Sukhoi Su-33: Russia’s troubled carrier-based fighter to be withdrawn from service

Summary and key points: The Sukhoi Su-33, a carrier-capable fighter jet originally designed for the Soviet Union’s aircraft carriers, has been plagued by numerous problems over the years, making it one of Russia’s least capable air platforms.

-Although derived from the Su-27 Flanker, the Su-33 has struggled with reliability and performance, as evidenced by accidents during operations.

-Failed export attempts and competition from more capable aircraft like the MiG-29K and China’s reverse-engineered J-15 have further diminished the Su-33’s relevance.

-Given its poor record, the Russian government may consider retiring or eliminating the Su-33 fleet.

The Su-33: Russia’s carrier-based fighter with a troubled past

The Sukhoi Su-33 multirole fighter was originally designed to provide the Soviet Union’s aircraft carriers with a powerful jet. After the collapse of the USSR, many Soviet-era platforms and equipment suffered from a lack of resources and priorities during the formation of the new Russian government.

The Su-33 airframe may well be Russia’s least capable aircraft in terms of air performance, given that the platform has been plagued with numerous problems over the years.

Although the lackluster fighter jet is technically still in service with the Russian Air Force today, the Kremlin is expected to consider retiring or completely abandoning the entire Su-33 program in the near future.

Presentation of the Su-33

In the 1970s, the USSR’s only carrier-capable aircraft was unable to fulfill its intended role due to a lack of range and payload. Meanwhile, the former USSR tasked its engineers with building a new fighter that would not hamper the capabilities of the country’s Project 1143 aircraft carriers. Like so many other modern Russian fighters, the Su-33 prototype was derived from the existing Su-27 “Flanker” fighter. Originally called the Su-27K, the Su-33 was later renamed after entering service in the late 1990s.

Despite its superficial resemblance to the Su-27 Flanker, the Su-33 (nicknamed Flanker-D by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) has several practical differences. The Su-33 has reinforced landing gear, folding wings, and slightly more power.

The Al-31F3 engines and more technical landing gear, among other atypical capabilities compared to its predecessor, were added. The design differences of the Su-33 were aimed at improving the airframe’s takeoff and landing capabilities on aircraft carriers. An additional difference between the two airframes is that the Su-33 Flanker-D has two more hardpoints than the Su-27 Flanker.

As for ammunition, the Su-33 can be equipped with a wide variety of munitions on its external hardpoints. As summarized in a previous article, these munitions include “R-27R1(ER1), R-27T1(ET1) and R-73E air-to-air missiles, S-8KOM, S-8OM, S-8BM S-13T, S-13OF and S-25-OFM-PU unguided missiles, Kh-25MP, Kh-31 and Kh-41 guided missiles, RBK-500 cluster bombs and electronic countermeasures modules.” The Flanker-D is also equipped with 30mm Gsh-30-I cannons.

How a Su-33 crashed off the Mediterranean

The Su-33 platform gained some notoriety in 2016, when one of these fighters crashed during air operations off the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. According to the official report, the fighter jet crashed while attempting to land due to faulty cables.

Unfortunately, this crash is not the first incident aboard the Admiral Kuznetsov during Moscow’s military deployment off the coast of Syria. A few weeks earlier, a MiG-29K fighter jet also crashed while recovering its equipment from the aircraft carrier.

The MiG-29K platform was intended to replace the Russian Navy’s Su-33 Flanker-D fleet, despite the fact that the latter had a much greater range and maneuverability potential. However, the MiG-29K fighter is better suited for ground strikes than the Su-33 and can carry a wider selection of munitions.

Sukhoi Su-33: a story of failed attempts

Moscow has been trying to export its latest Su-33 fighters to foreign customers. In the early 2000s, Beijing had planned to acquire the combat platform, but the deal fell through after it was revealed that China had already purchased a Su-33 aircraft from Ukraine, which it planned to reverse-engineer.

In fact, it is widely believed that the Chinese Shenyang J-15 fighter is a carbon copy of the Russian Su-33 fighter.

The Su-33’s poor track record and dismal operational history make the platform a prime candidate for early retirement. Moscow might be better off getting rid of its remaining Flanker-Ds altogether.

About the author: Maya Carlin

Maya Carlin is an analyst at the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has written for numerous publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel.

All images are Creative Commons and/or Shutterstock.