Friday, April 10, 2009

Su 47



Maneuverability
The Su-47 has extremely high agility at subsonic speeds, enabling the aircraft to alter its angle of attack and its flight path very quickly while retaining maneuverability in supersonic flight. The Su-47 has a maximum speed of Mach 2.34 at high altitudes and a greater than 9g capability.[1]

Maximum turn rates, and the upper and lower limits on airspeed for weapon launch, are important criteria in terms of combat superiority. The Su-47 aircraft has very high levels of maneuverability with maintained stability and controllability at extreme angles of attack. Maximum turn rates are important in close combat and also at medium and long range, when the mission may involve engaging consecutive targets in different sectors of the airspace. A high turn rate of the Su-47 allows the pilot to turn the fighter aircraft quickly towards the next target to initiate the weapon launch. The main problem with this, however, is that the Su-47 is at a high risk to spin out of control with little chance of recovery.

The swept-forward wing, compared to a swept-back wing of the same area, provides a number of advantages:

higher lift-to-drag ratio
higher capacity in dogfight maneuvers
higher range at subsonic speed
improved stall resistance and anti-spin characteristics
improved stability at high angles of attack
a lower minimum flight speed
a shorter take-off and landing distance

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