "Sukhoi Design Bureau - 85th anniversary", only for distribution among Sukhoi employees and in some Russian libraries. Page 927.

I don't see anything denoting wing folding in those drawings. Something of a surprise as all of the models and drawings at the time featured it.

Oddly enough, with all of the talk this week about hardened aircraft shelters being built at Russian airbases, the wing folding of the S-37 seems to make complete sense. I always assumed the wing folding was for the navy, but maybe it was to allow multiple S-37s to fit into a HAS? Maybe there was a major HAS building program envisioned just before the fall of the Soviet Union. After all, the HAS concept wasn't discredited until the Gulf War and the individual targeting of concrete shelters with LGBs. And I suspect that some of Saddams HASes were just as lightly built as his runways.