Difficult take off Su-35

33
Over the past two years, the newest Su-35 fighter with variable thrust vector engines has become the star of Russian aviation News. If his transfer to the Russian Air Force in late 2012 (under the Christmas tree, as they say) was a big question, then six months later, at the air show in Le Bourget, the “thirty-fifth” earned rave comments from experts, journalists and ordinary people. The fighter looked beautiful at the Moscow Aviation and Space Salon in September 2013, causing no less praise. But upon closer inspection, everything is not so simple with this novelty of the domestic defense industry complex (MIC).

In February of this year, the first Su-35S began to arrive in the 23 th Fighter Aviation Regiment (IAP) of the 303-th Mixed Air Division of the 3-th command of the Russian Air Force and Air Defense on the Dzemgi airfield in the Khabarovsk Territory. The success of the new aircraft seemed to be obvious. Only here, past the attention of the media, there was a return from the 929-th State Flight Research Center (GLITS) named after Chkalov in Akhtubinsk six sides of the issue 2012 of the year. The United Aircraft Building Corporation (UAC) also kept silent about this in their press releases.

Difficult take off Su-35
The organization of the transfer of fighters to the Air Force is not entirely clear to specialists. According to the regulatory documents, the 4 Training Center for Aviation Personnel (CPA) in Lipetsk, but not the combat regiment, should be the first to receive machines for the development of a combat training program and a manual on combat use. It is worth recalling that the development of another newest fighter - Su-30CM went according to a regulated scenario. The first products arrived in the Lipetsk center last year, and this year two front-line "thirty" flew to the air base in Transbaikalian Domna.

The experts did not understand too much why the Dzemgi airfield was chosen as the location of the Su-35. Not only the 23-iap station is stationed there, it is also the factory airfield of the Kagolsky-on-Amur Su-35 Komsomol aviation production association (KnAAPO) named after Gagarin. It is surprising and the fact of receipt of the aircraft in the Air Force combat units. After all, he is formally in the development work and, according to UAC, will be released to state trials only in 2015 year.

In an informal setting, many specialists - avionics developers express their complaints about the onboard equipment of the "thirty-fifth", in particular, they speak about the unreliable operation of air pressure receiving systems. It is often even described as “flightless.” What is actually happening with the newest fighter, what are its problems and prospects?

Algorithms of Discord

On the website of the company “Avtopribor-Voskhod”, which is a part of OJSC Concern “Radioelectronic Technologies”, in the section “Combat Aviation” the VSP-35 system is indicated without an abbreviation of the abbreviation. In the on-board equipment of the Su-35, it is responsible for measuring the altitude-speed flight parameters. The unique product, superior to Western competitors in some indicators, turned out to be the Achilles' heel of the newest fighter and the cause of the conflict between the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute named after Zhukovsky (TsAGI) and the defense industry enterprises.

SI VSP-35 should replace the usual receivers of air pressure (LDPE), standing in the nose of the aircraft, in the very center of the radome fairing.

“The system not only measures pressure, but also, using the data obtained, calculates the barometric altitude required for separation, the Mach number, the true and instrumental velocity. That is, all the aerometric parameters needed by the pilot, ”an aircraft engineer who participated in the development of the device told the Military Industrial Courier newspaper.

According to him, similar products are on most modern combat aircraft, including so far the only fifth-generation serial fighter - the American F-22 "Raptor".

“This is not a tribute to fashion, but a technically sound decision. For optimal operation of the onboard radar station, it is necessary, firstly, to maximize the radio transparency of the fairing, and secondly, to remove the front “patch” of a conventional LDPE, which closes the radar's front field of view and breaks its diagram. Therefore, the receivers are removed into the depths of the aircraft, ”added a senior official at the Sukhoi Design Bureau on condition of anonymity.

For the first time, such a system was attempted to be implemented in the mid-80-ies on the Su-27M, which are now living on Kubinka. The second attempt was the "Indian" Su-30MKI, but the aircraft manufacturers, faced with difficulties, decided to abandon it in favor of the usual nose LDPE. And now the third approach to the problem.

