Su-15

Sukhoi Su-15
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Description
Role	Twin-engined interceptor
Crew	1
First Flight	May 30, 1962
Entered Service	1967
Manufacturer	Sukhoi
Dimensions
Length	20.50 m	67' 3" (excluding probe)
Wingspan	10.53 m	34' 7"
Height	5.08 m	16' 8"
Wing area	36²	387ft²
Weights
Empty	12,245kg	27,000lb
Loaded	18,000kg	39,683lb
Maximum takeoff	20,000kg	44,092lb
Powerplant
Engines	2x MNPK 'Soyuz' Tumansky R-13F2-300
Thrust (dry)	80.42kN	18,078lb (combined)
Thrust (max)	139.95 kN	31,306lb (combined)
Performance
Maximum speed	Mach 2.5 (clean at high altitude)
Combat radius	745km	450mi
Ferry range	2,250km	11,398mi
Service ceiling	20,000m	65,615ft
Rate of climb	13,700m/min	45,000ft/min
Wing loading	102.4/ft²	555kg/m²
Armament
Guns	option of two UPK-23-250 23mm gun pods on fuselage pylons
Air-to-air missiles	two R-98M/AA-3 Anab and two or four R-60/AA-8 Aphid
Hardpoints	Six external
Bombs	none

The Sukhoi Su-15 (NATO reporting name Flagon) is a twin engined interceptor developed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s to replace the Sukhoi Su-11. Its first flight was 30 May 1962, with the aircraft entering service in 1967.

Although many components of the Su-15 are similar or identical to the previous Su-11 (NATO reporting name 'Fishpot'), including Sukhoi's characteristic rear-fuselage airbrakes, the new aircraft abandoned the shock-cone nose intake for side-mounted intakes feeding two powerful turbojet engines, initially the Tumanskii R-11. The change allowed room in the nose for a powerful search radar. The early Su-15F (known as 'Flagon-A' by NATO) had pure delta wings like its predecessor, but these were replaced on the Su-15MF ('Flagon-D') by a new 'kinked' delta planform of increased span, with small wing fence above each outer pylon. This was accompanied by a new tail with greater anhedral.

In 1970 the Su-15T ('Flagon-E') added a new radar, the Taifun, additional internal fuel, and stronger landing gear for higher takeoff weights. It also added two side-by-side fuselage pylons for drop tanks or gun pods. The new radar proved to be an almost total disaster, and in 1973 the Su-15T gave way to the Su-15TM, with a new ogival nose radome to accomodate the heavily revised Taifun-M radar.

Despite its powerful radar, the 'Flagon,' like most Soviet interceptors before the late 1980s, was heavily dependent on ground control interception (GCI), with aircraft vectored onto targets by ground radar stations.

Primary armament of the Su-15 were the R-8 (later R-98) air-to-air missile (AA-3 'Anab'). Early models carried two missiles, but 'Flagon-D' and later versions could carry four. Like most Soviet missiles, the R-98 was made in both infrared and semi-active radar homing versions, and standard practice was to carry the weapons in pairs to give the greatest chance of a successful hit. Later 'Flagon-F' models often carried two R-98s and one or two pairs of short-range R-60 (AA-8 'Aphid'] missiles. They also sometimes carried a pair of UPK-23-250 23mm gun pods on the fuselage pylons.

Like the original Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, the 'Flagon' had exceptional speed and rate of climb, but its turn performance and agility left something to be desired. The Su-15 was a "hot ship" in every respect. Take-off and landing speeds were very high, and the aircraft was extremely unforgiving of pilot error. It was intended as a stand-off interceptor, not an agile fighter, and did not suffer fools gladly.

Other Su-15 models included:

• T-58VD ('Flagon-B'): One-off prototype using three Kolesov lift-jets in the center fuselage to provide STOL capability. Not mass-produced.
• Su-15U: Two-seat, combat-capable trainer based on the Su-15F, with a rear instructor seat replacing a fuselage fuel tank. Instructor was provided with a periscope to improve the miserable visibility.
• Su-15UT: Trainer version of Su-15T. Both Su-15U and Su-15UT were known as 'Flagon-C' to NATO.
• Su-15UM ('Flagon-G'): Trainer version of Su-15TM.

As one of the Soviet Union's principal interceptors, the Su-15 was involved in a number of incidents with foreign aircraft. One such attack was in 1978, when a Korean Airlines airliner was attacked over Murmansk by a PVO Su-15. Although the civilian aircraft survived the missile hit, it subsequently crashed, killing two passengers. In 1981 a Baku, Azerbaijan-based Su-15 rammed an Iranian Canadair CL-44, apparently as a deliberate attack. More notorious was the Korean Air Flight 7 incident in 1983, when a Korean Boeing 747 was shot down by a Su-15TM based on Sakhalin, killing all 246 passengers and 23 crew. Other incidents involving reconaissance and surveillance aircraft may have occurred, but gone unrecorded.

Although it was produced in large numbers, the Su-15, like other highly sensitive Soviet aircraft, was never exported to the Warsaw Pact. Many now belong to the Georgian and Ukrainian air forces following the collapse of the Soviet Union, although few, if any, remain serviceable.

In Russia, the Su-15 was gradually phased out in favour of more advanced interceptors in the early 1990s, including the Su-27 'Flanker' and MiG-31 'Foxhound.'

See also: List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS

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