SEVEROMORSK. Nov 11 (Interfax-AVN) - Tests of the new SU-27KUB multifunctional deck fighter (chief designer Konstantin Marbashev) have ended successfully at the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier in the Barents Sea, a spokesman for the Northern Fleet headquarters said on Thursday.
Take-off and landing, as well as aerial maneuvering, were practiced during the tests, the spokesman told Interfax.
"Even though the SU-27KUB is not a new development of the domestic aircraft industry, it previously landed on airfields only. Landing on a deck in the northern seas was performed for the first time," the spokesman said.
He stressed that unlike its predecessor, the SU-33 Flanker, which is intended for dogfight, the SU-27KUB is also capable of hitting ground and sea surface targets efficiently. In addition, the SU-27KUB is different from the SU-33 in having a two-seat cockpit with side-by-side positions of pilots.
In addition to the SU-27KUB, flights were made by other fighters stationed aboard the aircraft carrier, as well as by deck helicopters.
When the tests were completed, the Admiral Kuznetsov returned to its base in the Sevmorput ship-repair plant in Murmansk.