[3e] Sukhoi S-37 Berkut

[Phaelen Bleux]

Sukhoi S-37 (Su-47) Berkut (TL7)
First flown in 1997, the S-37 (later redesignated the Su-47), is a single prototype aircraft designed by Sukhoi as a technological test bed. Its most notable feature is its forward-swept wings, creating controlled instability and thus excellent maneuverability. However, this forward sweep creates severe torque on the wings, necessitating a very durable but light structure. While the fuselage is aluminum and titanium with some composites, the wings are entirely composite to produce the required strength. Control of the aircraft is maintained by quadruple-redundant computers and fly-by-wire control systems.
At this point, the Su-47 remains a single prototype. Whether it will eventually become a 5th-generation Russian fighter is speculative. Although the current aircraft lacks radar, weapons and combat avionics, it certainly has provisions for them. Also, the aircraft is constructed of radar-absorbing materials. Many components of the Su-47 are borrowed from the Su-27. The design below includes all components that would be likely included in a front-line fighter. Sukhoi also plans to introduce thrust vectoring to the Su-47 (which is not included in the design below).
The Su-47 has a crew of one. It burns 1,256 gallons of jet fuel per hour at routine usage. A full tank of fuel costs $9,420. A hypothetical ammo supply is $1,140.

Subassemblies: Body with Superior Streamlining +5, High-Agility Wings with Folding option +3, 3 retractable small Wheels +1.
Powertrain: Two 20,930-lb. thrust Turbofans with Afterburners, 2,300-kWs advanced battery.
Fuel: 3,140 gallons jet fuel (Fire 13) in standard self-sealing fuel tanks (Fire +0).
Occupancy: 1 NCS.
Cargo: 0.

Armor
All: 3/15

Weaponry:
30mm Autocannon/GsH-30-1 [Body:F] (150 rounds SAPHE).
20,000-lbs. of disposable ordnance [Body/Wings:U].

Equipment:
Body: Basic stealth, long range radio with scrambler (300-mile), very long range radio with scrambler (3,000-mile), inertial navigation system, precision navigation instruments, military GPS, IFF, autopilot, ejection seat, 40,000-lb. brake parachute, refueling probe, terrain following radar, 90-mile radar (Scan 22), advanced radar/IR detector, HUDWAC, decoy discharger with 12 chaff/flare reloads, datalink, four small computers with RVO program, terminal, dedicated targeting computer, 20-mile thermograph, 20-mile laser designator, 0.25 man/days limited life support, 4 hardpoints. Wings: 10 hardpoints (8 under, 2 wingtip).

Statistics:
Size: 74'x55'x21' Payload: 20.5 tons Lwt.: 38.6 tons
Volume: 1,312 cf. Maint.: 3.2 hours Price: $37,439,563

HT: 12. HPs: 3,648 Body, 1,998 each Wing, 332 each Wheel.

aSpeed: 1367 aAccel: 11/18 aDecel: 62 aMR: 15.5 aSR: 4
Stall Speed: 166 mph.
gSpeed: 527 gAccel: 26 gDecel: 10 gMR: 0.25 gSR: 3
Ground Pressure Extremely High. No Off-Road speed.

Design Notes:
Body is 1,020 cf; wheels are 51 cf; wings are 146 cf each. Wing volume was reverse-calculated from historical wing area. Body structure is Extra-Heavy, Expensive with Superior Streamlining; Wings are Extra-Heavy with Very Expensive materials. Armor is Expensive Composite. Electronic (fly-by-wire) controls with Controlled Instability. Design Loaded weight is 78,696 lbs.; this was decreased 2% to the actual value. Historical values for wing area and loaded weight were used for performance calculations. The design afterburner produced 69,070 lbs. of thrust; the historical value of 68,784 lbs. of thrust was substituted for performance calculations.
Design aSpeed is 1,109 mph dry, 1,425 mph with design afterburner, and 1,422 with historical afterburner. The aSpeed of this design was a bit problematic. Although the design requires Superior streamlining to achieve supersonic flight, this produced a very low aDrag leading to aSpeeds of 1,572/2,019/2,015 mph. This is far in excess of the historical top speed of 1,367 mph. One limitation on the real-world aircraft is that the wings can only withstand Mach 1.6 due to structural limitations with today's materials. Treating the design as having Very Good streamlining produced calculated aSpeeds more in line with this lower value, and so this is how the aircraft's speeds were calculated.