Su-34 Tactical Bomber: News

Viktor wrote:

mack8 wrote:6 more Su-34 ferried (or will shortly be so, can't make the translation) to Morozovsk. Presumably, this refers to the 4 remaining from the 2013 order which were formally accepted at NAPO recently, plus 2 from the 2014 one (accepted and delivered ahead of schedule), thus making 16 Su-34 delivered this year?
This would make 9 Su-34 at Morozovsk so far?
http://ria.ru/defense_safety/20131226/986534888.html

In some of my previoous posts I calculated that Su-34 is being produced at higher rate than needed to accomplish 124 Su-34 ordered by 2020. Now you @mack tell us that 

they produced 2 Su-34 more than that was planned which is a very good news and if we remember Russian MoD ordered 184 IFF for Su-34 which also leaned the story that more 

than 124 Su-34 will be produced by 2020. And now here comes the big news. 

Su-34 park may reach 200 aircraft

because of this:  “Since 2015 the plant is planning to produce 20 aircraft per year,” Bondarev said.     



and from interfax military:

Russian Air Force may enlarge Su-34 bomber fleet to 150-200

Well, i'm not sure of it 100% (the extra 2 Su-34 i mean), i have calculated that since we know previously there were 10 delivered to Morozovsk and Voronezh in ones and 3s, and now 6 more are going to Morozovsk shortly, then considering the yearly plan was for 14 the other two must be from the 2014 order, unless i missed something. Would be nice to have confirmation from a bulletproof source.

In regards to the 20 a year number, perhaps they are also anticipating one or more export orders (Algeria is in negotiations for the type apparently)?

Even Su-30SM/MKI with 8T payload would be slow mover

Not necessarily... it is not so much about weight as drag... if the aircraft is carrying concrete piercing 1,500kg bombs then they are actually quite compact weapons as much of their weight is steel and of fairly high density and therefore low drag.

Su-30s were displayed at airshows with mock full weapon loads and their flight performance was not eliminated.


Keep in mind an F-16 can carry 7 tons, so a plane like a Flanker should be able to carry rather more.

Imagine Su-34 installed AL-31M2 (14t) later and AESA radar.
What a beast...

GarryB wrote:Su-30s were displayed at airshows with mock full weapon loads and their flight performance was not eliminated.

I am aware of that flight performance but what was the internal fuel with full load no one knows

I am aware of that flight performance but what was the internal fuel with full load no one knows

Don't both have inflight refuelling probes?

Awesome photo! Has a real moving feel to it.

Anxiously waiting for new weapons to reach Su-34 units tho.
Enough iron bombs.

shouldn't they have a significant amount of KAB weapons for these Su-34's? Would love to see more of those weapons and their use/testing.

Anxiously waiting for new weapons to reach Su-34 units tho.
Enough iron bombs.

Me too, though the ability to hit ground targets with dumb iron bombs with accuracy is very under rated... for a start it is much cheaper.

I just hope India orders atleast 40 Su-34s for our ISF. This bird is an awesome strike bomber.


I have read elsewhere that its performance during Georgia war was very impressive. Is it true?

Supposedly several of them suppressed Georgian AD sites (Kh-31) and covered Su-24 strike packages with their powerful ECM.

Other sources claim that is baloney though.

I lean 80% to it being true.

Hard to say... have heard it was a Su-34 that provided ESM support but other sources say it was an Mi-9 that was flown in for the purpose.

I suspect the Army will say Mi-9 and the Air Force will say Su-34...

Pardon my inquisitiveness, but how good is the EW suite of Su-34 under heavy AD environment(NATO/US/UK/etc)? How does it compare with Spectra?


PS: I think one of the reasons we went for Rafale was its EW suite. During 1999 Kargil war, none of Pakistani Stinger missiles touched Mirage 2000- who were used for heavy bombing. Our AF was really impressed with French EW suite then and henceforth.

The EW and DIRCMS systems of the Su-34 are secret but I would expect them to be very good/comprehensive.

