In 2015, the Turks shoot down the ageing Su-24 fighter bomber. It will be different with the acquisition of the Su-34 fighter bomber to improve Russian strike capability.
The Russian Airforce is acquiring several Su-34 multi-role fighters as a replacement for the Su-24s that are getting vulnerable to counter-attack. A two-seater fighter bomber that offers more capability than Su-24s that was shot down close to Syria in 2015, reported by Forbes Aerospace & Defense.
According to reports, the Kremlin has inked a deal in late May with the United Aircraft Corporation's Sukhoi division for an order of 76 new Su-34s, a delivery of 14 fighter jets until 2027. A total of 76 Su-34s will be used for two regiments or groups, confirmed by War News Updates.
This Su-34 is a basic model that has a similar Su-27 airframe, but with side-to-side seating in a two-seater plane. The fighter bomber has a range of 600 miles with loadout capacity of bombs and missiles at 12 tons, including air to air missiles.
What makes the Su-34 tick are these weapons that give it a menacing edge multi-role operation. These weapons include a 30-millimeter cannon with a radar of several functions, plus Khibiny electronic-countermeasures suite to protect it from missiles or other radar threats. It will cost about $40 million that is comparable to the US F-15E.
These variants of the Su-34 are different with changes and improvements as Su-24M variants that offer improvements for a new pod with three different sensors. This is called the UKR-RT Pod with functions like electronic search measures included. Another system is the UKR-OE which is a camera module, UKR-RL is equipped with a synthetic aperture radar that will enable sighting targets in bad weather.
When interviewed, the UAC director-general Yuri Slyusar spoke to TASS, he said that Su-34M has the better capacity with double efficacy from a basic model that improve its overall performance.
Compared to the older Su-24, the Su-34Ms improved equipment will make it hard for opposing air forces to defeat it in combat. Case in point is the Turk air force which was able to defeat the Su-24.
Basic differences of the Su-34 and the Su-24 which is a swing-wing jet that was introduced in the 70s, an older plane from an older generation. One of the weaknesses of the Su-24 is weapons for air to air combat, while the Su-34 can survive and engage enemy fighters. An expert commented this new generation multi-role fighter can dog fight and bomb targets at the same times.
In November on 2015, Su-34s of the Russian Air force was dispatched to Syria. In air combat, a Turk F-16 defeated a Su-24 which entered Turk air space. For the most part, Su-34s were part of Russia's bombing campaign that struck civilians and medical people, reported by TASS.
Samuel Bendett commented that Russia air assets in Syria gave the Russian air force, an idea of how to modernize the Su-34 properly. He is connected to the Center for Naval Analyses and a Russia studies fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, according to CNA.
For the record, this new set of Su-34s is the third delivery, first acquisitions of 32 Su-34s started in 2008, with another 92 fighter jets in 2012. By the year 2030, there will be 200 Su-34s in the Russian air forces. In 2020, there are 275 Su-24s left with a hundred of them kept from mothballs, as extra assets for the Kremlin.
Once the Su-34s get online to replace Su-24s the Russian air force will have a formidable air force.
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