'Sukhoi' (
pronounced [soo-hoi]) ('Сухой') is a major
Russian military
fighter aircraft manufacturer. Founded by
Pavel Sukhoi in
1939 as the 'Sukhoi Design Bureau' ('OKB-51',
design office prefix 'Su'), it is currently known as 'Sukhoi Corporation'. It is comprised of the
JSC Sukhoi Design Bureau located in
Moscow, the
Novosibirsk Aviation Production Association (NAPO), the
Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Production Association (KnAAPO) and
Irkutsk Aviation. Sukhoi is headquartered in
Moscow.
Finmeccanica is purchasing 25% of Sukhoi's civil division.
[1] The Russian government is planning to merge Sukhoi with
Mikoyan,
Ilyushin,
Irkut,
Tupolev, and
Yakovlev as a new company named
United Aircraft Building Corporation.
[2]
Currently the
Su-24,
Su-25,
Su-27,
Su-30, and shipborne
Su-33 aircraft are in service of the
Russian Air Force and
Navy. Sukhoi
attack or
fighter aircraft were supplied to
Armenia,
India,
China,
Poland, the
Czech Republic,
Slovakia,
Hungary,
Germany,
Syria,
Algeria,
North Korea,
Vietnam,
Malaysia,
Afghanistan,
Yemen,
Egypt,
Libya,
Iran,
Angola,
Ethiopia,
Peru,
Eritrea, and
Indonesia.
Venezuela will sign contracts for the purchase of 30 Su-30 fighter jets in July 2006. A total of more than 2000 Sukhoi aircraft were supplied to foreign countries on export contracts. With its
Su-26,
Su-29 and
Su-31 models Sukhoi is also one of the leading manufacturers of
aerobatic aircraft.
On
August 4,
2006 the
US State Department imposed
sanctions on Sukhoi for allegedly supplying
Iran in violation of the United States
Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000. Sukhoi is now prohibited from doing
business with the
United States Federal Government.
[3].
Production aircraft

Decomissioned Polish Su-20 'Fitter' (export version of Su-17)

Superjet 100 (CG render)
★
Su-2 - light bomber
★
Su-7 - attack plane
★
Su-9 - interceptor fighter
★
Su-11 - interceptor fighter
★
Su-12 - observation plane (
1947)
★
Su-15 - 1967, interceptor fighter
★
Su-17/Su-20/Su-22 - attack plane
★
Su-24 - 1974, jet bomber
★
Su-25 -
ground attack aircraft
★
Su-26 - single seat aerobatic aircraft (civil)
★
Su-27 - 1984
★
Su-28/Su-25UB - Trainer and Demonstrator
★
Su-29 - double seat aerobatic aircraft (civil)
★
Su-30 - 1992
★
Su-31 - single seat aerobatic aircraft (civil)
★
Su-33 - 1994, carrier-based aircraft
★
Su-34 - 2006, "Platypus"
★
Su-27M/Su-35 - 1995
★
Su-25TM/Su-39 - ground attack aircraft, optimised for anti-tank use
★
Sukhoi-Gulfstream S-21 - a
supersonic business jet design.
★
Su-80 - a twin-turboprop STOL transport
★
Superjet 100
Experimental aircraft
★
Su-5 - jet-propeller fighter
★
Su-6 - ground attack aircraft
★
Su-8 - ground attack aircraft
★
Su-9 - jet fighter
★
Su-37 ("Terminator"), an improved Su-35
★
Su-38 light
agricultural aircraft
★
S-32/37 - multirole fighter (was marketed for a time under the designation Su-47)
★
T-4 - supersonic bomber, very similar in concept to
XB-70 Valkyrie, which was developed by Sukhoi during the 60's and 70's.
★
Sukhoi PAK FA/
T-50 - 5th generation fighter. Future basic aircraft of Russian Frontline Aviation. Maiden flight is planned for 2008.
[4]
''Note: The Sukhoi OKB has reused aircraft designations on occasion, for example: the
Su-9 from
1946 and the later
Su-9 from
1956, the former was not produced in quantity. Sukhoi prototype designations are based on wing layout planform. Straight and
swept wings are assigned the "S" prefix, while
delta winged designs(including tailed-delta) have "T" for a designation prefix.
Example:
S-37 and
T-10.''
''See also:''
List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS
References
1. "Finmeccanica Will Buy 25% of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft." Bloomberg.com. February 21, 2006.
2. "Russian Aircraft Industry Seeks Revival Through Merger." ''The New York Times.'' February 22, 2006.
3. Russia slams U.S. sanctions on Russian arms companies
4. "Translation of." ''Investor's Business Daily.'' August 21, 2007.
External links
★ Company web site: http://www.sukhoi.org/
★ Other sources: http://www.sukhoi.ru/
★ Russian Aviation Museum Sukhoi Pages : http://www.ctrl-c.liu.se/misc/ram/sukhoj.html
★ Painting: http://geocities.yahoo.com.br/alvmaia/Sukhoi/
★
Good article on OKB history @biograph.ru
★
Russian plane firm challenges West - By Jorn Madslien, BBC News