SU-34 UNITS OF THE RUSSIAN AEROSPACE FORCES
Command Unit Location Inventory
4th Air Force and Air Defense Army 559th Bomber Aviation Regiment Morozovsk Three squadrons of Su-34s
6th Air Force and Air Defense Army 47th Composite Aviation Regiment Voronezh, temporarily moved to Buturlinovka Two squadrons of Su-34s
11th Air Force and Air Defense Army 277th Bomber Aviation Regiment Khurba (Komsomolsk) Two squadrons of Su-34s (and Su-24Ms)
14th Air Force and Air Defense Army 2nd Composite Aviation Regiment Shagol (Chelyabinsk) Su-34 deliveries started in March 2018
Several Su-34s are also operated by the 929th State Flight-Test Center at Akhtubinsk and 4th State Air Personnel Preparation and Military Evaluation Center at Lipetsk.Su-34s have been delivered
to operational units since
2010, replacing Su-24Ms
on-Amur. In 2016-17 it received two
squadrons of Su-34s.
The fourth operational unit is the 2nd
Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment
based at Shagol (Chelyabinsk). In 2017,
the initial six Su-34s intended for this
regiment were temporarily deployed
to Lipetsk, where the crews from
Chelyabinsk are undergoing training. The
aircraft were expected to be ferried to
their permanent base this year.
The next operational units preparing for
Su-34s are the 98th Guards Independent
Composite Aviation Regiment at
Monchegorsk and the newly created
unit at Shatalovo, where the current 4th
Independent Reconnaissance Aviation
Squadron will be expanded into a
regiment. Several aircraft are with the
crew conversion center at Lipetsk and
the test facility at Akhtubinsk.‘FULLBACK’
PRODUCTION
Production for the Russian Aerospace
Forces continues at a steady pace of 16-18
Su-34s per year. When the current contracts
are ful lled, by 2020 Russia will have 10
squadrons of Su-34s.Future versions
The capabilities of the Su-34 ghter-
bomber are being expanded under
a research and development (R&D)
program codenamed Sych (little owl),
which was contracted with Sukhoi by
the Russian MoD on December 29,- The ultimate result will be an
Su-34M version that is expected to
enter production in 2020. It features
a modernized K-102M targeting and
navigation suite with improved Sh141M
radar system that combines the
V004M radar, K-030BM computer, and
other items.
New special variants of the aircraft
— a reconnaissance aircraft and escort
jammer — have been created through
the installation of mission systems in
pods that are carried on the Su-34’s
centerline pylon. The BKR-3 (Bazovyi
Kompleks Razvedki; izdeliye M400)
reconnaissance suite developed by the
Kulon company within the Antrakt R&D
program has three interchangeable UKR
(Uni tsirovannyi Konteyner Razvedki)
uni ed reconnaissance pods. The
UKR-RL (radio-location) pod contains an
M402 Pika side-looking radar. Another
reconnaissance pod, the electro-optical
UKR-OE, houses the Antrakt-TV camera
and the M433 Raduga-VM linear infra-
red scanner. A third pod in this series,
the UKR-RT (radio-technical), contains
an M410 signal intelligence system. As
well as the sensors, each pod houses
a data storage and wideband datalink
for real-time transmission to a ground
station. The escort jammer version
carries powerful L175VU or L175VSh
series ECM pods working in various
frequency ranges.Top: A Su-34
unleashes 130mm
unguided rockets
during ‘Aviadarts’
in May.
Dmitriy Pichugin
Above right:
Serial RF-95801
is attached to
the 47th BAP,
which operates a
pair of ‘Fullback’
squadrons.
Dmitriy Pichuginhttp://www.combataircraft.netwww.combataircraft.net //// September 2018September 2018 35
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