Russian Air Force Upgrading its Su-27 to Su-27SM Standard

Released on Wednesday, November 29, 2006

A contract is being prepared for the upgrade at KnAAPO of another twenty-four Su-27 fighters to the Su-27SM configuration, Mikhail Pogosyan, Sukhoi Director-General, said to journalists in Komsomolsk-na-Amure.

�This year we have supplied the Russian AF with six upgraded Su-27SM fighters, thus completing a three-year contract for upgrading another twenty-four Su-27 aircraft to the Su-27SM configuration,� M.Pogosian said.

According to him, this is the first such massive modernization of combat aircraft under the Russian Air Force's order in recent years. Work on other Su combat aircraft has also progressed considerably. In December this year, in Novosibirsk the new Su-34 fighter-bomber and upgraded Su-24M frontline bomber will be handed over to the Russian AF.

He said that those aircraft will arrive at the Russian Defense Ministry Flight Test Center where the first production machines will be used for dedicated trials.

According to experts, the Su-27SM aircraft is 60% more effective than the baseline Su-27.