Sukhoi Su-35 Prototype Bursts Into Flames During Testing

[Screaming Skull]

Sukhoi Su-35BM Prototype Bursts Into Flames During Testing​

Dated 27/4/2009

A prototype of the advanced Su-35 Flanker multi-role fighter plane burst into flames during take-off procedures at a testing ground in Russia's Far East, a spokesman for the Komsomolsk-on-Amur aircraft plant confirmed today.

The accident occurred at 09.55 Moscow time [05.55 GMT] on Sunday at the Dzemgi airfield during the Su-35 prototype's take-off," Vitaly Tyulkin said, adding that the pilot ejected safely.

"We will announce the details of the accident later in the day," he said.

Sources earlier said the accident could have been caused by a faulty fuel pump.

The aircraft was one of the three prototypes to test the new fighter, which has been billed as "4++ generation using fifth-generation technology."

The Sukhoi aircraft maker said in March that successful flight tests involving two prototypes had confirmed the earlier-announced timeframe for deliveries of the aircraft to Russian and foreign customers in 2011.

The company had planned to add a third prototype to the testing program in the second half of 2009, and to boost the current number of test flights to 150-160.

Su-35 fighter, powered by two 117S engines with thrust vectoring, combines high maneuverability and the capability to effectively engage several air targets simultaneously using both guided and unguided missiles and weapon systems.

The aircraft also features the new Irbis-E radar with a phased antenna array, which allows the pilot to detect and track up to 30 air targets, while simultaneously engaging up to eight targets.

It is equipped with a 30-mm cannon with 150 rounds, and can carry up to eight metric tons of combat payload on 12 external mounts.

Sukhoi plans to export at least 160 Su-35 fighters to several countries including India, Malaysia and Algeria.

Sukhoi Su-35BM Prototype Bursts Into Flames During Testing | India Defence

 

[Luftwaffe]

Why would India need to purchase SU-35BM so soon even if Russians offer it in next 4 years when they've not even yet fully understood SU-30? is SU-30 not capable?that would be foolish of India to go for SU-35BM even if offered when SU-30 is still amateur platform and still needs to mature into Indian Air Force besides why not SU-35BM avionics can be integrated into SU-30 instead of going for a full SU-35BM...
I'm not sure but SU-30/pak-fa is the last of what Indian Air force is going for from RussiansMRCA is for FA/18s and US might give more licenses to built more numbers once India procures 126.. to replace Mig27/Mig29 more licenses would be granted by US..lets wait and watch

 

[Contrarian]

India is not buying the Su-35. The avionics and equipment of the Su-35 are by and large the Russian version of the Su-30MKI.

Not all countries can or would like to use Western/Israeli equipment in their plane, thus Russia basically set out to make the Russian version of the MKI. It does incorporate some of the natural advancements of the equipment used in MKI, the Russian ones that is, including the engine and the radar. The canards have been removed, thus a reduced RCS. Its a more refined version of the MKI, but not a significant improvement over the MKI.

More over, the engines and radar of the Su35 can and most likely will be retrofitted on the MKI.

 

[Screaming Skull]

Russian Su-35 fighter jet prototype destroyed during testing​

A prototype of the Sukhoi Su-35 Super Flanker exploded during take-off at the Komsomolosk-na-Amure Aviation Production Association’s (KNAAPO) Dzemgi flight test aerodrome on 26 April. Spokesmen for KNAAPO told Russia’s Novosti news service that the fighter caught on fire and burst into flames during this test of the aircraft’s take-off regime at 0955 hours Moscow time (1755 hours in Komsomolsk).

In the cockpit was Yevgeniy Frolov, one Sukhoi’s most experienced pilots who has been with the Su-27 program since its inception in the 1980s. He managed to eject safely before the aircraft exploded. “The aircraft was engulfed in flames while it was still on the ground,” said a Su-35 programme spokesman. “Frolov did not even have time to get the aircraft in the air.”

Su-35 programme representatives told THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the crash was the fault of one of the NPO Saturn 117S engine’s PMC units and not a failure of a fuel pump, as had been previously reported. “One of the engine’s control systems failed and the engine was working at only 93 per cent power,” said the representative.

This crash comes at a bad time for Russia’s military aircraft industry, which has had strong export sales for almost two decades but has seen those orders fall off as of late. Also, the poor performance of Russian air forces in the August 2008 incursion into two separatist provinces of the neighboring nation (and former Soviet Republic) of Georgia has raised questions about the current state of Russian defense aerospace technology vis-à-vis Western weapon systems.

Su-35 program managers state that the loss of this aircraft and its equipment are “regrettable,” but that “this is small compared to the cost represented by the recent loss of a [Lockheed Martin] F-22, which costs almost US $400 million.” One of the many costly on-board systems lost in this explosion was only the second flying, operational model of the NIIP Irbis-E radar set, the most advanced to date for any Sukhoi fighter aircraft

The Super Flanker had been a contender in the Força Aérea Brasileira (Brazilian Air Force or FAB) fighter competition here in Brazil, but was dropped in favor of contenders from Europe -- the French Dassault Rafale and Sweden’s Saab JAS-39 Gripen -- and the U.S. Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Sukhoi had projected as many at 160 Su-35 sales as possible follow-on orders to existing Su-27 and Su-30MK fighter model customers like India and China, but these and other smaller-scale customers have yet to commit to the program.

Russia’s defense industry has been hit by rising labour costs that make the price tags for weapon systems as high as their Western counterparts, eroding one of their chief advantages. Other Russian defense firms have been hard hit by the international financial crisis and the lack of credit available from Russian financial institutions, which in turn cuts off the delivery of components and other critical materials from suppliers. This has had Rosoboronexport, the Russia arms export agency, stating that some export orders may not be filled on time this year.

The plan for this Su-35 prototype was for it to be put through its initial paces at KNAAPO and then flown in a demonstration flight in time for the traditional Communist (but still celebrated in the New Russia) May Day holidays this coming weekend. How much of damper this will be on the holiday plans of Russia’s defense industry officialdom -- and how much of set back this loss is for the Su-35 program -- remains to be seen.