Back in
February the African country of Niger received its first jet combat
aircraft in the form of two Su-25s. These were received from Ukraine,
which has a lot of Cold War surplus weapons and refurbished these two
ground attack aircraft. It is believed that Ukraine also supplied pilots
and ground crews, at least until some Niger personnel could be trained
to do the work. Niger is very poor and until the two Su-25s arrived had
no combat aircraft at all and only about a hundred personnel and 12
transport and reconnaissance aircraft in its air force. France or the
United States may have provided the money for the two Su-25s, which
could be essential in dealing with the large number of Islamic
terrorists operating next door in Mali or Nigeria. This is not the first
time Su-25s have been supplied this way. Back in 2004 Ivory Coast for
two Su-25s in a similar deal, but made the mistake of using them against
some French peacekeepers. The French Air Force promptly responded by
attacking the Su-25s on the ground and destroying them.
The Su-25 was designed to attack ground targets, not other
aircraft. It is a 17 ton aircraft that carries a 30mm twin-barrel rotary
cannon (with 250 rounds) and up to five tons of bombs and missiles
(including air-to-air missiles). The twin-engine, one seat aircraft has a
combat radius of 380 kilometers and a top speed of 900 kilometers an
hour. It's the Russian equivalent of the U.S. A-10.
The Su-25 design is actually more similar to the 19 ton
American A-9, a competing design with the 23 ton A-10. The Su-25 and A-9
both are about 14 percent faster than the A-10. But the A-10 is a more
stable aircraft and much more resistant to battle damage. Absent lots of
ground fire, both the A-10 and Su-25 are very effective against ground
targets. The A-10 also has an edge with its unique 30mm autocannon, in
addition to seven tons of bombs. The A-9 could carry eight tons, in
addition to the same 30mm autocannon.
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