More Mercenary Su-25s Slip Into Africa

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.

Low, Fast And Out Of Control

In late August a video began appearing on the Internet showing a Su-24 fighter-bomber flying above a highway in southern Russia, at an altitude of under 100 meters (310 feet). By the end of August military prosecutors said they were on the case. But TV interviews of former Russian pilots said training was often done at low altitudes, as that was how you could avoid being detected by anti-aircraft radar. But this sort of thing is not supposed to be done in populated areas, especially in a Su-24. That's because these aircraft are very old and are crashing more often. One went down last February 13th, and the next day all Russian Su-24s were grounded until the cause of the crash could be determined. This sort of thing is becoming increasingly common. In the last 12 years Russia has lost sixteen Su-24s to accidents. Many more have been retired because of old age. This is one of the reasons Russia is hustling to replace the Su-24s with Su-34s.

It was only four years ago that Russia began building the first (of 20) Su-34 fighter-bombers. These are now replacing the 43 ton Su-24s. The 45 ton Su-34 is yet another variant of the 33 ton Su-27 and is very similar to the 36 ton U.S. F-15E (a two seat fighter-bomber version of the 31 ton F-15C). But Russia still has about 400 Su-24s in service and only twenty Su-34s. It appears that the new Su-34s will not arrive quickly enough to replace most of the elderly Su-24s.

The Su-34 has a full set of defensive and offensive sensors (radars, targeting cameras, laser designators) and electronic warfare gear. It also can carry eight tons of missiles and smart bombs. Russia is currently planning to get 58 Su-34s to replace 300 older Su-24s (most of these are not fit for service). Russia is building the first 24 Su-34s at a cost of $36 million each (less than half the cost of an F-15E).

Meanwhile, some of the more recently built Su-24s were upgraded as the Su-24M2 standard. Most of the Su-24s built are over 25 years old and many have been grounded several times recently because of age related problems. The Su-34 has been in the works for several years and earlier versions of two-seater Su-27 bombers were known as the Su-32.

Su-25 Fighter Jet Crashes in Belarus

Soviet-era fighter jet crashed in Belarus on Tuesday, killing the pilot the aircraft, the country’s Defense Ministry said.

The pilot, Nikolai Gridnyov, lost control of the jet when doing exercises in low-altitude flight, the ministry said, local news agency BELTA reported.

Ground control ordered the pilot to eject from the plane, but he stayed in order to prevent the machine from crashing into a neighboring village, sacrificing his life to make the jet crash two kilometers away from the village, the report said.

The ministry did not elaborate on the causes of the crash. Belarusian Air Force has more than 70 Su-25s, which were developed in the 1970s.