Su-7B

This page is about the Soviet strike aircraft Su-7B. For other versions, see Su-7 (Family).

Su-7B

La-15

Su-7BKL

Su-7B

La-15

Su-7BKL

USSR

VI Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
9.3	9.3	9.7

Class:

Strike aircraft

Research:190 000

Purchase:520 000

Show in game

Description

The Su-7B is a rank VI Soviet strike aircraft with a battle rating of 9.3 (AB/RB) and 9.7 (SB). It was introduced in Update "Starfighters".

General info

Flight performance

Air brakes

Allows you to dramatically reduce the flight speed by releasing special flaps

Drogue parachute

Reduces braking distance when landing on any runway

Max speed

at 11 000 m2 232 km/h

Turn time27 s

Max altitude19 000 m

EngineSaturn AL-7F-1-100

Type

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight13 t

The Su-7B is characterised by a low BR for a supersonic jet and amazing acceleration. With a 1-1 thrust-weight ratio when at optimal fuel load and spaded, it can reliably punch above its weight. The Sukhoi accelerates extremely well, outspeeding every supersonic at its BR except for MiG-21s. The manoeuvrability isn't bad, either - It can easily turn with supersonic aircraft such as MiG-21s, Harriers or A-7s. However, you must keep in mind that the plane has a tendency to break its wings if in a sustained 9+G turn at high speeds, and that you are not invulnerable while turning. You are giant, almost twice as big as a MiG-21, so be sure to not overstay your welcome in a dogfight and zoom away as soon as possible.

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 11,000 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	2,161	2,145	19000	27.4	28.2	166.4	157.6	1,250
Upgraded	2,323	2,232		26.6	27.0	227.0	195.0

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
X	X	✓	✓	X	✓

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
0	630	N/A	N/A	473	~11	~3

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 700	< 650	< 600	N/A

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Basic Mass		Wing loading (full fuel)
Saturn AL-7F-1-100		1	7,926 kg		315 kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)			Max Takeoff Weight
Weight (each)	Type		8m fuel	20m fuel	27m fuel
2,200 kg	Afterburning axial-flow turbojet		8,756 kg	10,000 kg	10,726 kg	13,043 kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB / SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (WEP)
Condition	100%	WEP	8m fuel	20m fuel	27m fuel	MTOW
Stationary	5,848 kgf	8,257 kgf	0.94	0.83	0.77	0.63
Optimal	6,664 kgf (1,000 km/h)	9,974 kgf (1,000 km/h)	1.14	1.00	0.93	0.76

Survivability and armour

Crew1 person

Speed of destruction

Structural0 km/h

Gear630 km/h

• 20 mm Aluminium Alloy - pilot's headrest
• 36 mm Aluminium Alloy - pilot's backrest
• 8 mm steel - cockpit front bulkhead
• 102 mm Bulletproof glass - Armoured windscreen

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB2 822 → 4 091

RB8 438 → 12 235

SB9 436 → 13 682

Total cost of modifications171 500

271 000

Talisman cost2 600

Crew training150 000

Experts520 000

Aces2 400

Research Aces950 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

100 / 320 / 600 %

220 / 220 / 220 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Fuselage repair Research: 6 700 Cost: 11 000 280 Compressor Research: 6 700 Cost: 11 000 280 Airframe Research: 9 500 Cost: 15 000 390 New boosters Research: 9 500 Cost: 15 000 390 Wings repair Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 450 G-suit Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 450 Cover Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 580 Engine Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 580 EFS Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 580		NR_30_belt_pack Research: 6 700 Cost: 11 000 280 ZB-360 Research: 6 700 Cost: 11 000 280 S-3K Research: 6 700 Cost: 11 000 280 FAB-250 Research: 9 500 Cost: 15 000 390 UB-16 Research: 9 500 Cost: 15 000 390 NR_30_new_gun Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 450 S-24 Research: 11 000 Cost: 17 000 450 FAB-500 Research: 14 000 Cost: 22 000 580

Armaments

Ballistic Computer
CCIP (Guns)	CCIP (Rockets)	CCIP (Bombs)	CCRP (Bombs)

Offensive armament

The Su-7B is armed with:

• 2 x 30 mm NR-30 cannons, wing-mounted (80 rpg = 160 total)

The Su-7B is equipped with 2 x 30 mm NR-30 cannons, which are amongst the best in air combat, as they have almost no bullet drop on long ranges, a fast rate of fire and are powerful enough to destroy a plane with 1 or 2 hits. The Su-7B has access to a gyro linked gunsight, which is helpful in engaging AI planes and straight flying enemy planes as it automatically changes the gun distance.

