Upgraded Su-24M news

The Strike Was Precise

The Su-24M won’t go into reserve anytime soon

As the Rubezh-2004 exercises that have taken place, three upgraded Su-24M tactical bombers were tested. Pilots of the Lipetsk Center for Training of Flight Crews destroyed all targets with unguided bombs at the Ehdel’veys range. They were laid down so closely grouped that the targets literally were torn to shreds. As a result of the exercises, the upgraded aircraft has received a high mark not only of the defense ministry and Russian Federation air force, but of the airmen themselves. The chief of the Russia’s tactical aviation section, Colonel Oleg Storozhuk, who was executing a combat training mission in an Su-24M, said that thanks to new technology, the bomber has become practically invulnerable to an enemy’s air defenses. For example, one can use the aircraft armament when the airplane is not only in a horizontal position, but also in a turn and while climbing.

Actually, during the revisions that were performed on the Su-24, they installed the newest avionics and radar set. The airplane’s combat capabilities have grown by 3 – 4 times in comparison with the basic model. It is worth noting that these bombers always have been distinguished by high precision in the use of the guided weapons, however, the destruction of a target is not guaranteed in certain conditions, and it is expensive. Therefore, the need arose for improving the unguided weapons system, since it is significantly cheaper and even more reliable than guided weapons, for the use of which visual contact is needed.

Thanks to the newest hardware and software package installed on the bombers, the regular aircraft display, which earlier showed only a radar image of the terrain, now combines it with an electronic map and altitude matrices. The GPS receiver allows confirming the necessary coordinates and bringing the airplane in any weather conditions by the map to the target, at that, even at a minimal altitude, and also to strike from a great distance and correspondingly to increase the precision of the hit. All data calculations and representations in the operating system are executed in a real time mode. It is considered that the technology being developed for the upgrade of aviation equipment is rather universal and can be used also on other types of airplanes and helicopters, including civil aircraft.

“The Su-24M tactical bomber can operate successful in mountain conditions. And in general we are planning to put into the flow the upgrade of our air force airplanes,” Russia’s defense minister, Sergey Ivanov, emphasized while commenting on the results of the exercise in Kazakhstan.

By the way, the Su-24M already is in the inventory of several CIS countries which have signed the Collective Security Treaty. Byelorussia has 42 airplanes available, Kazakhstan – 37, and Azerbaijan – 11.

Source: 24.08.03, Krasnaya Zvezda

As always, ignore the propaganda. This aircraft must be the Su-24SM.