the Sukhoi Su34 it was to become the Russian aviation revolution. The FighterBomber ushered in a new era of hightech precision bombing. And instead into the war Ukraine have encountered old and ageold problems: In particular, the missions over the skies of Kyiv and the surrounding area have been complicated by the Shortage of precision commanded ammunitionin addition to a Russian doctrine who always designed airplanes as flying artillery. So the fighter planes off 50 million dollars They are often forced to fly at much lower altitudes than they would have even as a dowry, exposing themselves to Ukrainian enemy fire which is more certain to hit them.
As a result, Su34s fall from the sky in amazing numbers, almost like the older fleet that preceded them. The first Su34s arrived in 2008 (there were 32), then another 92 fleets arrived in 2012. In 2021, the Russians owned 122 Su34s in different regiments. By 2030, according to Forbes, the number could rise to 200 even after accounting for losses.
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So the Su34 replaced the Su24
It was always planned for the Su34 to replace the old Su24 from the 1970s, of which about 70 were still in service technology Unbelievable for the aviation world: Two person cockpit, can hit targets up to 600 miles away when carried 12 tons of bombs and rockets, including airtoair missiles. A 22ton jet armed with a 30mm gun and a radar that would allow, similar to the Boeing F15E (the Air Force’s working fighterbomber), to deploy an array of precisionguided missiles and bombs.
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The Messenger (@ilmessaggeroit) April 1, 2022
Lack of ammo (due to the price)
But there is a fundamental difference. Where Americans buy, often train with, and use in combat thousands of satelliteguided, laser, and infrared missiles and bombs each year, nearly eliminating unguided weapons, The Russians practically stopped buying ordered ammunition years due to their high cost and after 2014 due to foreign sanctions against Russian bomb and missile makers.
While the Su34 can carry commanded ammunition, it almost never does. “Most of the 300 Russian Air Force fixedwing fighter jets in Ukraine only have unguided bombs and missiles to fall back on for ground attacks,” Justin Bronk said in a recent review for the Royal United Services Institute of London.
The Russian Teaching
Independent analysts confirmed the destruction of four Su34s in Ukraine. Ukrainians reportedly captured at least one Sukhoi pilot, Alexander, alive Krasnoyartsev. Worse in the skies of Ukraine was only the Su25 subsonic jet, which flies even lower and slower than the Su34. The fact remains that the Su34s are losing the battle in the sky, prey to shortrange missiles guided by television or infrared. rockets which have a range of a few kilometers but can hit Russian superjets. That if they used only precision missiles or bombs, they could fire their munitions from tens of kilometers away and 34 miles altitude, putting them out of range of any shortrange air defenses.
But it’s not just the limitations of technology that endanger the Su34. Even the most sophisticated fighter plane is a slave to the teach who is in charge: The movement rules derived from the army do not allow aviation the freedom to lead its own campaign. In Russian doctrine, aircraft are extensions of ground forces. They are flying artillery: rigid vehicles that deliver tremendous firepower.
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