Key Points and Summary – The Sukhoi Su-37 “Terminator” was a 1990s tech-demonstrator evolved from the Su-27M/Su-35 lineage to showcase extreme agility and advanced avionics.
-Featuring AL-37FU thrust-vectoring engines integrated with flight controls, canards, and phased-array radar—including a rear-facing set—it stunned crowds at Farnborough ’96 and Paris ’97 with super-maneuvers like Cobra variants and near-zero-speed control.
-The single prototype (converted T-10M airframe) promised Mach 2.3 performance, a 61,700-ft ceiling, and 12 hardpoints, but crashed in 2002 after a horizontal stabilizer failure attributed to fatigue from years of high-G testing.
-Though no replacements followed, its technologies fed directly into the modern Su-35 “Super Flanker.”
Su-37 Terminator Prototype Explainer
To cinema buffs, “The Terminator” signifies the blockbuster dystopian sci-fi/action-adventure film franchise starring Arnold (“Ahh-nuld”) Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton.
In the military context, the nickname “The Terminator” has been applied to two different Russian-made war machines.
First, there’s the BMPT “Terminator” armored fighting vehicle (AFV). And then there’s the current subject at hand, the Sukhoi Su-37 “Terminator” technology demonstrator and would-be air superiority jet fighter.
Sukhoi Su-37 “Terminator” Initial History and Concept
Officially designated with the NATO reporting name of “Flanker-F,” the Su-37 was designed by Sukhoi Design Bureau (now formally known as JSC Sukhoi Company; headquartered in the Begovoy District of Moscow), derived from that same firm’s original “Flanker,” the 4th Generation Cold War Soviet-era Su-27 (which had debuted in 1985).
More specifically, according to Gabriel Centeno in a August 23, 2024 article for AeroFlap, “Through the Su-27M project, also called Su-35 Super Flanker (1st generation of the Su-35 that flies today), the Flanker would receive several upgrades, including new engines, avionics, armaments, a new weapons management system, increased maneuverability and a more robust construction, among other new features…Internally, the jet was called the T-10M, as the Su-27 itself had already been designated T-10 by Sukhoi since the project’s conception. Together with the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association (KnAAPO), Sukhoi began production of the first Su-35 in 1987. Under the command of test pilot Oleg Tsoi, the T-10M-1 made its first flight in June 1988, and more prototypes followed.”
As for the actual Su-37, it made its own maiden flight in April 1996 from the Zhukovsky flight testing center near Moscow; it was the 11th T-10M prototype that was chosen for conversion.
Among the innovative features that the Su-37 possessed were:
-Hydraulically actuated engine nozzles that were steerable -15 to +15 degrees along the vertical plane
-Thrust control is fully integrated into the flight control system, thus requiring no input from the pilot
–NIIP NO-11M pulse-Doppler phased-array nose radar
-Rearward-facing missile system and NIIP NO-12 rear-radar, giving the pilot the ability to fire at threats approaching from behind
The Su-37 was also historically significant as the first Russian aircraft to feature thrust vector control, comparable to that of America’s F-22 Raptor, a 5th-generation stealth fighter.
Su-37 “Terminator” Technical Specifications and Vital Stats
Crew: 1
Fuselage Length: 21.935 meters (72 feet 0 inches)
Wingspan: 14.698 meters (48 ft 3 inches)
Height: 5.932 meters (19 ft 6 inches)
Max Takeoff Weight (MTOW): 34,000 kg (74,957 lb.)
Powerplant: 2 × Lyulka/Saturn AL-37FU (Forsazh Upravlaemoye, meaning “afterburning steerable”) turbofan engines, generating 142 kN (32,000 lbf) in afterburner mode
Max Airspeed: Mach 2.35 (1,803 mph; 2,901 km/h; 15,66 knots)
Range: 3,300 kilometers (2,100 statute miles, 1,800 nautical miles)
Service Ceiling: 18,800 meters (61,700 feet)
g Limits: +9
Armament:
1 x 30mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-30-1 automatic cannon with 150 rounds of ammo
12 x hardpoints (2 x wingtip rails + 10 x wing & fuselage stations) with a carrying capacity of 8,000 kg (17,630 lb.) of ordnance
Operational History in Brief
The Terminator left quite an impression at both the 1996 edition of the Farnborough airshow in England as well as the 1997 Paris airshow (during the latter event, in the spirit of “saving the best for last,” the Su-37 performed its demonstration on the last day).
It wowed spectators with its ability to perform incredibly tight loops, skids in the air, and maintain complete control in low-speed aerobatics, almost stopping in the air, as in the “Super Cobra”, a variant of the famous Soviet test pilot Viktor Pugachev’s Cobra maneuver (which was actually first performed by Mr. Pugachev’s partner, Igor Volk).
Alas, on December 19, 2002, the Terminator’s budding aeronautical career was abruptly terminated when the horizontal stabilizer on the left side broke in the middle of a maneuver, causing the aspiring warbird to spiral out of control and crash. Luckily, the test pilot, Yuri Vashuk, ejected safely.
Postmortem investigations revealed that structural fatigue was the cause of the component failure; this fatigue, in turn, was brought about by the cumulative effects of years of test flights with high-G maneuvers.
Legacy of “The Terminator”
No replacements were built for that lone crashed Su-37, contrary to a September 1998 report which claimed that the manufacturer had built a second Terminator using the twelfth Su-27M airframe
However, as already indicated earlier in this article, its legacy lives on in the modernized (sans canards) Su-35 Flanker-E/M, AKA “Super Flanker,” which made its maiden flight in February 2008. According to the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft (WDMMA), the Russian Aerospace Forces have 114 Su-35 airframes in their fleet, whilst the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has 24 of them.
Su-35 Fighter from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Meanwhile, rumors have it that the Algerian Air Force (Kawat al-Juwiya al-Jazairia; Forces aériennes algériennes) was interested in purchasing the “Super Flanker” along with the Su-34 “Fullback” fighter-bomber; however, this rumor has yet to materialize as reality.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He is also the author of the newly published book “Five Decades of a Fabulous Firearm: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Beretta 92 Pistol Series.”
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