It is important not only to measure the pressure, but also to calculate the aerometric parameters from the data obtained. Further the most difficult begins. The received data is transmitted to a special calculator, where the recalculation is carried out according to the most complicated algorithm using mathematical filters. But the work on the algorithm from the very beginning went wrong.

“We needed field studies. The system is mounted on a reference aircraft with standard instruments of traditional design in order to calibrate it and collect empirical material. We need to perform a lot of test flights in order to clean up the algorithms, ”says the source of the MIC.

If the very "iron" SI VSP-35 developed "Aerribor-Sunrise", then the algorithm prescribed TsAGI. Employees of this institute, having “blown through” the model, suggested the optimum location for the sensors.

“The algorithm has calibrations that need to be constantly refined during flights, seeking to reduce errors to the required level. And it is very important that the test machines are the same. The slightest change in the location of the hatches, antennas, etc., leads to a change in the flow around them. But Su-35 rolled out to the next "party congress". Because of this, there was no time to understand the algorithm, there was no time to wait for its refinement, and all three participants in the testing of the aircraft were very different from each other. For example, on the Su-35 with the 902 tail number, the left and right sides are generally different, ”the source continued.

According to another aircraft engineer, the Sukhoi Design Bureau refused the services of TsAGI, prescribing its simpler algorithm for motor automation, only to lift the car into the air.

“They were immediately warned that nothing good would come out and we would have to return to complex mathematics. With the Sukhoi algorithm, it is possible to teach an airplane to fly a “pancake”, but difficult maneuvers, supersonic flights and the use of weapons is impossible, ”he noted.

In 2008, the first Su-35 with a unique system and algorithm developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau took off. According to a high-ranking representative of one of the military-industrial associations, it was impossible to integrate the VSP-35 SI and the electronic brains of the development of the design bureau.

Aeropribor ships the equipment, rents it to the technical representative. "Dry" all gathered, put on the plane. Turned on and said: your device does not work, go modify. And what to refine, if the algorithm is unknown to the manufacturer of "iron"? - He complained.

The source noted that the peak of the problems came in December last year, when they began to hand over a batch of combatant Su-35С for the domestic Air Force. “Everyone was sitting in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, they shot the VSP-35 SI, put it on the stand, checked it. The devices worked, but when they were put on board and sewn, everything stopped working. The system manufacturers immediately demanded that the UAC gave the final firmware, at least the necessary drivers. We have no idea what they wrote there. One device burned out altogether, ”he says indignantly.

According to him, a system similar to SI VSP-35 works perfectly on the newest Ka-52 combat helicopter: “There are no complaints about the algorithm and equipment, the products are already on production machines. Previously, the helicopter instruments began to testify only at 50 speed per kilometer per hour. Now, as in a computer game, even the speed of one kilometer per hour is shown. But for Su-35, UAC chose to independently pursue higher mathematics. ”

The Sukhoi Design Bureau does not deny that there were big problems with VSP-35 SI, but they claim that they have now been resolved.

“We received a certificate for the product and software late last year. Of course, now it is easy to say that it was necessary to do this in such a way that the algorithm is not complete. But at that moment there was a need to raise the plane, and TsAGI for each correction required a lot of time and not too little money. We will take into account that the work on Su-35 is being financed due to a commercial loan obtained from a bank, and not under state guarantees, ”explained a high-ranking official of the OKB.

He added that the design engineers themselves had prescribed the algorithm. Now “Sukhoi” still ordered the work of TsAGI, but, as the interlocutor noted, for the distant future: “Since 2008, we have collected empirical material, improved the algorithm. Now we want to experiment with the installation of the sensors themselves. The locations proposed by TsAGI turned out to be suboptimal. We now have an aircraft laboratory for such research. We are in the ROC for another two years and only in 2015 will we go out on state tests, so there is time. ”

Happy end?

