Sukhoi S-54

what is it?

The Sukhoi S-54 was a series of three closely related aircraft proposals; the S-54 trainer aircraft, S-55 light fighter designed for export, and the S-56 carrier-capable light fighter. All members of the family resemble the Sukhoi Su-27 in general form, or the Sukhoi Su-33 more closely, but built around a single Saturn AL-31 engine instead of two, and scaled down accordingly to a smaller layout. The design was offered to several potential customers, including South Africa and India, but was turned down.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 jet engine · 9.8 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 1,660 km/htop speed
• range 2,000 kmwithout refuelling
• size 9,410 kgmax take-off weight

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🏎️Top speed is 12.8× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 💥Faster than sound: up to Mach 1.3 (sea-level speed of sound ≈ 1,235 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 9.8 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 2,000 km: 11× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 2.0× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

—

number built

—

role

trainer / light fighter

origin

Russian Federation

engines

1× Saturn AL-31FL

crew

1

length

12.3 m

wingspan

9.8 m

height

4.5 m

max take-off weight

9,410 kg

top speed

1,660 km/h

range

2,000 km

ceiling

18,000 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.