Sukhoi Su-27/30/33/35/37 Flanker series & Su-34 Fullback - History, Design, Performance & Dissection

garbage take tbh. wing span calculation and top speed calculation are totally different things and wing span =/= wing area. those values may be misleading in some ways but he is stating his case clearly and backing them up with sources from manufacturing country/company.

now, if you have any source (that is not classified) that backs in-game numbers up feel free to share and debunk his claims. that would be the proper way instead of dismissing them with some made up excuses.

He don’t back up anything. Just post some random pic without context behind it. E on Russian shit are mean to export. You don’t know what they change in these plane. If we use his info about SU-34E that mean Su-30sm next to be add in game its also wrong. Because Su-30smE has lower max speed than SU-30sm or SU-30MKI from india.

Do you know what change from Su-30sm/mki to the SME?. You don’t. These value mean nothing until you know what shit they change.

Where dis you get the sources ? ^^’

I don’t understand what’s wrong with you? …
Su-34…Mach speed=1.75
1.At an altitude from 0 to 11 kilometers, this is approximately = 2142 km/h…
2. At an altitude from 11 to 25 kilometers, this is approximately=1858 km/h…
In the USSR/In Russia, the maximum speed is given for an altitude of 11 kilometers…
3. So the speed indicated in the advertisements is 1,900 km/h at an altitude of 11 kilometers…
4. The speed of 1100 km/h on earth is the speed with suspensions, 1400 km/h on earth is the speed without suspensions!

1 Like

i cant post them here without getting banned
is that enough?

but if you mean the ingame flightmodel it is this:

LOL
That’s a way to start a conversation

OK
But how did you get from “Su-34” to “Mach speed=1.75”

Does “Su-34” mean “Mach 1.75” in Russian or is there something else that I can’t understand?

What is the source for that?

Altitude is not the problem here
It doesn’t matter if the speed is at 1000m or at 100000m
The issue is that the aircraft is not supposed to go that fast at any altitude …

No, the manufacturer (which listed the speed as classified up until around Jan-March 2023) clearly states that both the 1100 kph maximum flight speed near the ground and 1500 kph at altitude are “without mounted items”:

Spoiler

The same manufacturer listed the specs as “Classified” until around Jan 2023 on the same page …

Spoiler

Unless they are removing one of the engines, it’s not gonna make the same airframe go from 1450 kph max speed on the deck to 1100 kph max speed on the deck

Separate issues …
And the whole “we shouldn’t let them fix this one or else they might try fixing the rest” is not the strong argument that you think it is …

Su-30SME is not that different from Su-30SM either
The difference is mainly in avionics … And different RWR or MFD etc isn’t gonna drastically change your maximum speed …

But again, separate issues …
There is no reason to think that Su-34E should have a different maximum speed than Su-34 (and as drastic as 1100 kph vs 1450 kph)

https://web.archive.org/web/20160531014453/http://www.sukhoi.org/planes/military/su32/lth/

https://structure.mil.ru/structure/forces/air/weapons/aviation/more.htm?id=10332831@morfMilitaryModel

1 Like

As I have already explained, it’s the fake number.
As clearly stated by UAC’s website, the speed was classified until around Jan-March 2023.

Again you don’t know what modification these E model have. They could even be Second hand models and the lower speed its to no stress the frame given them more life time. Why this new SME its even a thing?. When Russia was already Selling Su-30sm to country like Kazakhstan.

Also there is news or Rumors that endorse those claim. Ethiopia acquires Akinci UAVs, Su-30 fighters - defenceWeb. Aka Old models Refurbish to Su-30sm standard.

Su-34E could be the same thing. Old Su-32 model Modernize to Su-34 standard.

Not that WT is the best aerodynamic simulator out there, but just for the heck of testing it and to show how absurd the claims of “That’s only for the export Su-34E, the domestic one is different” are:

In WT if you completely shut down one of Su-34’s engines which not only halves your thrust but also introduces additional drag by compensating for the asymmetric thrust, it still goes around 1220 kph on the deck …

I don’t care what it has

Nothing that it could have can explain the speed difference of 1450 kph vs 1100 kph

@ZVO_12_INCH @Temeraire

AFAIK speed limits in WT are usually based off of what the manufacturer / manual allows operationally, rather than what was tested / demonstrated to be possible in real life.

