The Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker is an impressive Russian air superiority fighter, first flown in 1983 it was designated to compete with the American teen series fighter such as the F-15, even today it is still well up there (along with it's variants and later models of similar design) and boosts a long 3,530 km range, heavy armament, sophisticated avionics and high agility.
The Su-27 in a sense is similar to the MiG-29, the weapon systems are basically the same, but the Su-27 was designed with a different mission from the start, while the MiG-29 stayed within 100 miles of it's own front lines the Su-27 would penetrate deep into enemy airspace!
But what it lacks (probably for a good reason) of that it's American F-15 counterpart doesn't is combat experience, the only incident where the Su-27 was successfully used in aerial combat was in 1999 during the latter stages of the Ethiopian Eritrean War.
In December 1998 and January 1999 Ethiopia received six ex-Russian Air Force Su-27S and two Su-27US'.
The sad fact was the Eritrean Air Force had MiG-29's which they were using in an attempt to gain their air superiority over the battlefield, shortly after they begun fly CAPs along the embattled border to Eritrea an Eritrean MiG-29 was downed, the following day a second one was downed, both by Su-27's none of which were shot down in the entire war.
That being the only war in which the Su-27 was used in combat as short as it was the war in itself (which saw a lot of other Russian equipment used) was surprising considering these extremely poor African nations had acquired such high-tech equipment and used them in tactically and strategically feasible manners.
In the 2008 South Ossetian War Russian Air Force Su-27's helped gain control of the air space over the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali.
In the end the Flanker proved it's worth and will surely do so in any future combat in whatever circumstances it will arise from!
The fifth generation of fighter jets looks like it's not going be half as good as the 4th and 4.5 generations, especially with the flop that the F-22 turned out to be, here I detail my favorite 10 warplanes of the 20th century.
10. Supermarine Spitfire
Used by the Royal Air Force in World War II the Supermarine Spitfire was truly an icon of that war, fighting in the skies over London witnessed by the general public is cut down the superior numbers of Luftwaffe planes, but superior numbers didn't mean anything against a superior fighter like the Spitfire.
It deserves a place simply on this list not because of its operational history but for the fame it acquired during the Battle of Britain in 1940!
9. Fokker D.VII
World War I didn't see much action in the sky but the Fokker was one of the most feared aircraft for the RAF and the French Air Force, impressively (for the time) it was able to dive without any fear of structural failure. It was able to climb to very high angles of attack, it had a remarkable docile stall, and it very seldom spun.
Several characteristics western aircraft didn't properly adopt for nearly the next one hundred years!
8. F-15 Eagle
The F-15 is far from my favorite plane but I do have a lot of respect for it, it's been around for quite a while now and is still one of the best fighters you can get, it is also better than the F-22 Raptor which only entered service five years ago, cheaper older and looks better.
Hell the an F-15 even managed to land after an air collision where it was left with only one wing!
7. F-4 Phantom II
A jet way ahead of its time when it was first made in 1958 the F-4 was particularly impressive for its Wild Weasel roles and its combat in Vietnam ensured it would stay in service with the United States for nearly 40 years fighting alongside other more sleeker aircraft in the Gulf War of 1991 where it was shown to be just as impressive!
6. P-51 Mustang
Although it entered World War II towards its closing stages the P-51 was big, loaded to the teeth with guns and fast, it proved to be especially effective at escorting bombers on their runs over Fortress Europe in the Second World War a minimum amount required was able enough to shoot down anything that the Germans could throw at them.
It remained in service as the best until early in the jet age when it suffered losses in the Korean War at the hands of Soviet jets.
5. Hawker Hurricane
The Spitfire was the true British ace of World War II but truth be told the war was won by the Hawker Hurricane, boasting eight machine guns it was deadly fire to play with in the skies, and plus when it got hit or damaged by enemy fire it was easy to repair since the air frame was made of wood and easier to get normal material to fix it with (unlike the Spitfire).
4. Mitsubishi Zero
A combination of excellent maneuverability and firepower proved the Zero to be a deadly threat to US planes in the Pacific in the early 1940's, later infamous for its kamikaze ('divine wind' suicide raids) attacks on US Navy ships the Zero later proved to be a simple yet ingenious design meaning it could be made in large numbers guaranteeing the Japanese (for a time) mass air superiority with superior aircraft.
3. Su-27 Flanker
This single Soviet made fighter first seen in 1983 by the west was made to compete with the American F-14's, F-15's and F-16's, it did all this and better, big it was highly maneuverable in the air and it also boasts a long 3,530 km range, heavy armament, sophisticated avionics and high agility.
So cool it's newsworthy 30 years on!
2. F-14 Tomcat
The F-14 got so high on the list because it was pretty much the worlds first super fighter, designed specially to defend aircraft carriers the F-14 paired with the AIM-54 Phoenix missile was a very impressive defense system, able to track 24 enemies with its powerful AWG-9 radar and send six missiles at six of these targets simultaneously the F-14 was truly a killer machine.
The US had a limited enough combat endurance, Iran sported a hefty amount of kills against the war with Iraq in the 1980's over a long period of endurance with no spare parts!
1. A-10 Thunderbolt II
With giant dustbin masquerading as engines, gawky wings, spindly fuselage and overall angular toughness, the Fairchild A-10 Warthog is hardly the most attractive flying machine, yet it is probably the deadliest in the ground war.
However with its combination of its 8 (at a time) AGM-65 Maverick missiles and large Avenger gattling gun (that can slice through tanks) the A-10 is an incredibly practical plane and in my opinion one of the very few planes that can do the job it was designed to do!
It'll be interesting to see the development of those above ideas in the next 100 years.
The above image is of two Su-47's, one having downed the new American "Top Gun" fighter the F-22 Raptor and another one firing one of its hard points, the Su-47 Berkut is another one of the examples of prototypes and technology demonstrators made by the Russians since the end of the Cold War.
But here's the thing, there are only two out there, its distinguished by its forward swept wings can hold a variety of different missiles (up to 14!).
But its not perfect and any ole aircraft won't suit the Russians.
Back in the late 1970's the Russians needed something to counter the American teen series fighters (F-14 Tomcat, F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon), they came up with a fighter that seemed to combine the three of these, it was big, fast, highly maneuverable and armed to the teeth with missiles, it was not half as nimble as the Russians MiG's were in the 1970's, also it was designed unlike the MiG-29 to perform missions deep inside enemy territory.
The US has pushed the F-22 program forward after the Cold War to counter the new Flanker threat, what is supposed to be is the next generation fighter that is supposed to be a new generation in stealth fighters, but the truth is its fat, slower than the 26 year old Russian Flanker and expensive.
Yet the Congress in the US has been given shallow reasons to push forward on its development, Lockheed Martin have pushed forward 127 F-22's since 2006!
There have been other plans by the Russians for a new front line fighter to replace the MiG-29 and the Su-27 that started in the late 1980s! Just how far ahead of the US in technological air strength where the Reds planning to go?
The Mikoyan Project 1.44 is another technology demonstrator to face down the F-22 Raptor, although Mikoyan seem to be going forward on this one with ease since they could use the same funds to build a couple more Fulcrums and Flankers instead of spending vast amounts of money on over a hundred big expensive stealth fighters that are unproven (and shiny).
