Indo-Pacific Flankers: Su-27/30 variants in the Indo-Pacific region
The Sukhoi Su-27 ‘Flanker’ was developed and deployed by the Soviet Union during the 1980s, to serve as a heavy payload, high endurance air-superiority fighter. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Flanker family saw considerable export success, followed by enhanced Su-30 and Su-35 variants. The advanced combat capabilities of this modern twin-engine fighter, and the affordable price and flexibility offered by the Russian defence industry, proved attractive to a number of Indo-Pacific nations. Below I will cover the capabilities and load-outs, as well as current fleet numbers, of some of the variations of the Flanker family that have been exported to or produced in the Indo-Pacific region. Introduction to the Flanker family The Flanker family is one of the most widely produced and operated aircraft in the world, with variants manufactured in the Soviet Union, two separate Russian factories – ‘ Irkutsk Aviation Industrial Association (IAPO)’ and ‘Komsomolsk-