The Su-27 Flanker-B featured in these missions has a greater all-round speed than the F/A-18 or the F-16. At 25,000 feet you can reach a top speed of 2.7 MACH, or 2.7 times the speed of sound. The Flanker has a slightly faster rate of acceleration than the Hornet.
At 1,000 feet you can comfortably cruise at just under 1.0 MACH, even when carrying 4 AAMs.
The Flanker can carry about one third more fuel internally than the F/A-18. The Flanker can carry 15,000 lbs of fuel, while the F/A-18 is left with only 10,200 lbs. 15,000 lbs of fuel is enough for about 56 minutes of flight at 100% thrust.
You can add three external tanks to the Flanker, giving you a very hefty 22,500 lbs of fuel. This is enough for about 99 minutes of flight at 100% thrust. However you will not need that much fuel on any of the 34 missions. There are no "ferry" missions in the SU27 STRiKER set, and adding more than one external fuel tank may decrease your effectiveness in a fight... it's up to you.
22,500 lbs of fuel will also allow you to reach 75,000 feet (above sea level), though you may find it necessary to employ full afterburner with a high AOA just above stall speed to maintain level flight. This is not tactical, as the Allied missiles will easily catch you if you maintain level flight for any length of time.
The corner velocity (or the speed at which it will pull the fastest, tightest turn to put it simply) of the Su-27 Flanker-B in this simulation is about 400 KIAS (knots indicated airspeed). Soviet designed aircraft employed metric measurements of meters and kilometers, you will still use miles and feet in this version.
Due to it's high speed and acceleration you may find that you can outrun the Allied fighters, sometimes easily. Use the Training missions to experiment. However you are there to fight so don't run away too much, instead disengage and extend (meaning break off briefly from a fight and put some distance between yourself and the enemy to achieve a more advantageous position).
While it is good practice to maintain a high closure rate when flying at the enemy fighters, you will find that they will pull lead on you. They will try to minimize any separation on the merge and they will take the head-on shot, (in other words they will A) track you, B) fly right at you pointing their noses just ahead of you, and C) they will shoot you as you pass them by). If you survive a head-on pass and extend past them, you will sometimes find that you are now going way above 800 KIAS. This is not a Hornet you are flying... At this speed it will take you a long time to get turned around and as the enemies carry all-aspect missiles you will be defensive far sooner then you hoped or wished for. So a high rate of closure is preferable (speed = life) but too high is worse than too low, so watch your throttle.
You can now "pull" you wingmen Flankers into formation with you for extended periods as they have the fuel to survive the constant changes in speed. The Hornet wingmen find it harder as they go to "bingo" fuel sooner. If you are flying in formation with your Flanker wingmen following your lead at speeds above 420 KIAS they will use afterburner more and more (even if you are not) to maintain a formation with you. Be careful that you do not over-extend their capabilities.