Suspended armament

The Su-7B can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 64 x S-5K rockets
• 4 x S-24 rockets
• 28 x S-3K rockets
• 4 x 250 kg OFAB-250sv bombs (1,000 kg total)
• 4 x 500 kg FAB-500M-54 bombs (2,000 kg total)
• 4 x ZB-360 incendiary bombs

Usage in battles

The Su-7B has a very good acceleration and can outspeed most jets, it can easily doge incoming missiles by turning as it can turn and still maintain most of its speed (mind the G forces as it can easily break your plane apart and make the pilot lose conscience). The Su-7B sports 30 mm NR-30 cannons and can also be equipped with both bombs and rockets for various types of playstyle. The Su-7B also comes with a rangefinding radar and the S-24 can be put on a distance fuse to be used in air combat.

Air combat

At the start of a match, take 27 minutes of fuel and equip Air targets belt. Start ascending on a 20-30° angle to an altitude of 7-9 km, your goal is to get behind the enemies in order to easily take care of them without their knowledge of your presence. Keep flying at this altitude and overfly enemy fighters. If there is an enemy at this altitude, feel free to engage into a head-on or dodge them. Keep flying above the enemies until there are none underneath you, turn around and start descending while keeping an eye on your speed. Go for the nearest enemy or slowest (A-10s for example). Get behind them and approach as fast as possible as speed is your greatest advantage. Start firing when you're close enough. If the enemy is eliminated, go for the next one, but if you missed do not engage into a dogfight: maintain your speed and go after the next target. If there are any AI planes, you can safely go after them and make use of your gyro linked gunsight to auto adjust your guns' distance. Align your plane behind the AI plane, put your gunsight's dot on the plane, and shoot a short burst of rounds (it is more precise in the first person view). After having expended your ammunition, you can return back to the base to continue fighting or swap tactics.

Attacking ground targets

At the start of a match, equip the 28 x S-3K rockets or the 64 x S-5K rockets (which will be helpful to take care of light and medium tanks). Start ascending on a 5° angle until above 1 km altitude, you will need the speed to quickly evade enemies and enemy missiles. It's best to flank and fly to the far sides of the map, so you can easily fly in a straight line and take care of ground targets one after the other. When firing at a ground target: any tank except for medium and heavy tanks requires a single hit by both rockets, while medium and heavy tanks would require 2 or more rockets. Always keep a eye on your surroundings as you're flying fast at a low altitude, which can catch the attention of enemy jets who will then try to engage you. Maintaining a high speed is important, in case a missile is fired at you. After depleting all of your rockets, you can head back to base to resupply rockets or start going after enemy players or AI planes.

Bombing bases

At the start of a match, equip the 4 x ZB-360 bombs (as that is enough to take care of a base). And start ascending on a 10° angle to 1-2 km, you might be behind everyone a little bit but the higher top speed and acceleration you will get on this altitude will make up for it. Start heading for any enemy base and keep this altitude. Avoid any head-on and beware of enemies below and above you with missiles that might eliminate you. When you're near the base, start diving, enable your airbrakes, and get into position to drop your payload. Once bombs have been dropped, you can head back to base for another bombing run or start going after enemy players, AI planes or ground targets. The choice is yours.

CAS ground

When flying the Su-7B, equip the 4 x S-24 rockets (as a single hit from these is enough to take care of any ground target). Start heading to the battle area and keep a high altitude to avoid SPAAs and enemy planes. Once close enough, start diving and search for targets to fire at. If there is a SPAA that starts shooting at you, prioritize it above everything else. If there are no SPAAs, fire a single rocket at a target and go after the next one (even if it misses the target, the rocket will overpressurize them). Once too low, start pulling up and gain altitude again, then repeat this process until you're out of rockets. You can then go to base to resupply or go after enemy planes, soft ground targets or helicopters.

