Timeline Su-27

The Soviet answer to the F-15: a long-range, highly manoeuvrable fighter whose airframe spawned the Su-30, Su-35 and Chinese J-11 families.

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Dashed left edge = started before this timeline · Dashed right edge = still ongoing

Su-27 12

1977 T-10 prototype first flight The first Su-27 Test pilot Vladimir Ilyushin flies the T-10. Its performance disappoints, and Sukhoi redesigns almost the entire aircraft before production.
1981 T-10S first flight The Su-27 reborn The redesigned T-10S flies — almost a new aircraft, and the true prototype of the production Su-27.
1985 Su-27 enters Soviet service The counterpart to the F-15 The redesigned Su-27 enters service with Soviet air defence and frontal aviation units as the counterpart to the American F-15.
1986 – 1988 P-42 climb records Beating the Streak Eagle A stripped Su-27, the P-42, sets a series of time-to-climb records, beating those of the F-15 Streak Eagle.
1987 Barents Sea collision Su-27 meets P-3 Orion A Soviet Su-27 intercepting a Norwegian P-3 Orion clips it with its tail fin. Both aircraft return safely.
1989 Pugachev's Cobra Paris Air Show Viktor Pugachev pulls an Su-27 up beyond the vertical and back in a single sweep, a manoeuvre that makes the fighter an air-show star in the West.
1989 First Soviet conventional carrier landing Su-27K on the Tbilisi Viktor Pugachev lands the Su-27K naval prototype on the carrier Tbilisi — later Admiral Kuznetsov — the first conventional jet landing on a Soviet carrier.
1992 China buys the Su-27 Start of the J-11 line China takes delivery of its first Su-27s and later builds its own versions as the J-11.
1999 Su-27's first air combat Eritrean–Ethiopian War Ethiopian Su-27s shoot down Eritrean MiG-29s — the Flanker's first air-to-air victories.
2002 India inducts the Su-30MKI The Flanker family grows The two-seat Su-30MKI, a thrust-vectoring Su-27 derivative, enters Indian service and becomes the backbone of its air force.
2002 Sknyliv air show disaster Lviv, Ukraine A Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 crashes into spectators during an air show near Lviv, killing 77 people — the deadliest air-show accident in history.
2023 Su-27 downs a US MQ-9 Reaper Black Sea A Russian Su-27 dumps fuel on and strikes a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea, forcing it down.