DATE: May 6th, 1993
Quick heads up, this story is entirely fictional, and did not happen in real life. It is in no way meant to be related to anything going on in Ukraine.
After Ukraine declared independence from the USSR, the Kremlin wasn't very happy that they just lost more territory in the West. NATO could now easily attack and hit Moscow without major issues, and a fleet of Mig-29 Fighters isn't enough to guard the largest country in the world. American bombers could at any moment attack from the East from air bases in Japan and Korea, from the North, or from air bases in Europe. And just Surface-to-Air Missiles isn't enough to destroy the horde of American bombers. Even worse, there were rumors that the United States was developing another, faster supersonic bomber, the B-60 Tiger. Now the Soviets were outmatched. Supersonic bombers and fast, agile fighters would quickly annihilate Soviet defenses, and consequently, strike Soviet cities, including Moscow. So when the Kremlin ordered Ukraine to be taken back by force on October 17th, NATO quickly sided with Ukraine. This was terrible news for the Soviets, who had outdated equipment, and nothing compared to the advanced fighters of the west. So Gorbachev asked the Sukhoi Design Bureau to design a new fighter for the Soviet air force. This would unfortunately take a while, because this is the Soviet Union. It took 3 years for the new fighter to be developed. And it didn't even work right. Lack of funding caused the aircraft to be missing advanced components it needed to keep up with the west, there were safety concerns that were ignored, the engines were unreliable, the missiles would sometimes strike the aircraft, and were not fuel efficient whatsoever. After Sukhoi complained about the lack of funding causing the aircraft to perform badly, they were given twice the funding than before. This allowed the aircraft to have the necessary components needed to keep up with the west, and maybe, even surpass tthem.
The improved jet had the RM-453KLV engine. And it had 2 of them. A better wing design allowed the aircraft to make tight turns, and even with the afterburner off, it was incredibly fast. Armed with 4 R-27ET Air-to-Air Missiles, and a powerful autocannon, it could easily take on even the F-14 Tomcat, the F-15 Eagle, and the F-18 Hornet. And as it turns out, it was easy to manufacture, and was cheap at only 50 Million Rubles (719,500 USD)
The speed, maximum service ceiling, and max range of the aircraft is still unknown, as the Russians are decent at keeping secrets.
On January 9th, 1994, the new fighter, the Su-40M ????, (Wolf, NATO callsign Flanker-E2) was given to 3rd Fighter Aviation Regiment stationed in Krymsk. It first attacked American made F-16s given to the Ukrainian Air Force, and saw outstanding results. The aircraft was said to be more maneuverable than any jet the west were currently fielding. Until June 24th. During training in the aircraft, a Soviet pilot named Bogun Gleb Savelievich, reported engine issues, and used this opportunity to turn his aircraft in the direction of Kyiv. Somehow, he was able to not be detected by Ukrainian air defense, and landed his aircraft at Boryspil International Airport. The Ukrainian Government quickly gave the aircraft to the United States, which examined it. They found that multiple systems were found to be faulty, the engines were not that durable and only lasted 3 years. Most of the “high tech components” were actually pretty old, and some even are from the 1960s.
After this, the west realized, just make something more maneuverable. And after that, the Soviet Air Force was easily destroyed, and Russia invaded. The Soviet Union would collapse in 2004, and become the Russian Federation led by Boris Yeltsin.

Gallery

There is a secret with the number "588"
If you can figure it out, tell me. Ill give you a hint. This regiment was made up of mostly women.

Controls

Canop: Canopy (works with AG1 too)
Gear: Self explanatory
T>: Next Target
<T: Previous Target
W>: Next Weapon
<W: Previous Weapon
FLR: Countermeasures
BRK: Brake
TH>: Max Throttle
<TH: Zero Throttle
Simple Throttle: Obvious lmao
Engine Fire: just for show
<M>: Cycle Targeting Mode
Warn: Warning Lights (also works with AG3)
PARACHUT: I think you can understand this (works with AG2)
Left F: Guns (tooltip says FIRE MISSILES, thats mb)
Right F: Missiles
Right Lever: Trim
Buttons surrounding the radar: just for show
Afterburner: 90% Throttle

If you have questions, dont hesitate to ask me.

Godspeed