Invasión: Cae un Su-34 en Kherson

Invasión: Derriban un Su-34 sobre Kharkiv

Nueva serie de Su-34 a producirse este año

Batch production of upgraded Su-34 to begin in 2020

Air Technology

Batch production of upgraded Su-34 frontline bombers will begin in 2020. The aircraft was assigned the "new capabilities" index (NVO). It will be armed with modern weapons, improved electronic warfare and reconnaissance containers. It is upgraded according to the Syrian experience, the Izvestia daily writes.


Su-34 (Picture source: Air Recognition)

The joint protocol of the Defense Ministry and the Sukhoi plant in Novosibirsk said the supplies of upgraded Su-34 are to begin in 2020 (the publication obtained a copy of the document).

A source in the Defense Ministry said a contract is to be signed shortly. The plant and the military are finalizing its parameters, including the number of bombers to be procured and the delivery time.

Besides new avionics, arms and electronic warfare, upgraded Su-34 will carry universal reconnaissance containers created in the framework of the Sych R&D. They will increase the capability to detect ground and air targets.

Three containers have been designed with various payload. The UKR-RT option is to engage in radio, UKR-OE - in optical-electronic, and UKR-RL in radar reconnaissance. They all use a single data bus for interaction with the aircraft and are replaceable therefore. Kulon Institute CEO Vladimir Maximov earlier said UKR-RL container with Pika-M radar had completed acceptance trials and was tested in a real situation. It detects ground targets at a major distance through the clouds in any time of the day.

Expert Dmitry Boltenkov said UKR-RT container was created on the basis of M400A radio reconnaissance hardware. It is a smaller option of sophisticated Fraktsia system for Tu-214R reconnaissance aircraft.

"The size and weight of Fraktsia had to be decreased to fit into a container, however technical characteristics remained the same," he said.

Tu-214R can detect radar emission, radio communications and operation of cellular phones at a distance of hundreds of kilometers. The aircraft was engaged in Syria.

Upgraded Khibiny jammer was designed for Su-34. It protects the carrier and nearby aircraft. Ground equipment to control the aircraft and its onboard systems also changed.

"The bomber boasts excellent characteristics. The potential has not been exhausted. Reconnaissance equipment will increase the capabilities of our troops in the tactical zone," merited test pilot and Hero of Russia Igor Malikov said.

"There are no Su-34 analogues in the world. The Americans used to have F-111, but abandoned it in late 1990s. The Russian jet is optimal for combat engagement. It can carry eight tons on suspension," he added.

Su-34 bombers have been engaged in the Russian operation in Syria since the first days in 2015. Initially, a wing of four jets was deployed there. In late 2017 satellite images of Humaymim airbase showed 14 Su-34 at a time.

They fired precision weapons, including KAB-500S smart bombs. The aircraft destroyed protected targets, including small ones, such as mountain bunkers of terrorists, seized oil facilities, and even small armed pickups. The Defense Ministry said the fly time of some pilots on the aircraft exceeded 400 hours.

The design of Su-27 attack option began in late 1980s. Su-34 prototype made the maiden flight on October 13, 1990. Pre-serial aircraft were supplied in 2006. In 2008, the first contract for 32 bombers for the Russian Air Force was signed. Another one followed in 2012 for 92 aircraft. The production of the batches is nearing completion. Various data said the Defense Ministry received over 120 Su-34 in 2008-2019, the Izvestia said.


Su-34 in flight (Picture source: Air Recognition)

Siria: El espacio aéreo se puebla demasiado

This map shows how easily something very bad could happen over Syria

Pamela Engel - Business Insider




The chances of an accident in the skies over Syria look to be increasing, as a map from CBS Evening News shows.

Russia started bombing targets in Syria last week, avoiding the strongholds of ISIS — the terror group they claim to be bombing — and instead going after CIA-backed rebels and others who are fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who the US has said must step aside if ISIS is to be defeated.

Recently during their bombing campaign, Russian jets "had their closest run-in yet" with American planes, according to CBS. They were reportedly within 20 miles of each other, close enough that Americans could see the Russian planes on their targeting cameras.

The green planes are American aircraft and the yellow planes are Russian:



Lt. Gen. Charles Brown, commander of the American air campaign in Syria, told CBS that the US has just been working around the Russians as they have entered Syrian airspace to conduct strikes against anti-regime rebels and extremist factions.

"We're up a lot more often than [the Russians] are so when we do have to move around [them] for safe operation, it's for a small period of time compared to the hours and hours that we're airborne over Iraq and Syria," Brown said.

Brown said he doesn't think Russian airstrikes will clash with American operations, but some experts have said that there are significant risks associated with the US-led anti-ISIS coalition occupying the same airspace as Russia.

russia us syria airCBS

"While the US and Russia will engage in direct military talks to 'deconflict' any strikes, the chances for accidents go way up — especially given the many military members of the coalition," geopolitical expert Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, told Business Insider last week.

"The US and allies will ignore Russian calls to avoid Syrian airspace the same way the Russians ignored the US on Assad."

Russia gave the US little notice before it started bombing rebel groups fighting the regime of Assad, a close ally of Russia.



The Associated Press noted this week that "the air forces of multiple countries are on the attack, often at cross purposes in Syria's civil war, sometimes without coordination," emphasizing the potential for "unintended conflict."

Turkey, Australia, France, and the US are all flying planes over Syria, and Russia is not coordinating with the Americans, according to the AP. Defense officials from the US and Russia have had conversations about "de-conflicting" their activities in Syria, and those discussions are ongoing.

Fullbacks para la Aviación Frontal rusa

Sukhoi completa la entrega de cazabombarderos Su-34 bajo contrato del 2008



MOSCÚ (RIA Novosti) - Un lote de aviones de combate Su-34 fue entregado a los militares de Rusia el lunes en la última entrega en virtud de un acuerdo de 2008 con el Ministerio de Defensa y el fabricante de aviones Sukhoi para la entrega 32 bombarderos de dos asientos.
El avión, también conocido por el nombre en clave Fullback de la OTAN, fueron entregados en la planta de aviones de Novosibirsk, que forma parte del holding Sukhoi.
Funcionarios de Sukhoi dijeron que la compañía ya ha comenzado a aplicar un nuevo contrato con el Ministerio de Defensa para entregar un adicional de 92 Su-34s, haciendo un total de 124 aviones en 2020.
Un derivado del caza Su-27, el Su-34 está equipado con motores turborreactores con posquemador AL-31MF gemelos y puede transportar una carga útil de hasta ocho toneladas de armas guiadas de precisión más de 4.000 kilómetros.
El avión finalmente sustituirá a todos los envejecidos aviones de ataque Su-24 en servicio con la fuerza aérea y la armada rusos.

El Magnífico Su-34 Fullback...