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Su-52 Training aircraft

The Su-52 was created on the basis of the need for three-level training of the flight personnel of combat units - initial training and professional selection on Su-49 aircraft, advanced training on a Su-52 aircraft and combat training - on a combat training Yak-130. The Sukhoi Experimental Design Bureau developed a project of a single-engine jet training aircraft (TCB), designated Su-52. The proposed Su-52 type of fusion project proposed to the customer is being created with a view to minimizing the cost of its operation. Su-52 was developed under the UTS program simultaneously with the Yak-130 and MiG-AT. The main difference is a supersonic, aerodynamic design - a canard (maybe even with a tail horizontal tail), single-engine (AL-31F), side air intakes, a drop-shaped canopy without binding (common for both pilots).

The Sukhoi Research and Development Bureau developed a preliminary design for a single-engine jet training aircraft (UTS), designated Su-52. “The project of the Su-52 type of fusion project proposed to the customer is being created with a view to minimizing the costs of its operation,” Boris Rakitin, chief designer of Sukhoi Design Bureau, told Interfax-AVN on 15 December 2002. According to him, the cost of one flight hour of the Su-52 will be less than $ 1000, which is lower than that of the currently operating L-39 aircraft and the promising UTS Yak-130. In addition, the Su-52 will be 1.5-2 times cheaper than the Yak-130. Answering the question of IF-AVN, B. Rakitin said that the Su-52 will have one engine with a draft of 2 tons.

"Initially, one of the existing engines will be installed on the aircraft. In the future, in the second stage, it is planned to equip the aircraft with a new engine optimized for the Su-52," B. Rakitin said. According to him, the distinctive feature of the Su-52 will be the use of the reverse sweep wing (CBS). “The reverse sweep of the wing was chosen on the basis of the need to give the aircraft maximum maneuverability. However, designers at the next stages of creating the aircraft can offer the customer and the aircraft a normal aerodynamic design without CBS - the choice is the customer,” B. Rakitin said. He also noted that “the Su-52 is created on the basis of the need for three-level training of the flight personnel of the combat units — initial training and professional selection on the Su-49 aircraft, advanced training on the Su-52 aircraft and combat training - on the combat training Yak-130 ".

By October 2003 funding for the creation of training aircraft (UTS) of the Su-49 and Su-52 is currently almost frozen, which is why the implementation of the concept of the three-stage training of flight personnel approved by the Air Force Commander-in-Chief can be postponed indefinitely. "Currently, only the promising combat trainer Yak-130 is being carried out, and R&D funding for the creation of the Su-49 and Su-52 training aircraft has actually been suspended," a defense industrial complex source told Interfax-AVN on 21 October 2003. "Due to the fact that a competition for the best jet training aircraft has not yet been announced, work on the program for creating the Su-52 aircraft, which Sukhoi Design Bureau plans to submit to this competition, is slowly moving forward," the agency’s interlocutor said. According to the source, in the foreseeable future, the first two stages of the initial training of the air force’s flight personnel will be based on outdated material components - the Yak-52 and L-39 aircraft.

The S-52 (Su-52) was a project of a jet fusion vehicle that existed in the Sukhoi Design Bureau in the period 1997-2001, in particular, a presentation book on the aircraft was prepared in an amount equivalent to the AP. The main associate of this topic is A. Manzheliy, who at that time worked under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Railways and B.V. Rakitina. However, the topic did not receive further active promotion; after 2001, the topic practically did not develop. The Su-52 project actually moved into the scientific and technical reserve of the developer - the Air Force did not show any interest in it due to the lack of necessary financial resources.

As a result, now A. Manzheliy supervises the construction of this pepelats under a different name and in a different office. Currently, the LLC "KB Modern Aviation Technologies" team is developing a new jet trainer designed for training and participating in aircraft sport competitions. The aircraft will be able to perform all aerobatics with a maximum overload of +8 -6. The aerodynamic layout of the aircraft allows you to perform figures using elements of super-maneuverability, which are typical for fighters of generation 4, 4+. The two-seat cockpit, arranged in a tandem scheme, is equipped with ejection seats of the "0-0" class, which ensures the safety of the crew in the entire range of altitudes and speeds of piloting. Due to the widespread use of modern composite materials in the design of the airframe, it was possible to significantly reduce the weight of the airframe and increase the resource.