These superstall training sessions ware performed from somewhere near 1960ies and continues as far as I know as long as the Draken 35C was in service. So no they are not quite the same maneuver but might be where the Russians for the idea from 🙂

Best description of Pugachev’s Cobra I could find, lol
“The aircraft reaches 90–120° angle of attack with a slight gain of altitude and a significant loss of speed. When the elevator is centered, the drag at the rear of the plane causes torque, thus making the aircraft pitch forward. At that time the pilot adds power to compensate for the lift loss. In a properly performed Pugachev’s Cobra, the plane maintains almost straight flight throughout the maneuver; the plane does not roll or yaw in either direction. Proper entry speed is significant because, if entering at too low a speed, the pilot might not be able to accomplish the maneuver; entering at too high a speed might result in airframe damage due to the high g-force or for the pilot to lose consciousness.”

But, yeah, She’s definitely far more maneuverable than most people would think she is. Everyone touts the F-22 and many of the 5th generation aircraft, but, really, they’re not that big of a leap, if a leap at all. For my money the F-15E is still the far better platform than an F-22

😉

I agree that the Draken struggles more in this maneuver than the Flanker does, but I disagree. The Flanker also gains a little altitude during the Cobra. Depending on how well the maneuver is executed, both aircraft can also lose altitude or stay level at the end. On the first view, the Draken gains practically no altitude, and loses very little as well.

What strikes me is that the Draken seems to have more problems maintaining stability through it, and on one of the attempts, it almost looks as the aircraft is entering a spin at the end. (The low resolution, cut ending and distance make it difficult to ascertain.) This is hardly unexpected coming from an aircraft with a lower thrust-to-weight ratio and delta wings.

On most videos, or seen standing from the ground, the Flanker might seem like it’s flying perfectly straight, but that would defy the laws of aerodynamics.

On this video, you can see the Cobra being executed and filmed from another aircraft:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daOPK07baBw

You’ll notice the Flanker gains an equivalent amount of altitude, or even more in many cases. Other videos of the Flanker’s Cobra seen from other aircraft show this as well. It does lose less altitude at the end, due to its higher TWR and also to the fact that the Draken’s wing shape means there is more drag near the rear/bottom of the aircraft when it executes the maneuver, which makes the nose “snap” down at the end.

In the absence of an official definition of the maneuver, it’s up to everyone to make his mind up regarding the Draken’s capacity to execute the Cobra maneuver. IMHO it’s close enough to call it the same maneuver.

The point mostly was to show the Draken’s extraordinary capacities. Most people, myself included, would not have believed it capable of such maneuvering, generally associated with late 20th or 21st century fighter designs. The Draken, and several other Saab fighters, have always struck me as quite under-appreciated yet highly capable aircraft.