Su-7

On 14 May 1953, the Sukhoi OKB was reopened and initially tasked with copying the American F-86 Sabre fighter.[1] By the summer, the OKB began work on a swept-wing

tactical fighter for establishing air superiority over the battlefield (frontovoi istrebitel, фронтовой истребитель, front-line fighter in Soviet terminology). The first prototype,

designated S-1, was designed to use the new Lyulka AL-7 turbojet and it was the first Soviet aircraft to utilize the all-moving tailplane and a translating centerbody, a movable

cone in the air intake for managing airflow to the engine at supersonic speeds.[2] The aircraft also had a dramatic wing sweep of 60°, irreversible hydraulically boosted controls,

and an ejection seat of OKB's own design.[1]
The S-1 first flew on 7 September 1955 with A. G. Kochetkov at the controls. Fitted with an afterburning version of the AL-7 engine after the first 11 flights, the prototype set a

Soviet speed record of 2,170 km/h (1,170 kn, 1,350 mph, Mach 2.04) in April 1956.[2] The prototype was intended to be armed with three 37 mm Nudelman N-37 cannon and

32 spin-stabilized 57 mm (2.25 in) unguided rockets in a ventral tray.[2] The second prototype, S-2, introduced some aerodynamic refinements. Testing was complicated by the

unreliable engine and S-1 was lost in a crash on 23 November 1956, killing its pilot I. N. Sokolov.[1] The aircraft entered service as Su-7 in 1959, although it saw only limited

operational use.