It was intended as a direct competitor for the large US fourth-generation jet fighters such as the Grumman F-14 Tomcat and McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, with 3,530-kilometre (1,910 nmi) range, heavy aircraft ordnance, sophisticated avionics and high maneuverability.

[3] Specifications were extremely ambitious, calling for long-range, good short-field performance (including the ability to use austere runways), excellent agility, Mach 2+ speed, and heavy armament.

The T-10 was influenced by the Sukhoi Aircraft Design Bureau (Su-ADB), Central Aero-Hydrodynamic Institute TsAGI and the Siberian Aviation Research Institute SibNIA in their development of a new aerodynamic scheme labelled the 'integral scheme', where the aircraft would have optimal performance under a longitudinal unstability of 3-5% mean aerodynamic chord while flying in subsonic regimes as well as fly by wire (FBW) for future heavy fighters.

Controlled high angle of attack maneuverability, known as supermaneuverability, was emphasized after a 1980s study by research teams from Su-ADB and TsAGI showing its effectiveness in close combat.

[4] The T-10 was spotted by Western observers initially in satellite photographs at Ramenskoye air base, where it was first called "Ram-K" and later assigned the NATO reporting name 'Flanker-A'.

The development of the T-10 was marked by considerable problems, leading to a fatal crash of the second prototype, the T-10-2 on 7 July 1978,[5] due to shortcomings in the fly-by-wire control system.

The engines were modified to deliver an increase in thrust of 1,000 kg (2,200 lb), resulting in a thrust-to-weight ratio of almost 2:1 (for comparison with standard example see Specifications).

However, the Soviet Air Force favoured the crew station (side-by-side seating) approach used in the Su-24 as it worked better for the high workload and potentially long endurance strike roles.

Thus it was decided to use a takeoff method that did not require catapults by building up full thrust against a blast deflector until the aircraft sheared restraints holding it down to the deck.

[16] The production Su-27K featured the required strengthened landing gear with a two-wheel nose gear assembly, folding stabilators and wings, outer ailerons that extended further with inner double slotted flaps and enlarged leading-edge slats for low-speed carrier approaches, modified leading edge root extension (LERX) with canards, a modified ejection seat angle, upgraded fly-by-wire, upgraded hydraulics, an arresting hook and retractable inflight refuelling probe with a pair of deployable floodlights in the nose to illuminate the tanker at night.

The aim was to produce an airframe with dual roles for the Navy and Air Force suitable for a range of other missions such as reconnaissance, aerial refuelling, maritime strike, and jamming.

The naval trainer had a revised forward fuselage to accommodate a side-by-side cockpit seating arrangement with crew access via a ladder in the nose-wheel undercarriage and enlarged canards, stabilisers, fins and rudders.

[24] The Su-37 is an advanced technology demonstrator derived from Su-35 prototypes, featuring thrust vectoring nozzles made of titanium rather than steel and an updated airframe containing a high proportion of carbon-fibre and Al-Li alloy.

The wings are attached to the center of the fuselage at the leading edge extensions, featuring a semi-delta design, with the tips cropped for missile rails or ECM pods.

In airshows the aircraft has demonstrated its maneuverability with a Cobra maneuver – or dynamic deceleration – briefly sustained level flight at a 120° angle of attack.

[13] On 13 September 1987, a fully armed Soviet Su-27, Red 36, intercepted a Norwegian Lockheed P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft flying over the Barents Sea.

One fighter, piloted by Major Vatslav Aleksandrovich Shipko (Вацлав Александрович Шипко) was reported shot down in friendly fire by an S-75M Dvina on 19 March 1993 while intercepting Georgian Su-25s performing close air support.

[34][35] On 7 February 2013, two Su-27s briefly entered Japanese airspace off Rishiri Island near Hokkaido, flying south over the Sea of Japan before turning back to the north.

The pilot was not found,[43] after a large-scale rescue effort hampered by inclement weather involving four helicopters, 11 civilian and military vessels, and several drones.

In May 1995, Chinese Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Liu Huaqing visited Russia and agreed to the demand, on the condition that the production line of the Su-27 be imported.

[45] At the 2009 Farnborough Airshow, Alexander Fomin- Deputy Director of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Co-operation confirmed the existence of an all-encompassing contract and ongoing licensed production of Su-27 variants by China.

[58] Exercise Pitch Black 12 was conducted from 27 July through 17 August 2012, and involved 2,200 personnel and up to 94 aircraft from Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand and the United States.

[29] In 2009, amid declining relations with Russia, the Ukrainian Air Force began to have difficulty obtaining spare parts from Sukhoi.

[63][64] The Zaporizhzhya Aircraft Repair Plant "MiGremont" [uk] in Zaporizhzhia began modernizing the Su-27 to NATO standards in 2012, which involved a minor overhaul of the radar, navigation and communication equipment.

[66] In 2014 during the Annexation of Crimea, a Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 was scrambled to intercept Russian fighter jets over Ukraine's airspace over the Black Sea on 3 March.

[71][72] On 15 December, an Su-27 crashed on final approach about 2 km (1 mi) from Ozerne Air Base in Zhytomyr Oblast, after performing a training flight.

[74] On 4 September 2020, three B-52 bombers from the 5th Bomb Wing, Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, conducted vital integration training with Ukrainian MiG-29s and Su-27s inside Ukraine’s airspace.

[77] The next day, another Su-27 was shot down in Kyiv by a Russian S-400 system[78] and was recorded by residents on their cell phones and published on Twitter;[79] its pilot, Colonel Oleksandr Oksanchenko, was killed.

[81] On 7 May 2022, a pair of Ukrainian Su-27s conducted a high-speed, low-level bombing run on Russian-occupied Snake Island; the attack was captured on film by a Bayraktar TB2 drone.

[143] On 30 August 2010, the Financial Times claimed that a Western private training support company ECA Program placed a US$1.5 billion order with Belarusian state arms dealer BelTechExport for 15 unarmed Su-27s (with an option on 18 more) to organize a dissimilar air combat training school in the former NATO airbase in Keflavik, Iceland, with deliveries due by the end of 2012.