At the height of the Cold War. the Soviet Union found itself in need of a new fast jet interceptor military aircraft. America had successfully developed new and faster bombers, and the current crop of Soviet interceptors were somewhat limited in their capabilities. The Sukhoi Su-9, and the Su-11, had served the Soviet Air Force well, but there was a need to combat the threat of the Boeing B-52. Something those aircraft were not able to do as effectively as desired.
Sukhoi were happy to rise to the challenge, and came up with a new, front-line design. This new aircraft was first tasked with taking on the newer, and more capable bombers emerging from NATO air forces. This aircraft was the Sukhoi Su-15. code named Flagon by NATO. It was a sleek, missile shaped aircraft that looked much more advanced than the aircraft it would replace. And it would remain a front-line aircraft of the Soviet forces right up until its dissolution in the 1990. It proved to be one of the most capable interceptors in the Soviet Union, and one of the most striking to look at.
The Su-9 and Su-11, both lacked when it came to their radar and overall performance. This set Sukhoi on the path of developing a new, more advanced interceptor to replace both of their previous offerings.
Sukhoi acted fast to get the new aircraft developed, and used a variety of test aircraft such as the Sukhoi T-49, and the T-58. The latter used twin engines, combined with a modified nose from the T-49. Testing proved satisfactory enough that the Soviet Union approved the production of the new Su-15 on February 5th 1962.
the aircraft was officially commissioned on April 3rd 1965. Full service commenced in 1967. Sukhoi would improve upon the Su-15 quite quickly. They redesigned the wing to improve the poor take-off and landing characteristics of the aircraft.
The Su-15 did share many components with its predecessors. but the aircraft was much improved over the Su-9 and Su-11. Its Tumansky R-11F2S-300 turbojets were more powerful than those in the earlier aircraft. Plus, the twin-engine layout at the rear with side intakes meant, there was now room in the nose for a more powerful radar.
In terms of its performance, the Su-15 was incredibly impressive. Its top speed was Mach 2.5, or roughly 1,390 mph. this made it one of the fastest aircraft in use with the Soviet Union at the time. Its job was to ward off some of the most advanced bombers the West were using at the time.
The Su-15 would form a significant part of the Soviet air defense once it had entered service. It was primarily tasked with intercepting aircraft such as the American B-52 Stratofortress, and the U-2 spy plane. Britain’s V-bombers in the form of the Valiant, Victor and Vulcan would also fall under its scope. Faster bombers like the XB-70 Valkyrie, and B-58 Hustler, would have been ithen ntercepted by the MiG-25.
Following the fall of the Soviet Union, the Su-15 briefly served with the new Russian Air Force before it was then retired from service in 1993. The Su-15 had become a very capable interceptor in its time, serving the Soviet Union well, and proving to be one of the fastest interceptors in the world.