But just as an starting point, to at least prove that the aircraft can even go supersonic near ground level (even if for testing or demonstration rather than operationally), perhaps you could provide a picture or video of it doing so …

The absurdity of 1400 kph (Old documents) or 1450 kph (in the game) max speed @ ground/sea level for Su-34 is made even more clear by the fact that the much less draggy Su-30MK and Su-30MK2 have max speed of 1350 kph near ground level (according to UAC the manufacturer, and FSVTS the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation).
And even Su-35, which is even less draggy and more streamlined, and has improved engines with higher thrust, has a maximum speed of 1400 kph at sea/ground level (according to UAC the manufacturer, and FSVTS the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation).

Su-30MK2 from FSVTS (Maximum airspeed: ground, 1 350):
https://www.fsvts.gov.ru/catalog/683.en.html
Su-30MK from UAC (maximum speed near ground (no external loads) km/h = 1350):
https://web.archive.org/web/20230127115446/https://www.uacrussia.ru/en/aircraft/lineup/military/su-30mk/#aircraft-specific
Su-35 from FSVTS (Maximum airspeed: ground, 1 400):
https://www.fsvts.gov.ru/catalog/680.en.html
Su-35 from UAC (Max speed near the ground = 1400):
https://web.archive.org/web/20230927022434/https://uacrussia.ru/en/aircraft/lineup/military/su-35/#aircraft-specific

So it’s obvious that the declassified 1100 kph figure given for the Su-34 by UAC (the manufacturer) since around March 2023, given that the aircraft is a lot more draggy than Su-35 and has weaker engines, actually makes sense.

  1. The figure itself is not a secret and has been around for a long time, we need to figure out where the typo is.
Spoiler

Снимок экрана 2025-03-16 155722

  1. On the website of Rosoboronexport, the Su-34E has a maximum speed of 1.75 M…
  2. BBCRF posted this photo, maybe these are the most correct figures…
Spoiler

изображение

  1. We do not know exactly which engines were installed on the Su-34 after 2012…

Are we looking at the same website?

Just because they are the middle ground of new and old figure doesn’t mean they are the “most correct”.

It absolutely does not matter what engine was installed on it. It will not make it go from 1100 kph to 1450 kph on the deck …

Drag is proportional to the velocity squared and a small increase in velocity requires a massive increase in thrust.

But since the Mach 1.45 (From ROE) / 1500 kph (From UAC) at altitude and 1100 kph (From all three sources) on deck figure seems to be with the 125kN engines (as per UAC’s website), the devs could account for the increased thrust (to 135kN) of the better engines.
UAC’s website also lists a 2% reduction for installed thrust. So given that the drag is proportional to the velocity squared:

(135x98%) / (125x98%) = (V2/V1) ^ 2
V2/V1 ~= 1.03923
V2 = 1100 * 1.03923 ~= 1143 kph

So with the 135kN engines (instead of 125kN engines) the speed will increase from 1100 kph to 1143 kph (and NOT 1400 or 1450 kph!)

There is no typo

Especially when:

ROE says Mach 1.45 / 1100 kph
UAC says 1500 kph / 1100 kph
FSVTS says Mach 1.5 / 1100 kph

How can that be a typo?

Again, UAC saying that the flight performance specification are “Classified”, until around March 2023, makes it clear that the old 1900 / 1400 kph figures (which were given since at least 2005) are fake …

I do not know from what date or by whose order they changed all the numbers there…
This is some kind of planned action, the UAC didn’t open last year either!

Spoiler

By the order of whomever ordered to declassify the real speeds, most likely because there’s no reason to fake it anymore since the aircraft and its performance was being observed by radars in [redacted] for quite some time now …

UAC’s website not opening is likely related to sanctions etc
They most likely want to hide the company’s structure and (high ranking) people to avoid sanctions on them …

As for ROE website, there is a bug with it
You have to open the link in my report twice … The first time it will not load the page, the second time it will … (Or you could simply navigate to the aircraft’s page from the website’s menu).

any info about the upgrades? im was wondering if that new helmet will be present in it

Do you really think that Real buyers use the Rosoboronexport website?..For example, Algeria when buying the Su-57 3 years ago?..

Spoiler