Pavel Sukhoi

Pavel Osipovich Sukhoi
Born	(1895-07-22) 22 July 1895 Hlybokaye, Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	15 September 1975(1975-09-15) (aged 80) Barvikha sanatorium near Moscow, Soviet Union
Occupation(s)	Aerospace engineer, aircraft designer
Known for	Founder of the Sukhoi Design Bureau; designer of Su-7, Su-17, Su-24

Pavel Osipovich Sukhoi (also romanized as Sukhoy or Sukhoj; Russian: Павел Осипович Сухой; Belarusian: Павел Восіпавіч Сухі, Paviel Vosipavič Suchi; born 22 July 1895 – died 15 September 1975) was a prominent Soviet aerospace engineer and aircraft designer, recognized as the founder of the Sukhoi Design Bureau. Over a career spanning five decades, Sukhoi collaborated with figures like Tupolev and developed numerous significant Soviet military aircraft, including the Sukhoi Su-7, Su-17, and Su-24. His designs achieved two world altitude records (in 1959 and 1962) and two world speed records (in 1960 and 1962). For his contributions, Sukhoi was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor and received the Order of Lenin on three occasions.

Biography

Pavel Osipovich Sukhoi was born on 22 July 1895 in Hlybokaye, located in the Vilna Governorate of the Russian Empire, into a family of ethnic Belarusian peasants. He was one of six siblings, having five sisters and no brothers. In 1900, his family relocated to Gomel when his father, Osip Andreevich Sukhoi, secured a teaching position at a school serving children of railway employees. Between 1905 and 1914, Sukhoi studied at the gymnasium in Gomel, presently known as the Belarusian State University of Transport. In 1915, after passing entrance examinations, he enrolled at the Imperial Moscow Technical School in Moscow. However, his education was interrupted due to conscription into the Imperial Russian Army amid the intensifying conflict of World War I.

During his military service, Sukhoi underwent warrant officer training and was assigned to artillery units on the Russian Western Front. Following the disintegration of the Russian Army after the October Revolution in 1917, he returned to Moscow only to find his university closed. Subsequently, he moved back to Gomel to live with his parents and accepted a teaching role in mathematics at a school in the town of Luninets, near Brest-Litovsk. In 1919, as Polish forces advanced during the Polish–Soviet War, Sukhoi fled back to Gomel and resumed teaching at the railway workers' school led by his father. Around this period, he contracted typhus followed by scarlet fever, which adversely affected his speech for the rest of his life, leading to a reputation for being reserved.Template:Fix/category

Due to health complications, Sukhoi was discharged from military service in 1920. With higher education institutions reopening under a resolution by the government of the Russian Soviet Republic, he resumed studies at BMSTU and graduated in 1925, submitting a thesis entitled Single-engined Pursuit Aircraft of 300 hp under the mentorship of aeronautical pioneer Andrei Tupolev. That same year, Sukhoi began working as an engineer and designer at both the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute and Moscow Factory Number 156 under Tupolev’s guidance. During this time, he contributed to designing aircraft such as the record-breaking Tupolev ANT-25 and heavy bombers like the TB-1 and TB-3. By 1932, Sukhoi had been appointed head of TsAGI's engineering and design department and was elevated to lead its design division in 1938. He also developed the versatile light aircraft Su-2, which saw action during the initial phase of combat on the Eastern Front in World War II.

In September 1939, Sukhoi established an independent design bureau known as the Sukhoi Design Bureau (OKB Sukhoi) based in Kharkiv. Dissatisfied with its remote location away from Moscow’s scientific hubs, he advocated for relocating OKB to an aerodrome within Moscow Oblast. This move was completed by mid-1940. However, by late 1942, lacking dedicated production facilities left Sukhoi without active projects. Although he had designed a new ground-attack aircraft—the Su-6—its production was halted by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, who preferred focusing on manufacturing the Ilyushin Il-2.

Following World War II, Sukhoi was among the pioneering Soviet designers advancing jet aircraft development through several experimental jet fighters. From 1949 onward, he experienced a decline in Stalin's favor and was compelled to work again under Tupolev as Deputy Chief Designer. After Stalin's death in 1953, Sukhoi regained permission to reestablish his own design bureau. Throughout the Cold War era, his bureau produced several key serial combat aircraft such as the supersonic fighter-bomber Su-7, which became predominant in the 1960s; interceptors like the Su-9 and Su-15, which were central to Soviet air defense; as well as pioneering variable-sweep wing aircraft including the Su-17 and Su-24. He also initiated ambitious projects that did not reach fruition, such as the Mach 3-capable attack aircraft known as the Sukhoi T-3. From 1958 until 1974, Sukhoi served as a deputy in the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

Pavel Sukhoi passed away on 15 September 1975 at Barvikha sanatorium near Moscow and was interred at the prestigious Novodevichy Cemetery. The final fighter he designed was the T-10 (Su-27), although he did not live to witness its maiden flight.

Awards and honors

File:Pavel Sukhoi 2020 stampsheet of Russia.jpg

Pavel Sukhoi alongside several of his aircraft depicted on a 2020 Russian stamp sheet

• Hero of Socialist Labor awarded in 1957 and again in 1965
• Lenin Prize received in 1968
• First-class Stalin Prize (1943) granted for the development of the Su-6
• Posthumous USSR State Prize awarded in 1975
• Awarded the Order of Lenin three times (1945, 1957, 1975)
• Recipient of the Order of the October Revolution
• Honored with the Order of the Badge of Honour in 1936
• Decorated with the Order of the Red Banner of Labour in 1938
• Awarded the Order of the Red Star in 1933
• Laureate of the Tupolev Gold Medal for exceptional contributions to aeronautical science and engineering (1975)

Memory

• The Sukhoi Design Bureau is a Russian scientific and engineering firm specializing in aviation equipment design, construction, and testing. Named after its founder and inaugural director Pavel Sukhoi, it operates as JSC Sukhoi Design Bureau. Since January 1, 2013, it functions as a branch under the name "Sukhoi Design Bureau" and ranks among the world's foremost aviation design organizations.
• JSC Sukhoi Company, previously known as SUE AVPK Sukhoi, is a Russian enterprise engaged in aircraft design, manufacturing, marketing, pilot training, and post-sale support including spare parts provision for both military and civilian aircraft under Su and Be brands. Established on the foundation of former state aviation plant No. 51, it carries Pavel Sukhoi’s name.

Further reading

• Bull, Stephan (2004). Encyclopedia of Military Technology and Innovation. Greenwood. ISBN 1-57356-557-1.
• Duffy, Paul (December 1996). Tupolev: The Man and His Aircraft. Society of Automotive Engineers. ISBN 1-56091-899-3.
• Gordon, Yefim (2008). Soviet Air Power in World War II. Midland Publishing. ISBN 1-85780-304-3.
• Pederson, Jay (1998). International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 24. St James Press. ISBN 1-55862-365-5.