Su-27

The Su-27 is a twin-engine, supermaneuverable air-superiority fighter designed by the Soviet Sukhoi bureau with aerodynamic work by TsAGI, entering Soviet air force service in June 1985 and formal service in August 1990. Its semi-delta wing with leading-edge extensions and the Soviet Union's first operational fly-by-wire flight control system let it perform extreme maneuvers such as the Cobra, in which the aircraft briefly pitches to a 120-degree angle of attack, and it carries a 30mm cannon plus up to ten hardpoints for missiles guided by its Phazotron N001 radar. The aircraft was developed specifically to counter large fourth-generation American fighters such as the F-15 Eagle and F-14 Tomcat, and roughly 680 were built between 1982 and 2010, spawning a family of derivatives including the Su-30, Su-33, Su-34 and Su-35 and a Chinese licensed variant, the Shenyang J-11. Su-27s and its descendants have flown in recent conflicts including the Russian intervention in Syria from 2015 and the war in Ukraine since 2022.