The Sukhoi Su-37 Terminator was a technological showcase for the Russian aviation industry. Equipped with thrust-vectoring nozzles, improved radar, and advanced avionics, the Su-37 exhibited phenomenal maneuverability and air-to-air combat capability. Although an extremely responsive dogfighter, it was demanding of skilled pilots and difficult to handle. The airplane not only stunned spectators at airshows with its maneuverability, but also promised to usher in a new generation of air superiority.
The Su-37 prototype was lost in a 2002 crash caused by software failure, and the horizontal stabilizer detached during flight as a result of too frequent crossing of g-limits during its service life.
Two experimental Lyulka-Saturn AL-31FP engines, a development of the Su-27’s AL-31F turbofan, powered the Su-37 initially before newer AL-37FU engines were ready. The prototype was replaced in 2001 with AL-37FU engines, new avionics, and fly-by-wire control system. Pilots communicated with the advanced systems of the vehicle via four multi-function full-color LCD screens, an enormous improvement from that of the previous vehicle. The radar system alone, the N011M Bars, was a marvel that could target and lock onto twenty targets simultaneously, better performance than the Su-27’s outdated radar. The Su-37 also had a heavy weapons payload capacity, with 12 hardpoints and the capability to hold a total weight of 8,000 kg of missiles, from a complement of short-range R-73E and R-77 missiles for air-to-air combat purposes, to missiles for ground attack missions.
Its aerobatic maneuvers were breathtaking, showcased during such high-profile exhibitions as the Farnborough Airshow in September 1996, where it executed the “Super Cobra” maneuver—a trial to the great maneuverability of the aircraft as well as to its pilots’ capability.
The crash ended the Su-37 program. Sukhoi did continue to produce numerous Su-27 modernizations, however, such as the Su-30MKI and Su-35BM and both of them used technology developed during the Su-37, such as the thrust vectoring motors, better radar gear, and avionics.
