The Su-33 (factory code T-10K; formerly known as the Su-27K; NATO codification: Flanker-D — "Flanker-D") is a fourth—generation Soviet/Russian carrier-based fighter developed for the Russian Navy at the Sukhoi Design Bureau under the leadership of Mikhail Simonov. The first flight of the Su-27K took place on August 17, 1987, and on November 1, 1989, for the first time in the USSR, the Su-27K took off and landed "by plane" on the aircraft carrier Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov. Adopted on August 31, 1998. Although the current plans of the Russian Navy consist in the construction of new deck-based MiG-29K aircraft due to their greater compactness and the possibility of increasing the aircraft group of the aircraft carrier Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov, the current fleet of Su-33s with a large payload and range is planned to be preserved and modernized: for this, in 2016, the production of engines "AL-31F series 3" for the Su-33, and the modernization of the aircraft with the installation of the SVP-24 sighting system has also begun. A feature of the Su-33 is the ability to work as a tanker aircraft due to the suspended container UPAZ[. At the same time, the aircraft itself has standard equipment for refueling in the air. That is, the Su-33 with UPAZ can refuel both the MiG-29K and another Su-33.