Throughout the Cold War, the concept of swept wings became widespread. However, nearing the end of the Cold War, the USSR developed the Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut to look at the potential of forward-swept wing designs.
Sukhoi designed the Berkut to match the US’s Grumman X-29 program. The design of both aircraft are eerily similar as well!
However, just like the X-29, the Su-47 was a complete failure. But why was this? And what exactly did the USSR, and later the Russian Air Forces’ get out of the Berkut program?
Pre-Berkut
Prior to the X-29 and the Berkut, the concept of forward-swept wings was not a new one. Indeed, the earliest designs date back to the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, with early aviators trying to create the first working airplane.
Whilst these people, including famed aviators such as Alberto Santos-Dumont, the Wright Brothers and others, all failed, the idea never truly went away. Even after the Wright Brothers’ first flight in 1903.
For much of the 20th century, aviators unsuccessfully attempted to create forward-swept wing aircraft. WWII yielded some of the only working forward-swept aircraft, most of which were built by Germany.
After the war, both the East and the West had confiscated several of these aircraft and continued to use them during much of the Cold War. This was mostly to look at their future military applications.
The 1960’s yielded the last workable forward swept wing aircraft, the HFB 320 Hansa Jet, the only commercial forward swept aircraft to date. This would be the last until the 1980’s…
During the 1980’s, the US and her allies began looking for replacement aircraft for their current fleets. As such, they began to look, once again, at the possibility of forward swept wings for their future aircraft.
Development
In 1983, a combined Sukhoi and Soviet Air Force team began working on what was only referred to as the Berkut program. Berkut is the Russian word for a golden eagle.
Eventually, this aircraft was revealed to be the Su-37, before being redesignated as the Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut (as Sukhoi had revealed a new variant of the Su-27, which demanded it follow Russian designation protocol).
During WWII, the Germans in particular had made several working prototypes, many of which were confiscated by the Americans and Soviets alike. These aircraft were then studied to find potential military benefits.
Many of the studies Soviet engineers had made regarding these aircraft were given to Sukhoi engineers. This allowed the first set of basic designs to be drawn up by the mid-1980’s.
Sukhoi decided to use its most advanced aircraft (at the time), the Su-27, as the Berkut’s base. However, most of the initial designs saw the Su-27 see copious amounts of upgrades, to the point where it didn’t really resemble the Su-27.
Due to several designs, and their subsequent redesigns, much of the aircraft had to be redesigned, including parts of the fuselage, nose and internal weapons bay. Not to mention the wings!
Design Issues
Due to the nature of the Su-47, there were naturally several designs issues with the aircraft, that had to account for both low speed and supersonic speeds.
In the early days, the main issue was strength. Due to how the Berkut’s wings were designed, the air resistance that the Berkut would experience at supersonic speeds would’ve broken the wings upon hitting Mach one.
As such, the Soviets needed to invent a substance that was lightweight, yet was stronger than the aluminum that was previously used. This led to the USSR developing several composite materials (that were already available in the west).
Once that issue had been fixed, the Soviets had begun wind tunnel testing on it. Here, they found that the Berkut would’ve been incredibly difficult to handle simply because it was so aerodynamically unstable.
As such, the Soviets had to develop canards at the front of the aircraft in order to give pilots more control over the aircraft as a whole. The Soviets also gave the Su-47 larger control surfaces to this end as well.
During initial flight testing, Sukhoi test pilots realized that the Su-47 landed too quickly and on smaller runways, would run out of runway causing crashes. This led to all Su-47 landings require the use of a parachute.
Flight Testing
In December 1991, the USSR collapsed and with it rose 15 independent countries. This meant that many of Sukhoi’s plants were in different countries, with the company itself being dissolved and reformed in Russia.
The new Russian Federation didn’t have the money in order to continue the project, and for the most part (at least initially) was somewhat friendly to the West. This saw them cancel the project.
However, Sukhoi saw the potential for the project and funded it themselves. This saw them use much of the money the new Russian government had given them, as well as sales for their Su-27 family.
By the late 1990’s, the Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut had been fully developed. Once again, Sukhoi offered the Berkut to the now (somewhat) financially stable Russian Air Force, who accepted the offer.
The Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut first flew on September 25 1997, flying several missions until its retirement in 2005. Initially, it was operated as though it would one day enter service as Russia’s fifth generation fighter jet.
However, this was soon not the case. As such, it began to mostly serve as a testbed for new technologies currently used on modern Russian fighter jets.
Why Did it Fail?
Throughout testing, the Su-47 regularly met, or exceeded the Soviet Air Force’s requirements. Many leaked and/or declassified documents pertaining to the Su-47 do talk about it in a positive light.
According to several mid-level officers in the Soviet Air Force (at the time) the general consensus was that at some point in the future, the Soviet (Russian) Air Force would begin using the Su-47 on a larger scale.
However, the failure of the Berkut was not (technically) the Su-47’s fault. Instead, it was mostly the fault of other projects the Soviets and Americans were developing at the same time…
You see, at the same time, both the Soviets and Americans were looking into radar-jamming and/or stealth technology. Whilst radar-jamming yielded very few results, stealth technology yielded many practical uses.
As such, both the Soviets and Americans began designing new aircraft based on those results. These aircraft would go on to become aircraft like the Su-57, F-35 and F-22 among many others.
However, due to the nature of forward-swept wings, the two technologies could not be integrated with one another. As such, the Soviets chose to cancel the Su-47 program, with the Americans cancelling the X-29 program too.