GarryB wrote:The EW and DIRCMS systems of the Su-34 are secret but I would expect them to be very good/comprehensive.

Do they import the EW suite from Thales, or is it fully indigenous?

Russia will use Thales EW systems and Israeli systems in aircraft and ships and vehicles and other equipment it sells to third parties but it certainly would not use such sensitive systems in their own aircraft.

They will use licence produced Mistral carriers, but fly Ka-29 and Ka-226T and Ka-52K helicopters from their decks and arm them with Pantsir-S1 or Duet rather than the French equivalent.

A french or israeli EW system would not be compatible with Russian systems and would not be secure enough even if performance was good enough.

rusisan companies have good EW systems and now have the funding to produce them... there is no need to look to foreign equipment.

Indian Flanker wrote:Pardon my inquisitiveness, but how good is the EW suite of Su-34 under heavy AD environment(NATO/US/UK/etc)? How does it compare with Spectra?


PS: I think one of the reasons we went for Rafale was its EW suite. During 1999 Kargil war, none of Pakistani Stinger missiles touched Mirage 2000- who were used for heavy bombing. Our AF was really impressed with French EW suite then and henceforth.

Stinger is IR guided missiles, so Mirage could use only flares against them, same as Migs. They simply fly too high to be reached with Stingers.

The reason I'm asking about EW suite of Su-34 is this hypothetical question of mine:

Q. If India decides to SEAD/DEAD the Chinese air defence then can Su-34 survive the S-400, and come back home safely?

That's the kind of answer none of us here have .


Su-34 EW is powerful, but it is not magic.

I would say unlikely, since S-300 batteries have several overlapping radars and ground based radars have a much higher power supply which gives them higher noise sustainability compared with airborne radars/jammers. But it is not scissors/stone situation it depends on lot of things and like TR1 said no one knows for sure.

Well what I will say is that during the cold war when US spy ships had a couple of 50 cal HMG mounts to defend them the Soviet ships from the smallest corvette or missile boat were often fitted with at least a 30mm gatling mount and often a point defence missile as well (ie OSA or TOR equivalents).

The Soviet experience with very fast anti ship missiles led to their ships being very well equipped against anti ship missiles.

I rather suspect Russian experience with modern and very capable SAMs likely leads to their EW equipment being very comprehensive too.

Indian Flanker wrote:The reason I'm asking about EW suite of Su-34 is this hypothetical question of mine:

Q. If India decides to SEAD/DEAD the Chinese air  defence then can Su-34 survive the S-400, and come back home safely?

It would depend on which variants of S-400 and Su-34 we are talking about.

Morpheus Eberhardt wrote:
It would depend on which variants of S-400 and Su-34 we are talking about.

We are talking about both export variants  

However, the Indian variant of Su-34(if our government decides to procure it) should be closer to the original Russian variant(owing to the Indo-Ruusian history/ties), than the export variant of S-400 to China(again owing to their copy-cat history) 

I doubt Su-34 will be ever meant for export. About EW equipment in Su-34, this is the most secret equipment so far. We know far more about Su-35 and PAK FA than about Su-34. What we know is, that it have additional power generator in tail boom, so its EW equipment must be very powerful.

medo wrote:I doubt Su-34 will be ever meant for export. About EW equipment in Su-34, this is the most secret equipment so far. We know far more about Su-35 and PAK FA than about Su-34. What we know is, that it have additional power generator in tail boom, so its EW equipment must be very powerful.

Russia is partnering with India on a highly ambitious 5th gen Fighter project. It has offered Su-35S to India, which is its most advance fighter jet till date.

So, even though neither Russia has offered Su-34 to India yet AFAIK, nor the Indian government has shown any inclination to procure it. But I'm sure if Indian government pushes hard to acquire Su-34 Fullback, Russia won't hesitatate in selling it to India.


I think Russia realises that the Western powers are trying to woo India with all their latest offers, so saying no is not a smart option