“For a long time, our air forces could not afford modern aircraft and limited themselves only to upgrading the existing aircraft. Now the task is to update the entire aircraft fleet as quickly as possible, but this cannot be resolved by traditional methods, ”said the officer of the Air Force Main Committee, participating in the Su-35, told“ MIC ”.

According to him, while preparations are underway for the transfer of aircraft 23-iap, pilots of the Sukhoi Design Bureau, 929-th GLITs and 4-th CPA are developing a primary program.

“Transmission is not easy. For the time being, we will put the boards on record in the technical-operational part, we will check all the documents, a training manual for the pilots will be ready. There is nothing complicated. Takeoff-landing, en-route flight and simple aerobatics. Elements of interception are possible, ”he explained, and noted that six of those who returned to the Su-35 plant last year will be upgraded. These vehicles, released in 2012, were not involved in test flights, but pilots from the 4-CCP received the first tolerances for them.

“It was decided to make the main aircraft look 2013 of the year. Of the six upgrading sides, four this spring will go to the 4-th CPA to practice a more complex program of combat training and instruction in combat use. And when Lipetsk finishes work, the Dzmega pilots will already master the primary program, ”the officer said.

It is noteworthy that the Su-35 will be transmitted in a gray-blue camouflage, tested on the Su-30CM in Transbaikalian Domna, instead of the “eggplant” that has become familiar in several years.

In general, the plane went out of the bad luck and ceased to be "flightless." Employees of the OKB did everything they could, showed high professionalism, having essentially lifted up a complicated and promising car for the money, achieved quite good results. But story Su-35 shows all the problems that worsen every day the already not the best relationship between industry producers and developers.

“Su-35 was the first sign of the scheme, in which Mikhail Pogosyan instructed the board to be integrated not to the specialized enterprises that were doing this, but to himself (that is, KLA. - Approx.“ MIC ”). Sukhoi created a specialized unit and began to design it himself. The company used to deal with the general development of the aircraft, the fuselage design, strength things, and then engaged in mathematics, ”said the representative of the military-industrial complex.

The current global trend in aviation production is the “integrate integrable” rule. Developers write algorithms themselves and connect subsystems. Airbus, Lockheed Martin and other giants act as the final packer, stitching together ready-made systems into a single board. But in Russia, due to departmental ambitions, specialized institutes, design bureaus with many years of experience and work culture, formed over decades, often turn out to be thrown out of cooperation.

The development of modern aircraft does not allow haste. F-35 team chief of test pilots, Lieutenant Colonel Hank Griffith, back in 2011, commenting on the slow pace of progress of the flight program at the speed reached, said: "We are moving forward with childish steps to make sure our aerometric system meets our expectations." Apparently, the United States is not rich enough to save on the quality of flight tests and product development.

The history of the Su-35 is very instructive. It would seem impossible to imagine that the newest fighter is being developed and produced under a commercial loan. But even last December 29, Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Yury Chaika, in his speech, indicated that the UAC leadership provided enterprises with interest loans in the form of loans for the construction of civil aircraft of domestic production, instead of donating them to the authorized capital of companies.

All the interlocutors of the publication noted one important fact. If now we do not establish effective scientific and practical cooperation between aircraft manufacturers, manufacturers of engines, instruments, avionics systems, etc., then the funds allocated for the PAK FA will go nowhere, and the work will drag on for an indefinite time. If at the level of development engineers there is mutual understanding and respect, then the CEO and other top managers prefer to act, as the audit by the prosecutor general’s office shows, disregarding the obvious expediency, making profit at the highest price at any price. In this situation, I would like to wish the developers and manufacturers of aviation products to finish their work and deliver reliable and modern machines to the Russian Air Force.
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33 comments
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  1. +9
    20 February 2014 10: 33
    What can I say, the 90s will be heard for a very long time, all the more so since there are a lot of gentlemen pushing us back to them.
    To aircraft manufacturers - take your time, but hurry slowly !!!
    1. +2
      20 February 2014 10: 46
      Quote: olegff68
      What can I say, the 90s will come around for a very long time to us, all the more so since there are a lot of gentlemen pushing us back to them. To the aircraft builders - take your time, but hurry slowly !!!

