Sukhoi Su-30MKM

what is it?

The Sukhoi Su-30MKM (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) is a twin-engine supermaneuverable fighter of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF). It is a variant of the Su-30 series fighters, with many significant improvements over the original Su-30MK export version. The Su-30MKM was developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau and is based on the Su-30MKI of the Indian Air Force.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 jet engines · 14.7 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 2,120 km/htop speed
• range 3,000 kmwithout refuelling
• size 38.8 tmax take-off weight
• built 18made in total

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

• 🎂First flew 23 years ago, in 2003.
• 🏎️Top speed is 16.3× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 💥Faster than sound: up to Mach 1.7 (sea-level speed of sound ≈ 1,235 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 14.7 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 6 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 3,000 km: 17× 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

2003

introduced

2007

status

still flying

number built

18

role

air superiority fighter, multirole fighter

origin

🇷🇺 Russia

makers

Yakovlev Corporation

engines

2× Lyulka AL-31FP

crew

2

length

21.9 m

wingspan

14.7 m

height

6.4 m

max take-off weight

38.8 t

top speed

2,120 km/h

range

3,000 km

ceiling

17,300 m

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

family