Su-30 - Design
The Su-30 could perform all the training and combat tasks of the Su-27UB and was also endowed with additional capabilities for performing combat operations associated with very long range and flight duration, more effective control of a group of fighters. The Su-30 has fully retained the aerobatic qualities of its predecessors - a single-seat combat fighter and a two-seat training and combat fighter (it is also capable of dynamic braking - "Pugachev's Cobra"), and due to the installation of new types of missiles and a weapons control system, it has significantly increased its combat effectiveness. The internal fuel supply (9,400 kg) provided a flight range of 3,600 km, and when refueling in the air, the flight duration of the "thirty" depended only on the physiological capabilities of the crew (after consultations with medical scientists, the time the aircraft spent in the air was limited to 10 hours). To ensure comfortable conditions for the pilots, some additional service devices were installed on the interceptor.
The expansion of the range of capabilities of the Su-30 was ensured by the installation of the following new systems: in-flight refueling system, long-range radio navigation system with an expanded set of group action control equipment, an improved life support system. The aircraft is built according to a normal aerodynamic scheme and has a so-called integral layout. The mid-mounted trapezoidal wing of low aspect ratio, equipped with developed inflows, smoothly mates with the fuselage, forming a single load-bearing body. Two AL-31F bypass turbojet engines with afterburners are located in separate nacelles installed under the aircraft's supporting body at a distance from each other that allows to avoid their aerodynamic interaction and to suspend two guided missiles between them in a tandem configuration. Supersonic adjustable air intakes are located under the center section. The landing gear fairings smoothly transition into the tail booms, which serve as platforms for installing all-moving horizontal stabilizer consoles with a direct rotation axis, a twin-fin vertical stabilizer spaced along the outer sides of the tail booms, and under-boom ridges.
The aircraft is designed according to the "electronic stability" concept and does not have traditional mechanical control wiring in the longitudinal channel - instead, an electric fly-by-wire control system (FWS) is used. The aircraft has a tricycle landing gear, retractable, with one wheel on each support.
The aircraft fuselage is integrally connected to the wings and is technologically divided into the following main parts:
- the fuselage nose section (FNS) with a radio-transparent fairing, a door of the nose landing gear niche and a cockpit canopy;
- the fuselage middle section (FMS) with an airbrake and main landing gear doors;
- the fuselage tail section (FTS);
- air intakes.
The fuselage nose section of all-metal semi-monocoque construction, beginning with a radio-transparent axisymmetric fairing of the onboard radar antenna, contains the nose equipment compartment, which houses the radar sighting system (RSS) and optical-electronic sighting system (OES) units, the pilot's cabin, under- and behind-the-cockpit equipment compartments, and the nose landing gear retraction niche with one door. The nose section of the radar fairing contains the main air pressure receiver (MAPR) boom. The frame of the radar station walk-behind tractor together with the antenna can rotate relative to its suspension units on the front wall of the crew cabin to provide access to the OEPS units. To provide access to the antenna and the radar walk-behind tractor during servicing, the butt load-bearing frame between the nose section and the radio-transparent fairing is made inclined, and the radio-transparent fairing with a metal skirt is tilted upward.
The crew cabin, designed according to the "tandem" scheme, is sealed and has a two-section canopy consisting of a fixed visor and a common for both pilots droppable part (door) that opens upward and backward. The rear pilot's seat is raised relative to the front one, which, combined with the large area of glazing of the canopy, provides a good view for both crew members in all directions.
The pilots' workplaces are equipped with K-36DM ejection seats of the 2nd series. The optical location station sight is installed in front of the cockpit canopy, offset to the right of the aircraft axis, and emergency (duplicate) PVDs are installed along the sides of the fuselage in the rear part of the cockpit. The pre-cockpit compartment on the left contains the releasing boom of the in-flight refueling system.
The under-cockpit compartments (central and two side) contain the electronic equipment units. The front section of the fuselage is completed by the behind-cockpit compartment, in which the main volume of electronic equipment, as well as the ammunition box with the gun ammunition, are placed on standard shock-absorbing racks and shelves. The behind-cockpit compartment of the front section of the fuselage contains the niche for the forward-retractable front landing gear; the shock-absorbing strut with the wheel and other structural elements of the front landing gear are stored in the retracted position between the electronic equipment racks.
To protect the electronic equipment of the cockpit compartment when the front landing gear is extended from the oncoming air flow during takeoff and landing, protective covers are installed; during servicing of the electronic equipment, these covers are removed, and the volume occupied by the niche of the front landing gear is converted into an operational compartment, allowing for inspection, testing and replacement of racks and individual equipment units.
The right and left wing extensions (bules) are adjacent to the walls of the behind-the-cockpit compartment. The right extension houses a built-in 30 mm rapid-fire cannon with an ammunition feed, cartridge case ejection and link collection system; the ammunition box is installed across the behind-the-cockpit compartment and occupies part of the extension and the behind-the-cockpit compartment at the frame closing the front part of the fuselage behind the front landing gear. The right extension has special slots and blinds for cooling the cannon, and a heat-resistant steel screen is installed in the area of the barrel muzzle to protect the skin from hot gases during firing. The left wing extension houses aircraft system units and electronic equipment blocks.
