In the background of International aerospace salon (MAKS) there is an aircraft park of abandoned airplanes. Unfortunately, the territory is surrounded by a fence but many things can still be seen. The legendary Buran is located here as well, by the way.
The Sukhoi Su-15 (NATO reporting name ‘Flagon’) was a twin-engined supersonic interceptor developed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s.
The Su-15UT (NATO “Flagon-C”). Airplanes like Su-15 had been in arsenal of Russia till 1994.
The Su-15s are closely related to interception of those planes that have violated the air space of the USSR. One such case occurred in 1978 in Karelia when Boeing-707 that flied from Paris to Anchorage violated the Soviet border near Murmansk. Pilots of Boeing-707 were asked to land but with no success and the plane was brought down.
Another incident took place in 1983 when a passenger airplane from South Korea violated the border of the USSR in the region of Kamchatka and was annihilated. It is believed that this resulted in death of 269 people who were aboard Boeing-707.
In 1981 Su-15 performed a successful ram attack of the CL-44 that had violated the border from the side of Iran. The pilot of the Su-15 had ejected successfully and was awarded the Red Star.
These are some of its general characteristics:
Length: 22,03 m
Wingspan: 9.34 m
Height: 4.84 m
Wing area: 36.6 m² (394 ft²)
Empty weight: 10,874 kg
Loaded weight: 17,900 kg
The Tupolev Tu-16 (NATO reporting name: Badger) was a twin-engine jet bomber used by the Soviet Union. It has flown for more than 50 years, and the Chinese license-built Xian H-6 remains in service with the Chinese air force.
Su-27.
MiG-21.
MiG-29 without engines.
Buran.
Tu134-UBL.
The first was made in 1981. It is intended for flying both under simple and complicated meteorological conditions.
Tu-155 was the first airplane in the world that had used compressed natural gas.
It made the first flight in 1988.
Location: Zhukovsky
via dmitrydreamer
We are lucky WW3 was not started over the tragic series of events that led to the shooting down of that South Korean plane.
You’re right geoff, that was a pretty tense time!
it is an abandoned aircraft, why not sell it?
Lots of governments keep old military planes like these, because in some cases they can be returned to flight status if a war breaks out (and they’re needed), or sometimes they simply keep them for parts that are no longer made. Some times, they keep them simply to keep them out of the hands of other people.
Leaving these arcraft in open field is the cheapest way. Russian government does not have money even for properly scarapping of old military material – you can see rusting wrecks of soviet warships sunken in russian harbors.
“In 1981 Su-15 performed a successful ram attack of the CL-44″
Why did it ram the other plane out of the sky ?
Even without reading about the incident I can make some educated guesses:
1- Out of ammo (defect guns or empty).
2- Bingo in fuel reserves.
3- No time to make a classic shot-down ie:Too close of a critical area or even installation (Military airfield or government building).
This happened in 1981, CL-44 returning from Iran to Cyprus was attacked in Azerbajain airspace. When CL-44 performed evasive maneuver, Su-15 crashed into it from behind. Su-15 pilot was able to eject.
@ptc: Thanks for the info.
The plane shot down was a 747-200 btw, not a 707.
USSR/Russia is the same today, same regime in power just a new name.
The only manufacturing in Russia today still is weapons they are the worlds #1 supplier of war goods.
The Bear of Russia never went to sleep, it is still alive and well.
Between China and Russia their military might is unstoppable.
I see the tail of a US C5 Galaxy in the background of a couple of those pics (MIG 21).
Did your pics get hacked? What’s up with the first few pictures and that tail fin.