Sukhoi Su-34 - Design

Design

The aircraft shares most of its wing structure, tail, and engine nacelles with the Su-27/Su-30, with canards like the Su-30MKI/Su-33/Su-27M/35 to increase static instability (higher manoeuvrability) and to reduce trim drag. The aircraft has an entirely new nose and forward fuselage with a cockpit providing side-by-side seating for a crew of two. The Su-34 is powered by the AL-31FM1, the same engines as the Su-27SM, but its maximum speed is lower at Mach 1.8+.

The Su-34 has a three surface planform, with a conventional horizontal tail at the rear and a pair of canard foreplanes in front of the wings for extra lift and more manoeuvring power. At the 1999 Paris Air show the aircraft was nicknamed the Platypus due to the unusual shape of the nose.

The Su-34 has 12 pylons for up to 8,000 kilograms (17,635 lb) of ordnance, intended to include the latest Russian precision-guided weapons. It retains the Su-27/Su-30's 30 mm GSh-30-1 cannon. The Su-34 ordnance load includes subsonic and supersonic homing missiles and glider bombs, which can destroy hardened and well-camouflaged targets at a range of up to 250 km.

The Su-34's most distinctive feature is the unusually large flight deck. Much of the design work went into crew comfort. The two crew members sit side by side in a large cabin, with the pilot-commander to the left and navigator/operator of weapons to the right in NPP Zvezda K-36dm ejection seats. An advantage of the side by side cockpit is that duplicate instruments are not required for each pilot. As long missions require comfort, it has pressurisation that it allows to operate up to 10,000 metres (32,800 ft) without oxygen masks, which are available for emergencies and combat situations. The crew members have room to stand and move about the cabin during long missions. The space between the seats allows them to lie down in the corridor, if necessary. A toilet and a galley are located behind the crew seats.