combat aircraft

‘Fencer’ facts

The Su-24 originates from an era that was

fascinated with variable-geometry wings.

In the case of the Su-24, the con guration

is key to performance — swept forwards

for take-o and landing and, more

importantly, swept back for high speed

at low altitude. Thanks to the small area

of swept wing the aircraft is less prone

to turbulence,  ying at a speed of 648kt

(1,200km/h) at an altitude of 650ft (200m)

with two Kh-59 (AS-13 ‘Kingbolt’) air-to-

surface missiles (ASMs). It is one of the few

advantages — if not the only one — of the

Su-24 over the newer Su-34 ‘Fullback’, with

the larger wing of the latter hampering

high-speed  ight at low level.

The  re control system and avionics

of the Su-24M comprise typical systems

from the 1980s, including the Orion-A

dual-band (low-resolution/long-range

X-band, 3cm, and high-resolution/

short-range Ka-band, 8mm) air-to-

surface radar, Kayra-24 (guillemot) laser/

TV daytime sight/target designator

associated with laser and TV-guided

munitions, Phantasmagoria radar

homing and warning pod associated

with the Kh-58 (AS-11 ‘Kilter’)

anti-radar missile and

a Tekon datalink pod

for TV-guided Kh-59M

(AS-18 ‘Kazoo’) missiles and

KAB-1500TK bombs.

The Su-24M’s main weapons

in the strike role are one or

two tactical nuclear bombs.

Guided missile options include

two 65nm (120km)-range Kh-58U anti-

radiation missiles, two 22nm (40km)-

range Kh-59 or 62nm (115km)-range

Kh-59M TV command-guided missiles,

three heavy Kh-29L/T (AS-14 ‘Kedge’) or

four lightweight Kh-25ML short-range

laser/TV-guided missiles as well as 500kg

(1,102lb) KAB-500L/Kr and 1,500kg

(3,307lb) KAB-1500L/TK/Kr laser- and

TV-guided bombs. Unguided armament

consists of up to 16,535lb (7,500kg) of

freefall bombs, sub-munitions dispensers,

incendiary tanks, rockets and SPPU-6 and

UPK-23-250 gun pods on eight external

pylons (four under the fuselage, two

under the wing gloves, and two pivoting

pylons under the outer wing panels).

The aircraft has a  xed six-barrel 23mm

GSh-6-23M (AO-19) cannon with 500

rounds in a fairing under the starboard

side of the lower fuselage.

Modest mid-life upgrades

After the  rst Chechen War of 1994-

96, Russia looked at upgrade options

for its ‘Fencers’. Two parallel upgrades

have been implemented, one by

the private Gefest&T company and

another by the Sukhoi design bureau.

The  rst Su-24M SVP-24 modernized

by Gefest&T  ew in December 1998,

while series upgrades started in 2008

— it was o cially commissioned in

October 2008. The essential part of the

program is introduction of the SVP-24

(Spetsializirovannaya Vychislitelnaya

Podsistema, special computation sub-

Above: This

Su-24MR carries

the SRS-13

Tangazh ELINT

pod on the

centerline and an

Efi r-1M radiation

detector pod on

the right wing.

Piotr Butowski

Below left: A

Su-24M armed

with KAB-500Kr

TV-guided bombs.

Piotr Butowski

Detail of the Gefest&T SVP-24

(Spetsializirovannaya Vychislitelnaya

Podsistema, special computation

sub-system) that enhances

navigation. Piotr Butowski

FORCE REPORT // RUSSIAN TACTICAL BOMBERS

82 August 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net

80-87 Russian Strikers C.indd 82 21/06/2018 13:50