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The Turks Shot Down A Russian Bomber In 2015. Now Russia’s Buying New Planes That Can Defend Themselves
David Axe
Aerospace & Defense
The Russian air force is buying new Su-34 fighter-bombers. The two-seat, twin-engine warplanes will replace aging Su-24 bombers—one of which the Turkish air force shot down near Syria in 2015.
The Kremlin in late May cut a contract with United Aircraft Corporation’s Sukhoi division to build 76 new Su-34s at a rate of eight to 14 planes through 2027. The 76 Su-34s should be enough to equip two regiments.
The baseline Su-34 borrows the airframe of the Su-27 fighter but adds a two-person cockpit with side-by-side seating. The Su-34 can strike targets as far as 600 miles away while carrying 12 tons of bombs and missiles, including air-to-air missiles.
The supersonic Su-34 is armed with a 30-millimeter cannon. It boasts a multi-mode radar and a Khibiny electronic-countermeasures suite. The plane, which costs around $40 million, is roughly analogous to the U.S. Air Force’s F-15E.
The new Su-34s are upgraded Su-34M variants with a dedicated interface for a new pod that can carry three different sensors. The UKR-RT pod carries electronic search measures. The UKR-OE is a camera pod. The UKR-RL packs a synthetic-aperture radar for spotting targets in bad weather.
UAC director general Yuri Slyusar told TASS the Su34M will double the combat capability of the basic Su-34.
Even the older Su-34 is an improvement over the 1970s-vintage, swing-wing Su-24 it is replacing. The Su-24 lacks the weapons and performance to engage enemy fighters. The Su-34 by contrast can protect itself from air threats. “This is a new generation aircraft that can carry out both fighter and bombing tasks,” an unnamed expert told Izvestia.
The Kremlin deployed Su-34s to Syria in November 2015, shortly after a Turkish F-16 shot down a Russian Su-24 that reportedly strayed into Turkey’s air space. Su-34s took part in Russia’s brutal bombing campaign targeting Syrian civilians and medical workers.
“With the active role that Russia's air force played in Syria, no doubt that experience was also included in the Su-34 modernization,” said Samuel Bendett, a researcher with the Center for Naval Analyses and a Russia studies fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council.
The new batch of Su-34s is the air force’s third. The service ordered its first batch of 32 Su-34s back in 2008. A second batch of 92 followed in 2012. Taking into account losses, by 2030 the air force could operate nearly 200 Su-34s.
But the air force in 2020 still possesses around 275 Su-24s. Russia will have to maintain a couple hundred of the old Su-24s—or make do with a smaller force of self-escorting, medium-weight strike planes.
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