Russia To
Ramp-Up Production of Sukhoi Su-34
by Reuben F. Johnson - April
10, 2017, 3:39 AM
Russian
Deputy Defence Minister for Procurement, Yuri Borisov, last month announced
that the nation’s Aerospace Forces (VKS) would receive 16 new-build Sukhoi
Su-34 fighter-bomber aircraft in 2017. New weapons are also being added to the
twinjet, which Borisov said had “performed in an exemplary manner during the
Syrian conflict and has enormous growth potential.” He was speaking during a
visit to the Novosibirsk Aviation Production Plant at Chkalov, which has a
long-term contract with the Ministry of Defence to produce a total of 92 Su-34
aircraft.
The
Su-34 has been in service with the Russian armed forces since 2014, having
passed through a long developmental cycle in which the two-seat, side-by-side
design had been envisioned as a carrier-capable attack fighter-bomber; an ASW aircraft;
an anti-ship/carrier-killer; and an ELINT/EW platform. But its
performance as a replacement of the Su-24 fighter-bomber has been most notable
so far. The aircraft is capable of carrying a wide range of air-to-ground
munitions and can even perform missions that were once assigned to the much
larger Tupolev Tu-22M3 Backfire-series of bombers.
Sukhoi
representatives have described the aircraft in its current configuration as a
“4+ generation aircraft that has a complement of on-board computers that
provide for a state-of-the-art flight control system and the delivery of
precision guided weapons. Its full-authority engine controls and the option(s)
of extending range with additional external fuel tanks or air-to-air refuelling
put it in the class of a medium-weight strategic bomber.”
The
Su-34 has progressively become the workhorse of the VKS. It is one of the
few platform in the inventory that can drop precision-guided munitions. Russia
has consistently lagged behind other nations’ air forces in this technology.
News services in Moscow reported on March 30 that six new weapons were
successfully tested on the Su-34 airframe, including some long-range weapons
such as the Raduga Kh-38 and Kh-59MK2 missiles and the latest in
air-to-air missiles.
“What
appears to be the goal of these testing programs is to ensure that all three of
Russia’s most modern combat aircraft – the Su-34, the Su-35 and the T-50/PFI stealth
fighter – can employ the most advanced weapons in the Russian arsenal,” said a
Russian military aviation specialist. “This enables Russian commanders to
be able to configure different aircraft to carry out similar missions,
depending on which scenarios require an aircraft that can carry more munitions
– like the Su-34 – or which would require a faster, more maneuverable
aircraft.”
Russian
military analysts tell AIN that the Su-34 has the potential
for export sales to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which has been
looking for a replacement for in its Xi’an JH-7A strike aircraft.
Original
post: ainonline.com
Russian military analysts tell AIN that the Su-34 has the potential for export sales to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which has been looking for a replacement for in its Xi’an JH-7A strike aircraft.
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