Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker-B – Compass Ghost Grey scheme, Ukrainian Air Force, Ukraine, 2023

Hobby Master 1/72 scale HA6021: Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker-B in Compass Ghost Grey scheme, Ukrainian Air Force, Ukraine, 2023. Includes AGM-88 HARM and IRIS-T Missiles plus an optional Decal Sheet to produce several different earlier aircraft. These codes were removed for the current war with Russia to disguise identity. Production run of 1,000 models

Length 12 inches Wingspan 8 inches

In mid-2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US supplied AGM-88 HARM missiles to Ukraine. It was only disclosed after Russian forces showed footage of a tail fin from one of these missiles in early August 2022. During early September 2022, a Ukrainian Su-27S was spotted with an AGM-88 HARM fitted on the wing pylons. This is the first case of an Su-27 being spotted with an AGM-88 fitted. The missile has been directly fitted to the APU-470 missile launchers, the same launcher used by MiG-29 and Su-27 to fire missiles like the R-27 (air-to-air missile). This suggests that mounting the missile on Soviet aircraft is much easier than experts initially believed. Being as simple as “requiring just an interface for the different wirings and the hanging points of the missile”. The earlier footage of a Ukrainian MiG-29 using an AGM-88 indicated that the display recognized the missile as a R-27EP, which is designed to lock onto airborne radars. This suggests that the aircraft are using their own avionics to fire the missile, without the need for additional modifications.

Designed by the Soviet Union to challenge the superiority of fourth generation US fighters such as the F-15 Eagle, the Su-27 was first flown on May 20, 1977. This one seat Mach-2 fighter had the Soviet Union’s first operational fly-by-wire system. The aircraft is very large compared to the MiG-29, its closest Soviet counterpart, but it is built with a high percentage of titanium, which helps minimize its weight. It is exceptionally agile and is perhaps most famous for its “Cobra” manoeuvre, which is a short, sustained level flight at a 120 degree angle of attack, often performed at air shows.