      I would add to aircraft manufacturers. And if war is tomorrow ... (God forbid, of course), but the pilot needs to fight and not try to understand how the plane flies.
  2. +6
    20 February 2014 10: 47
    TALE of how TsAGI did not share (not rolled back) Dry money for the algorithm. I had a similar story when the head of the school refused to give money for sharpening knives for a printing press. Like, imprison yourself. As a result, the printing house stood up. Sukhoi Design Bureau also tried to write software, but failed.
    1. +4
      20 February 2014 11: 02
      Only one thing I will add "The Peter Principle:" In a hierarchical system, any employee rises to the level of his incompetence. "
  3. +4
    20 February 2014 11: 04
    The article reflects ONLY part of the true situation with the Su-35, which many admirably call "almost the fifth generation." History repeats itself, "the technician is wet, the pilot is sweaty, the plane is wet, and the designer is Sukhoi"
    1. VAF
      VAF
      +2
      20 February 2014 11: 21
      Quote: Nayhas
      Article reflects ONLY partially true situation with Su-35


      Unfortunately, but ... you're right! +! crying
      1. 0
        20 February 2014 11: 59
        Foreign agent Waf assent to the next all-crawler.
        1. +1
          20 February 2014 19: 16
          Thank you EvilLion. I thought I was alone.
        2. +1
          20 February 2014 20: 28
          Quote: EvilLion
          Foreign agent Waf assent to the next all-crawler.

          Apparently, with such moods as the above, it is strictly forbidden to allow a person to do anything serious! With this outlook on life, 90% failure! But what happened in the 90s under the Yelchinoid?
          1. 0
            20 February 2014 21: 40
            Oh yes there are many of us. But over there we began to catch cons)))
  4. PLO
    +4
    20 February 2014 11: 08
    another vyser iksperda sRamm
    1. VAF
      VAF
      +5
      20 February 2014 11: 27
      Quote: olp
      another vyser iksperda sRamm


      Oleg, hello! Yes, but .... he wrote what he actually has so far ... and if he wrote everything .... of course he would have got it right there .. "on the head" wassat

      Even in those days, when they "made" from the Su-27P and S -su-27SM, as well as from the Su-25-Su-25SM ... the SVS systems (air signal system) were the big "stone of entry" (central speed and altitude).

      And so then ... they were "kidding" ... "they were watching" SVS series 3 and "born" .. CM 3: wassat

      But 2 is the problem "that is ... awesome. Which pulls" no "all the LMS recourse
      1. 0
        20 February 2014 12: 01
        And who reports to you on the progress of work on each project? Are you the Minister of Defense?
        1. Alex 241
          +2
          20 February 2014 12: 04
          You better keep quiet, and not run up. Sergey knows what he is talking about!
          1. 0
            20 February 2014 13: 11
            I'm not even sure that his name is Sergei, so it would be better for you to be silent. Even the commander of an air division cannot know what is happening with each of the projects being developed, and here "awareness" is right at the level of the Minister of Harrow or at least the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force. Building an expert out of yourself is not difficult. On sdelanounas, there was also such a frame, and maybe it is now, call it MiG-42. He skillfully added so many lies to 80-90% of the truth that the meaning changed to the opposite.
            1. Alex 241
              +5
              20 February 2014 13: 24
              Quote: EvilLion
              I'm not even sure that his name is Sergey, t

              These are your problems. In your profile, as far as I can see, there is no name at all. And Sergey has never been noticed in idle talk all the time. I know him for two years.
              1. +1
                20 February 2014 15: 14
                It is easy to be an expert in classified matters, no one will catch on deceit.
          2. VAF
            VAF
            +3
            20 February 2014 14: 25
            Quote: Alex 241
            You better keep quiet, and not run up. Sergey knows what he is talking about!