Enemies worth noting

A-10A / A-10A Late: these American strike aircraft might seem slow but they have access to the mid-range and fast AIM-9L Sidewinder air-to-air missiles which are very accurate. It's almost impossible to dodge them even when flying above Mach 1.1. It's best to keep a distance from the A-10s, as the missiles have an all-aspect tracking and dodging them in a head-on is close to impossible. The best way to defeat the A-10 is from behind, as even from the sides the A-10 can quickly turn around and fire a missile. When coming at it from behind, approach as fast as possible as the A-10 is slow. Speed is your advantage to quickly win the fight if it doesn't respond fast enough. If you miss the attack, quickly turn back around and hope that the A-10 won't fire its missile at you. After a missed interception it's best to leave the A-10 and go after other targets as now the A-10 is aware of your presence, and going for a second interception would be taking an unnecessary risk.

Radars

The Su-7B is equipped with a SRD-5 rangefinding radar, located in the nose of the aircraft. It will automatically detect other planes within the scanning area and display the range to the closest target. It is linked with a gyro gunsight and can help with aiming at close range.

SRD-5 - Rangefinding radar
Maximum Tracking Range	Minimum Tracking Range	Azimuth Tracking Angle	Elevation Tracking Angle
3,000 m	300 m	±9°	±9°

Pros and cons

Pros:

• One of the fastest planes at its battle rating
• Very fast acceleration
• 2x 30 mm cannons are very powerful against ground and air targets alike
• Decent energy retention
• Time-fused S-24 rockets can be useful in head-ons
• The gyro-linked gunsight changes distance automatically up to 1,000 m thanks to rangefinding radar

Cons:

• Large silhouette, easy to hit
• NR-30 cannons depletes ammunition quickly
• S-24 as anti-air are situational, unlike conventional IR missiles
• No countermeasures
• High risk of wing overload due to high-G manoeuvres, especially with negative-G
• No air-to-air missiles

History

On May 14th 1953, shortly after Stalin's death and the reopening of the Sukhoi OKB, they began work on a swept-wing front-line fighter. Their first prototype was named S-1 and was fitted with the all-new Lyulka AL-7 turbojet. It was the first Soviet aircraft to utilize the all-moving tailplane and a translating centerbody, plus a dramatic wing sweep of 60°, irreversible hydraulically boosted controls, and an ejection seat of Sukhoi's own design. After the success of the S-1, production began with the S-2. later renamed the Su-7.

Later, on 31 July 1958, the Soviet Tactical Aviation tasked Sukhoi with developing a ground-attack variant of the Su-7, which could replace the scrapped Ilyushin IL-10. The resulting prototype, S-22, incorporated structural refinements for high-speed, low-altitude operations. It first flew in March 1959 and entered service in 1961 as the Su-7B.

Devblog

With the development of jet aviation, piston-engined attack aircraft quickly became an anachronism; a need arose for a new class of front-line aircraft - a fighter bomber. In the USSR, the MiG-15 and MiG-17 fighter jets were used to replace the piston-engined IL-10 to support the ground forces from the air, but it was quite obvious that a specialized machine was needed to fulfill the tasks of the fighter-bomber. The most suitable candidate was the Sukhoi Su-7 fighter jet, taken as the basis for the Su-7B fighter-bomber project. By the end of 1958, the first prototype was ready with the new AL-7F-1 engine. For almost two years, the aircraft underwent intensive testing and refinement, and in 1960 the new fighter-bomber went into mass production. Of the 431 planned, 344 Su-7Bs were built to equip up to 25 combat units. From the beginning of the 70's, the Su-7B aircraft began to be replaced with more modern modifications and models.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Su-7B from live.warthunder.com.

Images

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Videos

The Shooting Range #211 - Metal Beasts section at 00:28 discusses the Su-7B.

See also

Related development

• Su-7 (Family)

External links

• [Devblog] Su-7B: new doctrine
• Official data sheet - more details about the performance
• [Special] Su-7B military pilot interview