Mecha Profile: Su-37 Terminator - Muv-Luv Alternative

After Sufoni beat out Mikoyam Guluvich in the Soviet internal arms race, they decided to use the waves created by the Su-27 Zhuravlik to get more ahead. Coincidentally, the Soviet leadership also thought that it was time to deploy third own 3rd-generation TSF. The Su-37 Terminator was born.

I. Development History:
– In 1996, the Soviet felt a sense of crisis when other nations, especially the US and Japan, were deploying 3rd-generation TSF en-mass, so they quickly looked for an easy unit that can be quickly upgraded to quasi-3rd-gen specifications.

– The Su-27M2 and MiG-29 was selectedas candidates for the upgrade. After close inspections, both craft were deemed equal in overall performance. But when taking into account the resources required to rebuild the production line, the craft that was already in mainline service was chosen: the Su-27M2.

– After getting excellent evaluation, Sufoni hastily adopted the TSF as the official quasi-3rd generation craft and gave it the formal designation Su-37 Terminator. Even though its original name was Su-37 Zhuravlik too, Sufoni adopted the name Terminator for the sake of convenience since the West called it that name too. The craft finally rolled out in 1997.

– The Su-37UB Terminator saw extensive combat in the hands of the Idarl Test Flight, particularly in the hands of the Scarlet Twin. The Su-37UB joined PROJECT PROMINENCE – a program to share and develop TSF technology between several countries as a test unit and achieved near-flawless records. Later on, the Terminator is seen on the frontline, operated by the Zhar Battalion.

II. Technical Specs & Armaments:

– The Su-37 Terminator stands at 19.5-meter, utilizing two ALS-37F Jump Units. Its appearance is almost identical to its predecessor – the SU-27 – with additional blade vanes and skirt thrusters. The front skirt nozzles help the craft startup vertically as well by allowing thrust from the Jump Units to go through. This concept was first present in the US’ YF-23 Black Widow but Sufoni and Northrock deny any relation.

– The Su-37 has a convertible cockpit block that can switch between single-seater mode and double-seater. The various head sensor modules are also enhanced with a more aerodynamic head mast.

– For ranged armaments, the Terminator uses the Soviet standard A-97 Assault Cannons. However, the craft is best known for its close quarters capabilities with an additional 4 blade vanes on its shoulder blocks (2 on each side), allowing it to make powerful slashing attack when performing dogfight maneuvers.

– The Motor Blades are also a prevalent part of the Su-37 arsenal, especially when piloted by the Scarlet Twin. The craft is optimised for extreme high speed close combat and was also a testbed for various technologies, combat strategies and gather performance data. It was more of an interim high-spec unit rather than a mainline mass-produced craft.

III. Variants:
As a transitional quasi-3rd generation TSF, the Su-37 was only produced in limited numbers and has very few variants:

– Su-37UB: the two-seater variant of the Terminator. This version was piloted by the Scarlet Twin during PROJECT PROMINENCE.

– Su-37M2: a single-seater variant with improved fire control system and sensor, and enhanced close-combat controls. This unit was used by the 211th Battalion Zhar.

IV. Gallery: