Why are Russian fighters’ engines spaced apart, while American ones are close to each other?

Surely many paid attention to the fact that the engines on Russian fighters are spaced apart, but in American fighter aircraft, they are most often installed close to each other. Let’s deal with this issue in more detail.

I note right away that spaced variants are also encountered on American fighters, for example, on the F-14 (mainly on US fighters, the engines are located close to each other). We can see this, for example, on the MiG-29, Su-57 and the American F-14. So why did the designers come to this decision?

Russian Su-27 engine

The reason is to reduce the risk of simultaneous output of both power plants if one of them is destroyed. The total thrust also increases, and a useful system, such as a radar, can be placed between the engines.

Also divorced engines are give better stability than close once.

Among the minuses, it is worth noting that if the thrust of one engine is reduced due to a malfunction, the stability of the machine will fall. Also, such aircraft are more visible to radars.

US F-15 engine

On the other hand, fighters with close engine positions are less visible to enemies. The planes themselves are more compact and consume less fuel. Their speed is higher than that of the previously described type of machine.

Among the shortcomings, it is worth noting that fighters are more confirmed by the destruction of both engines at once.