Sukhoi Fighter

**Key Features** |  » "Matryoshka" Burst-missiles (x12), "Sidedancer" Quick Maneuver Missiles (x6) » M63 Vulcan 20mm rotary gun » Emergency auto-eject system » VTOL capable 3D Thrust Vectoring » Attitude (Fighter Pilot standard)

## Tactical Analysis

* *From Russia with love*: While the M-Type "Matryoshka" missile system have tempermental lock-on systems which require a moment to ensure a well painted target, the missiles are fire-and-forget, giving the Sukhoi the flexibility to break off the attack and move out of danger. Powerful and with significant fuel reserves, the M-Type missiles can knock out most enemy aircraft in just one shot and has submunitions to hit multiple aircraft at a time. The Sukhoi can only carry twelve such missiles in total, four per wing and four in an internal launch bay, forcing it to return to base periodically to reload or else be forced to rely on its short ranged rotary cannon. It also carries six "Sidedancer" quick maneuver air to air missiles that while more short ranged, pack a very lethal and hard to evade punch.
* *The skies shall be free*: The Sukhoi is one of the best standard air superiority fighters in the world, and the Communist Internationals' superiority in guided missile technologies have allowed its warheads to reap a terrible toll among pilots from opposing power blocs. Agile, fast, decently survivable, and able to destroy enemy aircraft from a significant distance, the Su-39 has taken all comers during the third world war and various post war conflicts and come out on top. Virtually no other plane in the world can match its supermaneuverability. It is particularly dangerous to enemy interceptors, multiroles, escort fighters, carrier fighters, fighter-bombers, flying infantry, and helicopters. When in a bad engagement, the Sukhoi can also activate a sophisticated drone intelligence autopilot system in tandem with its afterburners to rapidly take it back to a designated home base for repairs and re-armament and carries a pair of defense drones to protect it from attempted interception.
* *No Flak for me please*: The Sukhoi is an excellent, high performance aircraft, but it is extremely vulnerable to ground based anti-aircraft fire; being so heavily designed for air to air combat. Its armament is also markedly inefficient for air to ground engagement. Aircraft designed to pierce through air defence grids such as bombers, airships, and CAS aircraft also tend to be inefficient choices of target for the Sukhoi. The Sukhoi's lack of coverage towards its rear has also been noted, a weakness frequently exploited by the Empire's Jet Tengus and VX helicopters.
* *A new spark*: With an upgrade to their power plants and some refitting, the newest mark of Su-39s have been tested with a pair of tesla arc emitters capable of providing 360 degree cover for the Sukhoi; top and bottom. This substantially increases the lethality of the Su-39 in mid to close ranged dog fights and also provides an extra punch against heavier aircraft and ground targets.

## Background

Of all the assorted Comintern design bureaus and military collectives few are as famous in the world of aeronautics as Sukhoi Design Bureau. Ever since 1939, the organisation has been providing world class aircraft for the Communist International. While outshone by other bureaus during the propeller era, it was the Jet Age that would see their star shine. Their first jet, the Su-5 would take first flight in the mid-40s and convinced gathered military officials that the future of aviation was in jets.

The more developed Su-9 would then come to surprise alliance pilots during the opening stages of the second world war by managing to overcome most of the first and second generation jets fielded by the Alliance; denuding Alliance air wings of their escorts and cutting down their interceptor craft, forcing the Alliance to have to commit their newest third generation jets to be guaranteed of air superiority in the shape of the Dassault Mistral. While the Stormchief would end up being the predominant air superiority fighter while the Su-16 ended up being used as an interceptor and the Mig-20 found its place as the multirole, the quality of Sukhoi's designs would not go unnoticed and the Bureau would go on to make many more aircraft for the Workers and Farmers' Revolutionary International Air Force.

Their current air superiority design, the Su-29 fighter and its RIVA favoured Su-39 variant, is in every way a revolutionary design. Its main weapon system is as dependable and successful as any in the world, able to accurately track and destroy enemy aircraft even when confronted with the most advanced in electronic aerial countermeasures. The Su-39's burst-missiles earn their "Matryosha" nickname from the Russian dolls-within-dolls, due to the missiles' multiple sub-warheads that cause explosive damage inside their targets. This makes the Sukhoi well suited to both intercepting enemy air threats and escorting Comintern bombers and ground attack aircraft.

Designed from the ground up as an air superiority fighter, the Sukhoi fighter has weak air-to-ground capability, making it vulnerable to anti-air fire. The aircraft is also inefficient against heavily armoured and wild weasel aircraft for all of its lethality against other fighters, helicopters, interceptors, multiroles, naval aircraft, and flying infantry. However, all pilots are taught the importance of combined arms warfare. If your own aircraft can't handle the mission, trust in your comrades on land, sea, air, and space to meet the challenge and use the strength of your aircraft to avoid danger. War is a contest of material and the strength of organisations as brotherhoods; not a test of the individual skill and flair of singular champions after all.

In spite of the difficulties and dangers of flying the Sukhoi fighter, current Revolutionary International Volunteer Army Air Combat Division and Soviet Red Army Air Force rosters are full to capacity, the result of an unexpected flood of volunteers signing up for the strenuous flight training required to fly this demanding aircraft. This is partly due to an intensive propaganda campaign, but the image of a daring fighter pilot defending the revolution also seems to resonate strongly with the people of the Communist International's many nations. Even Barry Goldwater, famous for "hopping on the first boat to Italy" when released from prison under Premier Eugene Dennis' policies of amnesty to mark the twentieth anniversary of Eugene Debs' death, would give praise to the "noble fighting spirit of the Red flyboy and flygirl, even putting themselves on the line to protect their comrades in more vulnerable planes".

Many still in school and youth civil education programs make note of their desire to serve as a pilot, and so are; after providing informed consent, recommended to flight schools around the communist international. While the training is tough and not everyone gets a high enough grade to pass for that years' program, even the drop outs are are usually instructed well enough to serve with distinction in national and militia air units across the socialist bloc. And it would be this commitment to highly trained pilots that would pay off in spades in the conflict to come to once again defend and advance the revolution against all the forces of reaction.