Sukhoi Su-48

The Su-48 is a multirole fighter

The Su-48 is the Red Star Alliance’s newest jet fighter, one evolution past previous swept wing design experiments. In the Su-48, the Russians got it right.

It carries a powerful array of missiles – air-to-air and air-to-surface – to engage a wide variety of targets. It has the mandatory, last-ditch 20mm gatling cannon for close-quarters fire and strafing, as well as a Domovoi universal missile decoy launcher.

However, of interest is its old-fashioned external hardpoint weapon mounts which carry its fearsome array of missiles. These mounts reduce the overall range of the aircraft (it increases drag), but not having to open a weapon bay makes it faster than the F40 to launch a snapshot missile during close-in dogfighting.

All-in-all, because of its lesser stealth capabilities, (as measured by the F40) some call it more of a ‘budget’ aircraft. However Russian designers strove for a design that would win a split-second dogfight standoff vs. evading radar to get deep into enemy territory. In all tests to date, all evidence points toward the F40 having a counterpart to be concerned with.