https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Su-24
The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, all-weather
attack aircraft developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep
wing, twin-engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for its two crew. It
was the first of the USSR's aircraft to carry an integrated digital
navigation/attack system. It remains in service with the Russian Air Force,
Ukrainian Air Force, and various air forces to which it was exported.
The aircraft was officially sanctioned on 24 August 1965 under the internal
codename T-6. The first prototype, T-6-1 was completed in May 1967 and flew on 2
July with Vladimir Ilyushin at the controls. The initial flights were performed
without the four lift jets, which were installed in October 1967. At the same
time, R-27s were replaced with Lyulka AL-21Fs. STOL tests confirmed the data
from S-58VD that short-field performance was achieved at the cost of significant
loss of flight distance as the lift engines occupied space normally reserved for
fuel, loss of under-fuselage hardpoints, and instability during transition from
STOL to conventional flight. So the six-engine approach was abandoned.
By 1967, the F-111 had entered service and demonstrated the practical advantages
and solutions to the technical problems of a swing-wing design. On 7 August
1968, the OKB was officially tasked with investigating a variable geometry wing
for the T-6. The resulting T-6-2I first flew on 17 January 1970 with Ilyushin at
the controls. The subsequent government trials lasted until 1974, dictated by
the complexity of the on-board systems. The day or night and all-weather
radar scanners for nav/attack, a dedicated Relyef terrain clearance radar to
provide automatic control of flights at low and extremely low altitudes, and an
Orbita-10-58 onboard computer. The crew was equipped with Zvezda K-36D ejection
seats, allowing the crew members to bail out at any altitude and flight speed,
including during takeoff and landing. The resulting design with a range of 3,000
kilometers (1,900 mi) and payload of 8,000 kilograms (18,000 lb) was slightly
smaller and shorter ranged than the F-111.
Ten fatal accidents occurred during Su-24 development, killing thirteen Sukhoi
and Soviet Air Force test pilots.
Role
All-weather attack aircraft
Manufacturer
Sukhoi
Designer
First flight
T-6: 2 July 1967
T-6-2I: 17 January 1970
Introduction
1974
Status
In service
Primary users
Russian Air Force
Ukrainian Air Force
Kazakh Air Force
Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force
Produced
Number built
Approximately 1,400
Unit cost
Syrian civil war
Starting in November 2012, 18 months after the beginning of the Syrian Civil War
and four months after the beginning of air raids by fixed-wing SAF aircraft,
Su-24 medium bombers were filmed attacking rebel positions. The SAF suffered its
first Su-24 loss, an upgraded MK2 version, to an Igla surface-to-air missile on
28 November 2012 near the town of Darat Izza in the Aleppo Governorate. One of
the crew members, Col. Ziad Daud Ali, was injured and filmed being taken to a
rebel field hospital.
Syrian Fencers have reportedly also been involved in near-encounters with NATO
warplanes. The first of such incidents occurred in early September 2013, when
Syrian Fencers of the 819th Squadron (launched from Tiyas airbase) flew low over
the Mediterranean and approached the 14-mile air exclusion zone surrounding the
British airbase in Akrotiri, Cyprus. The jets turned back before reaching the
area due to two RAF Eurofighter Typhoons being scrambled to intercept them.
Turkey also sent two F-16s. The Fencers were possibly testing the air defenses
of the base (and their reaction time) in preparation for a possible military
strike by the U.S, the United Kingdom and France in the aftermath of the
chemical weapons attack in Ghouta, Damascus allegedly committed by the Syrian
government.
On September 23, 2014, a Syrian Su-24 was shot down by an Israeli Air Defense
Command MIM-104D Patriot missile near Quneitra, after it had penetrated 800
meters (2,600 ft) into Israeli controlled airspace over the Golan Heights. The
missile hit the aircraft when it already re-entered into the Syrian air space.
Both crew members ejected safely and landed in Syrian territory.
2015 Russian military operation in Syria
The Russian air force's long-range striking power in the region comes from the
twelve Su-24M2 Fencer jets that Russia has sent to its base in Latakia, Syria.
On 24 November 2015, a Russian Su-24M was shot down by a flight of two Turkish
F-16s near the Turkey/Syrian border. Both of the crew ejected before the plane
crashed in Syrian territory. Russia claimed that the jet had not left Syrian
airspace while Turkey claims the jet entered their airspace and was warned 10-12
times before the plane was shot down. A deputy commander in a Syrian Turkmen
brigade claimed that his personnel shot and killed both crew while they were
descending in their parachutes, while some Turkish officials subsequently stated
that the crew was still alive. The weapon systems officer was however rescued by
Russian forces, while the pilot was killed by rebels along with a Russian marine
involved in a helicopter rescue attempt. Russian president Vladimir Putin warned
Turkey of serious consequences. It has been reported Russian fighter jets would
escort future bomber missions, and S-400 advanced anti-aircraft systems deployed
in Syria in addition to a Russian anti-aircraft cruiser were sent to Syria to
protect Russian aircraft. Following the incident, Russia announced that Su-24s
in Syria had begun flying combat missions while armed with air-to-air missiles.
Specifications (Su-24MK)
General characteristics
Crew: Two (pilot and weapons system operator)
Length: 22.53 m (73 ft 11 in)
Wingspan: 17.64 m extended, 10.37 m maximum sweep (57 ft 10 in / 34 ft 0 in)
Height: 6.19 m (20 ft 4 in)
Empty weight: 22,300 kg (49,165 lb)
Loaded weight: 38,040 kg (83,865 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 43,755 kg (96,505 lb)
each
Thrust with afterburner: 109.8 kN (24,675 lbf) each
Fuel capacity: 11,100 kg (24,470 lb)
Performance
Maximum speed: 1,315 km/h (710 kn, 815 mph, Mach 1.08) at sea level; 1,654 km/h
(Mach 1.35 ) at high altitude
Combat radius: 615 km in a low-flying (lo-lo-lo) attack mission with 3,000 kg
(6,615 lb) ordnance and external tanks ()
Ferry range: 2,775 km (1,500 nmi, 1,725 mi)
Service ceiling: 11,000 m (36,090 ft)
Rate of climb: 150 m/s (29,530 ft/min)
Thrust/weight: 0.60
G-force limit: 6 g
Takeoff roll: 1,550 m (5,085 ft)
Landing roll: 1,100 m (3,610 ft)
Armament
TV-command guided missiles, Kh-31A anti-ship missiles, S-25LD laser-guided
missiles, KAB-500KR TV-guided and KAB-500L laser guided bombs.
Unguided rocket launchers with 240 mm S-24B rockets or 340 mm S-25-OFM rockets.
Other weapon options include general-purpose bombs AB-100, AB-250 M54 or M62 and
AB-500M-54, thermobaric bombs ODAB-500M, cluster bombs RBK-250 or RBK-500,
small-size cargo pods KMGU-2, external gun pods SPPU-6, external fuel tanks
PTB-2,000 (1,860 l) or PTB-3,000 (3,050 l) and tactical nuclear bombs.
upgraded aircraft can carry R-73E missiles as well.
*
|
|