            Sasha .. do not take .. "in the head" drinks There are many like this ...... on .. "this world" wassat
            1. The comment was deleted.
            2. Alex 241
              +2
              20 February 2014 14: 32
              Hi Seryozha. I am calm as an Indian laughing
      2. PLO
        +3
        20 February 2014 12: 30
        hello Sergey hi

        This is not an article, but a set of quotes.
        the infamy of Aleksey Ramm (it was previously published under the pseudonym Aleksey Mikhailov) lies in the fact that in the vast majority of his articles he, relying on grains of correct information, completely distorts the meaning, while demonstrating glaring incompetence, obvious even to me - just an amateur

        in this article you can only trust what is quoted in quotation marks, which at the same time do not carry an unambiguous negative or fatal meaning about the project, only therefore the article looks quite adequate.

        he couldn’t write about everything, because he doesn’t have such sources, and if he wrote it would be something like the memorable statues about the Su-34
        1. Alex 241
          +5
          20 February 2014 12: 45
          Oleg, I welcome, already somehow spread about this demagogue. In January 2011, I had a few blog entries regarding the exposure of one fake war veteran. Details sequentially at the links: one, two, three, four.
          For those who began to read me after those events, I will explain the essence of the matter.
          In 2010, articles by a certain Aleksey Gaidai appeared in some of the opposition, near-war publications and blogs, who reported on the terrible details of the reform of the RF Armed Forces: everything is bad, nothing works, the soldiers are starving. As it turned out later, this author is present under various nicknames at one of the respected military-historical forums and in LiveJournal. And in each of these places, relying on imaginary anonymity, he told various details from his biography, which did not fit together in any way. If we summarize everything, it turned out that the author had served both urgent and contractual service, both in the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and in the troops of the Ministry of Defense, studied to be a military psychologist and at the same time fought for more than three years in Chechnya, was fired from the army, but somehow continued military service. The real name of this "hero" was also revealed - Captain Alexey Ramm, psychologist of the 74th motorized rifle brigade.
          Most of all I was outraged that this officer lied about his participation in the hostilities, which is considered a great shame among veterans. After the relevant entries in my journal, Ramm said in his blog that the biography was invented for the literary project "Aleksey Gaidai", but he could not explain why he, personally on his own behalf, and not on behalf of the literary hero, assigned himself a veteran status. Instead, he accused me of being involved with the bloody gebney and wanting to squeeze him out of the light for his creative work.
          Here is a screenshot of this post. You will no longer find it on Ramm's blog, as for some reason, he first erased part of the comments, then completely everything, and then the record itself. It is available at those links at the beginning of the recording.
          1. +4
            20 February 2014 13: 13
            All "experts" who know everything about everything deserve exactly the same attitude. And knowledge for some reason from the category "everything is bad."
          2. PLO
            +1
            20 February 2014 13: 13
            Hello, Alexander!

            Yes, this is another vile moment in his biography. negative
        2. VAF
          VAF
          +3
          20 February 2014 14: 24
          Quote: olp
          This is not an article, but a set of quotes.


          Oleg, I don’t speak for the article, but for the fact that Poghosyan “handed over” the “raw” car.
          And one of the reasons for its "dampness" is voiced correctly!
          And by the way, here is the answer to the question. So why from the factory to the adjacent parking lot. and not in Lipetsk, for practicing combat use techniques wink
          That's right ... because, among other things, it’s still simple .. there’s nothing to work out request
          1. +3
            20 February 2014 15: 21
            Was the car delivered? Or, after all, the GSE is just on the trail. the year will end? However, if the Su-35 were still in 3-4 prototypes, the whining would be that the aircraft are not being built. Back in the blessed Soviet era, it took the Su-27M almost 4 years from its first flight to a production vehicle with unknown capabilities, since, apart from the Vityaz, none of the Air Force flew it anyway. But it was hardly better there. The Su-35 has 3 years from the first flight to the series, well, in miracles, yes, I don't believe, it still needs to be cut. So the tactic is a win-win.