The design of the fuselage front part is an all-metal semi-monocoque with an integral surface, with a technological joint along the closing frame. The power scheme of the front section of the fuselage is formed by transverse framing (frames) and working skin, reinforced by longitudinal framing - stringers and spars.
The middle section of the fuselage is divided in terms of layout into the following technological units-compartments:
- a front fuel tank-compartment located along the axis of symmetry of the aircraft between the front section of the fuselage and the center section; the fuel tank structure consists of upper and lower panels, end and side walls and frames; on the lower surface of the tank-compartment there are joints with air intakes and fastening units for the pylon for hanging weapons, on the upper surface there are joints for installing the brake shield and the hydraulic cylinder for controlling its release and retraction;
- the center section (the main load-bearing unit of the aircraft), made in the form of a fuel tank-compartment with three transverse walls and a row of ribs; on the end ribs there are combs for joining with the wing consoles; on the lower surface of the center section there are attachment points for the main landing gear supports, engine nacelles, and weapon suspension pylons; the upper and lower surfaces of the center section are made in the form of panels (the upper panel is riveted from aluminum alloys, the lower panel is welded from sheets and a set of profiles made of titanium alloy);
- The fairing, which is a power unit designed to accommodate communications and install equipment; the fairing is located above the front fuel tank compartment and the center section and is divided into three parts in section - a central part and two side parts; the part of the fairing above the front fuel tank compartment is occupied by the brake shield and the hydraulic cylinder for retracting and releasing it; to protect the communications passing in the fairing under the brake shield, from the oncoming air flow when the brake shield is released, protective covers are installed under it;
- the front compartment of the center section (right and left), located on the outer sides of the front fuel tank compartment and consisting of the noses of the center section and the wheel wells of the main landing gear. A large (2.6 sq.m) torqueless brake shield, deflected by a hydraulic drive, is installed on the upper surface of the fairing. The angle of deflection of the shield (upward) is 54 degrees. The airbrake is released to reduce speed during landing approach and combat maneuvering at instrument speeds of up to 1000 km/h.
The tail section of the fuselage is divided into the following technological units-compartments:
- two engine power nacelles, divided into two parts (the middle sections of the engine nacelles and the engine compartments);
- tail booms adjacent to the outer sides of the engine nacelles and serving as an extension of the fairings of the main landing gear, serving as a platform for installing the aircraft empennage;
- the central beam of the fuselage, including the central equipment compartment, the rear fuel tank-compartment, the tip of the central beam with a container of brake parachutes and side fins.
The air ducts of the engines are located in the middle sections of the engine nacelles, located under the center section; a lock for the extended position of the main landing gear is installed on the power frame of each middle section, and the attachment points for the weapon suspension pylon are located on the lower surface; The upper outer corners contain the units and communications of the aircraft systems.
The engine compartments contain AL-31F engines with the engine units positioned at the top; between the last wall of the center section and the engine units in the "shadow" of the center section, there are remote boxes of aircraft units - one in each engine compartment; on each remote box of aircraft units, connected by a cardan shaft to the gearbox of the engine unit box, there is a turbostarter - an autonomous power unit of the GTDE-117-1 type, an alternating current generator, a hydraulic pump and a fuel pump.
The aircraft has a cantilever wing. The detachable parts (console) of the wing have a sweep angle along the leading edge of 42 degrees. The aspect ratio of the wing is 3.5, the taper is 3.4. The mechanization is represented by deflectable flaperons with an area of ??4.9 m2, performing the functions of flaps and ailerons, and two-section rotating leading edges with an area of ??4.6 square meters. The deflection angles of the flaperons are from +35 to -20 degrees, the leading edges - 30 degrees. The flaperons are released and the leading edges are deflected during takeoff and landing modes, as well as during maneuvering at instrument speeds of up to 860 km / h.
Structurally, each wing console consists of a power caisson, nose and tail sections, mechanization and a wingtip. The power caisson consists of three walls, upper and lower panels and ribs. Part of the caisson is sealed and forms a fuel tank compartment. The upper and lower panels of the caisson are prefabricated. The nose section of the console is located between the front spar and the caisson and is designed to accommodate communications and control units for the rotating nose. The tail section between the caisson and the rear wall is used to accommodate communications and control units for the flaperon.
The aircraft power plant consists of two dual-circuit turbojet engines with afterburners AL-31F, air intakes with adjustable panels, make-up flaps, air ducts, ARV-40A control system and engine protection system from foreign objects, cooling systems, drainage and engine breathing, remote unit boxes with gas-turbine starters - GTDE-117-1 power units, fuel system, fire extinguishing system and engine control system.
The aircraft armament is divided into small arms and guns and missiles. The small arms and cannon armament consists of a built-in automatic rapid-fire single-barrel 30 mm cannon of the GSh-301 type, installed in the extension of the right half of the wing, with 150 rounds of ammunition. Missile armament is placed on aircraft launch devices (APU) and aircraft ejection devices (AKU), suspended at 10 points: 4 - under the wing consoles, 2 - under the wingtips, 2 - under the engine nacelles and 2 - under the center section between the engine nacelles (according to the "tandem" scheme). The aircraft can carry up to six R-27 medium-range air-to-air guided missiles with semi-active radar (R-27R) or thermal (R-27T) homing heads, as well as their modifications with increased flight range (R-27ER, R-27ET). Four underwing mounts can carry R-73 short-range maneuverable combat guided missiles with thermal homing heads.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
