- "The best Flanker there is. Superior ground combat ability and thrust vectoring provide excellent maneuverability."
The Su-30MKI (Given the moniker Zhuravlik in Airforce Delta Storm) is a variant of the standard Su-30, designed for the Indian Air Force. It is a multirole variant of the Flanker family. It has appeared in Airforce Delta Storm and Airforce Delta Strike. It is put in the player's hangar after completing Fortress in the Sky in AFD Storm and is available to Ruth Valentine in AFD Strike.
Design
The Su-30MKI's design is largely the same as most other Flankers, being a twin-finned aircraft with wings that are essentially a cross between swept wings and a cropped delta. Like the Su-37 and the Su-33 "Flanker D", it possesses forward canard wings.
Performance
Airforce Delta Storm
This plane is an above-average craft, unlocked in the mid-game. All of its stats are high, with the lowest stat being Attack (which is only medium-high at that). It does have stiff competition with the F-15S/MT Active however. It possesses better Attack and Defense, but the F-15S possesses better speed, mobility, and range. However, the F-15S is a secret plane (unlocked by finding a hidden airbase in the first chapter) and costs a pretty penny at that, while the Su-30MKI is easy to unlock by comparison and is completely free. If you missed the F-15S in the first chapter, this can fill its niche fairly well.
Airforce Delta Strike
This craft is the sole multirole Flanker. It has good attack stats for both air and ground, though it leans more towards anti air use. Mobility is at the same levels as the Su-27LL-UV(PS) and the Su-33 "Flanker D" (Though lower than the Su-35 and the Su-37). Not only that, but it possesses the highest defenses out of all of the Flankers, excluding the two ground-attacking Flankers. This makes it arguably Ruth's best plane, as it possesses great stats all around, and lacks the downsides her other "best" planes have (It doesn't have internal bomb-bays and doesn't lack a vulcan like the YF-23A Black Widow II, and it has much more solid anti-air stats than the F-15E Strike Eagle). Even better? You unlock this thing by completing four missions as Ruth. You can unlock this thing very early on as a result.
Statistics
Airforce Delta Storm
Attack: Medium-high
Defense: Maximum (5800 HP)
Speed: High
Power: Very high
Mobility: Very high
Missile: 75
Ability: No
Range: 3
(There are no differences in stats between the US and PAL versions)
Airforce Delta Strike
(Clockwise starting from top)
Anti Air Attack: Medium-high
Mobility: High
Defense: High (3300 HP)
Anti Ground Attack: Medium
Thrust: Very high
Speed: Medium
Prominent Appearances in Missions
Airforce Delta Storm
- Su-30MKI Zhuravliks appear as enemies in the missions Attack of the Tyrant and Destroy the Tyrant. They are not required kills.
Airforce Delta Strike
- David Smith, Collette Le Clerc, and Constance Le Clerc are seen piloting Su-30MKIs in the pre-mission cutscene of Night Blitz.
- Su-30MKIs appear alongside the I-2000 LFS and the S-55 LFS in the final few Earth missions.
Gallery
Airforce Delta Storm
Airforce Delta Strike
Trivia
- Interestingly, the PAL version of this plane in Airforce Delta Storm has a different paint job than the US version. The same is also true for several other aircraft, such as the Lavi.
- This same paint scheme would be used for Collete and Constance's Su-30MKI in the pre-mission cutscene for Night Blitz. Meanwhile, Ruth only has access to the NTSC paint scheme.
- Oddly, while the Airforce Delta Storm enemy Su-30MKI in all regions has the same pattern as the NTSC version, its color scheme is the same as the PAL version.