            Probably, let the MiG-35 go now, then a couple of years after the series, the same articles would be written.
            1. 0
              20 February 2014 16: 29
              Quote: EvilLion
              The Su-35 from the first flight to the series is 3 years old, well, in miracles, yes, I do not believe it, I still need to cut it. So tactics are a win-win.


              Yes I agree! All the more, remember at least the Raptor, whose first production prototype took off in 1997, and it was finally accepted into the US Air Force only in 2005. So the Su-35's situation is also not bad, the first flight in 2008, acceptance into service in 2015 (according to plan).

              Quote: EvilLion
              Probably, let the MiG-35 go now, then a couple of years after the series, the same articles would be written.


              The situation with the MiG-35 upsets me greatly. recourse In 2006, there was talk about the arrival of production vehicles in the Air Force in 2009, and this continued: in 2009 they talked about 2011, in 2011 about 2013 ... and now they are talking about 2016 (!!!) year. angry Already tired of the constant postponement of the deadlines. The problem is most likely, not only in the MiG and Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, but also in Mr. Poghosyan.
          2. +1
            20 February 2014 16: 07
            soldier I’ll try to inform Sergey as soon as they arrive in Lipetsk. I think there is nothing secret in this. By the way, the SU-30cm fly.
            1. VAF
              VAF
              +1
              20 February 2014 18: 38
              Quote: 1c-inform-city
              Sergey, as soon as they arrive in Lipetsk I will try to inform


              Namesake drinks I will inform you about this earlier, as soon as 07,09,11 and 12 are "upgraded" and some "repair" wink on KnAAZ and will be flown and ready to drive to you soldier
              And even by numbers I’ll say. what will they do or just change the color or .. the new ones will be assigned so that there are no doubles drinks

              Quote: 1c-inform-city
              I think there is nothing secret in this. By the way, the SU-30cm fly.


              Of course not if the flight plan is submitted in advance and everything is indicated in the application ... up to full name. FAC and this "plan" is going through all DCs and RCs of the EU ATC wink
              On the Su-30SM they can even write who is flying and .. "what" they fly and at what stage is "work" going on bully
      3. sds72
        0
        22 February 2014 01: 31
        And so then ... they were "kidding" ... "they were watching" SVS series 3 and "born" .. CM 3: wassat

        Ironies are higher than the roof ... "they've been matched", "born" ... this product is very close to me. What specific claims? Everything is fine on the Su-30MKI.
  5. +3
    20 February 2014 12: 26
    The monopolist always acts on the principle - "and so it will come down."
  6. Alexander.B
    +1
    20 February 2014 13: 55
    Why doesn't the hardware manufacturer write the firmware itself? Some kind of sabotage.
  7. 0
    20 February 2014 16: 16
    I wish Sukhoi further success in creating new aircraft, incl. and improvements PAK FA. One type of 35th Drying creates a smile on the face, but I want the regiments and squadrons of "Flanker-E" to become commonplace in this decade. By the way, are they planning (in the next 5-7 years) to install AFAR on " Irbis "35th? A question for the experts!
    1. VAF
      VAF
      0
      20 February 2014 18: 40
      Quote: supertiger21
      By the way, are they planning (in the next 5-7 years) to install AFAR on the Irbis of the 35s? A question to the experts!


      And according to your "what" is now on the Su-35S belay
    2. VAF
      VAF
      +1
      20 February 2014 18: 43
      Quote: supertiger21
      install AFAR on "Irbis" 35th


      And .. now I understood the meaning of the question ..... the Tikhomirovites are working in this direction, "they promised to show" something "in 3 years .. it will be seen wink

      Better let the Beetle "finish" (as the keyboard experts say) and the GOS for RVV-SD good
  8. 0
    21 February 2014 19: 42
    SU-35 is really needed I think no one will even argue. and he’ll survive childhood illnesses

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