Specifications
Despite only ever being an experimental aircraft, only one Su-47 was built by Sukhoi. Nevertheless, it is still important to see how the aircraft operated when it was active!
As the Berkut’s development was heavily based on the Su-27, many of their specs somewhat resemble one another. However, the strategic (and copious) amounts of modifications has altered many of them beyond that!
| Specifications | Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut |
|---|---|
| Length | 22.6 m (74 ft 2 in) |
| Wingspan | 16.7 m (54 ft 9 in) |
| Height | 6.4 m (21 ft 0 in) |
| Crew | 1 |
| Max Speed | 2.21 Mach (1,473 kn; 1,696 mph; 2,729 km/h) |
| Range | 1,800 nmi (3,300 km (2,100 mi) |
| Service Ceiling | 18,000 m (59,000 ft) |
| G Limits | +9/-3 |
| MTOW | 75,000 lb (34,000 kg) |
What Was it Like to Fly The Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut?
As you can probably imagine, the Russian Air Force, as with the Soviet Air Force before it, is very tight lipped on most of its aircraft. Russia itself isn’t a very transparent country in the first place either!
The Berkut was also an experimental aircraft, an aircraft that incidentally pioneered many new Russian tactics and the technology currently used on the Su-35 and Su-57 fighters, Russia is even more tight lipped on it.
As you can imagine, there is next to nothing from official sources about the Su-47. The test pilots who flew the aircraft seem to have disappeared, likely having used false names for media interviews.
Many of the people who had any involvement with the Berkut refuse to speak out about project, either out of fear or out of pride for their country.
Nevertheless, I was able to interview a mid-level Russian Air Force Officer about the Su-47. His involvement with the project was extremely brief and he was not a pilot for the aircraft itself.
Compared to the other aircraft that we (the Soviets) had at the time, the Su-47 was a rare beauty. Whilst it may have looked quite odd, it was much faster and more nimble than our other aircraft.
Personally, I wished I could’ve flown it. It made the other Soviet aircraft look pathetic. I remember saying to my CO something along the lines of:
“Wow! When the Americans see this, they’re gonna be so scared!”
At that point, I was not aware that the Americans had a similar program.
Avgeeks
Although the Su-47 was generally seen as a superior aircraft to fourth generation fighters, the Berkut is no match for fifth generation fighters. Nevertheless, many Russian avgeeks have pondered about the service life the Berkut never got.
In recent years, as with its American counterpart, the Russian public has begun to see the futility of the Su-57 program. This is especially so with the Russian avgeek community.
Due to this, many Russian avgeeks have begun to wonder what it would’ve looked like if the Su-47 had become Russia’s primary fighter jet. Indeed, several Russian aviation forums have this at its core!
Many of these forums talk about how, if the Su-47 had attacked the F-22 or F-35, it would’ve been obliterated. As such, many of them have discussed how a modified version of the Su-47 could’ve entered service.
This Su-47 would’ve probably been more of a ground attack or reserve aircraft, akin to something like the F/A-18 is in the US. Perhaps, Su-47 squadrons would’ve escorted stealth Su-57s as well!
For most, it is an exercise in futility. The Su-47 is mostly a relic of the past, with a design and purpose so antiquated that it would be cheaper to design a brand new aircraft, rather than redesign the Su-47.
Legacy
Despite generally being considered to be a failure, the Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut left a fairly large impact on the aviation industry as a whole!
Sukhoi
Many of the new technologies that were used on the Su-47 were developed by, or in tandem with, Sukhoi. This allowed Sukhoi to have a lot of sway over their designs, if not outright abandoning/commissioning the project.
Thanks to this, many of these technologies are now used on most modern Sukhoi aircraft. Due to these technologies being the best in the former USSR, many other aircraft manufacturers have bought these technologies too!
As such, it is possible to get a Mig with standard-issue Sukhoi technology in them. Smaller aircraft manufacturers like KAI and HAI also use these systems, rather than developing their own in order to save on costs.
The Berkut program also diversified Sukhoi’s business activities. This saw them move away from the Su-27 family which it relied on so much, even if the Su-47 program was only short lived and didn’t go anywhere…
Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut
The last Su-47 flight toon place in 2005. Following this, Sukhoi chose to have it stored in their storage area at their Zhukovsky plant. Here, it would mostly be in storage, in case the Russian Air Force ever wanted it.
For the most part, it collected dust, whilst also corroding due to the harsh Russian winters and warm Russian summers. Several major Russian air museums have lobbied for it to become a display all to no avail.
Since it was retired, the organizers of the all important MAKS airshow, have lobbied for it to join the airshow. Here, it would be on static display, showing the might of Russian technology demonstrators.
It has since been restored to flying condition, where the Russian Air Force perform the Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut flypast. This honors both the USSR and the current Russian Air Forces, as well as the manufacturer, Sukhoi.
Future Aircraft
Although the Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut never entered frontline service, many current and future aircraft have undoubtedly been inspired by the Su-47 in one way or another.
For starters, the failure of the Su-47 led to the beginning of the Su-57 program. Today, this is Russia’s most advanced fighter jets in service, being akin to the F-22 and F-35.
On top of this, many of the technologies that Sukhoi had to make for the Su-47 were incorporated into the Su-57. This made it so that Sukhoi didn’t waste technology, as well as giving the Su-57 cutting edge technology!
Whilst nothing has come through official channels, either from the US or Russian governments, it is likely that Russian sixth generation fighters will be inspired by the Su-47, be it in terms of tail designs, engines or technology!
What do you think of the Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut? Tell me in the comments!
Featured image courtesy of Mashley Morgan via Flickr.