Hobby Master 1/72 HA9504 Su-30SM Blue 2 Russian Air Force 2009
MAKS-2009 "International Aviation and Space Show" was the biennial gathering where Russian manufacturers display their latest aircraft and weaponry. The show is held at Zhukovsky International Airport. One of the major contributors is the JSC Sukhoi Company manufacturer of the Su- line of aircraft. One of their aircraft on display was Russian Air Force Su-30MK 02 Blue code black 722 piloted by Yuriy Vaschuk. The Su-30 began as an internal Sukhoi Su-27 but was revamped, accepted and named by Russian Defense Ministry in 1996.
The Sukhoi Su-30, initially named Su-27PU, is a two-seat multi-role fighter that evolved from the Su-27UB trainer version. The Su-30 was given new avionics and weapons for ground attack abilities. The aircraft began production in 1992 and in 1996 was renamed Su-30, NATO name is Flanker. The Su-30 has several variants, India has the MKI, Algeria has the MKA and Malaysia the MKM and Russia the SM. These 4 variants all have thrust vectoring and canards for added stability to compensate for the nose-heavy radars. There are several other Su-30 variants without canards.