Su-17

The **Su-17** “Fitter” is PACT's attack aircraft. Its counterpart is the NATO AJS 37. It saw extensive and widespread use in both Soviet and foreign air forces. The Fitter was the first aircraft in Sky Knights to feature variable sweep wings.

### In-Game Description

The Fitter uses two Nudelman-Rikhter NR-30 30mm cannons as its gun, with a pair of R-73 "Archer" heatseeking missiles. The Nr-30 is an outdated design compared to its replacement the Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23, with a significantly lower rate of fire, but higher caliber and muzzle velocity. However, the Su-17 has similar overall gun damage with slightly better damage against vehicles. The Fitter is armed with 20 S-5 Rockets for air-to-ground use. These do very little damage and require multiple rockets to destroy IFVs. However, a full attack run can be extremely damaging to a FOB. The Su-17’s rockets have a similar capacity for base damage as a MiG-29 armed with 4 bombs.

The Fitter has the unique feature of variable sweep wings. This allows for both good low speed maneuverability and a very high max speed. In-game, this is treated as two separate modes with different values for turning power, max speed, takeoff speed, and cruise speed at 0% throttle. Switching between these modes is achieved with the Aircraft Ability keybind. While some time elapses in traversing the wings, the stat change is instantaneous. The change in speeds for takeoff and 0% throttle makes landing difficult while the wings are swept back. Without upgrades, a Su-17 requires almost an entire runway to takeoff with the wings swept back, often resulting in crashes when attempted. As such, it is recommended to sweep the wings forward during either takeoff or landing. Additionally, with the wings swept back the combination of low turning power, high speed, and rockets make the Su-17 well suited for attacking aircraft on the runway.

### Obtaining

The Su-17 must be unlocked by completing Race 4 in under 1 minute. After it has been unlocked, you can equip the Su-17 by replacing one of the aircraft in your Deck with the Su-17 under the Profile tab from the main menu.

### Combat History

The Fitter was developed from the Su-7 to address the performance issues at low speed of the swept wing fighter bomber. Its variable geometry wings could be swept to three different angles while the inboard section stayed static to reduce the shift in balance with wing sweep and simplify production. The Su-17 entered service in 1970 and saw combat for the first time nine years later in Afghanistan. While it could not compete in the close air support role with the more capable Su-25, the Fitter had excellent combat readiness. The aircraft was exported to numerous countries and saw service in the Iran-Iraq War as well as several other conflicts. The Su-17 was eventually retired by Russia in 1998, but is still in operation in other countries today.

### Skins

There are currently 3 skins available for the Su-17: Default, Woodland, and Desert.

* Default: A grey monotone skin available to all players.
* Woodland: A green and tan four-color camouflage skin available to Patreon supporters of the Colonel tier and higher.
* Desert: A tan and brown two-color camouflage skin available to Patreon supporters of the Colonel tier and higher.