Tag: Sukhoi

Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut: The USSR’s Strangest Aircraft
Aircraft Digest

Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut: The USSR’s Strangest Aircraft

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? (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 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 cr...