AirSkyBuster : Aircraft and Airplane

image dimensions : 1200 x 800

Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot (four) Sukhoi Su-25, Frogfoot, Fighter, Jet, Sukhoi Design Bureau, Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing, Russian, USSR, Soviet, aircraft, airplane, military, defense, attack, widescreen, wallpaper, photo, picture, image
Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot (Wallpaper 4) attack aircraft remains the mainstay of Russian ground-attack regiments. The type is broadly analogous to the US A-10 but has been matured into a more sophisticated warplane. The T-8 prototype made it's first flight on 22 February 1975, but type was comprehensively redesigned before series production was authorized. It is intended to support ground forces, destroy heavy armored vehicles, fortifications and other targets. The Su-25 "Frogfoot" is some kind of competitor to the US A-10 "Thunderbolt" attack aircraft. Comparing them "Frogfoot" is significantly smaller, lighter but features more powerful armament and speed. Also the Su-25 has lighter protection than the "Thunderbolt". It is explained that US designers paid more attention to develop aircraft with good survivability while soviet designers developed smaller aircraft with better maneuverability that is harder to hit. Furthermore Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot (Wallpaper 4) was completed with more powerful turbojet engines instead of turboprop on the A-10. Weapons available include a double-barrel 30-mm cannon with 250 rounds, and underwing capacity for 4.4 tones of ordnance on 8 pylons. This disposable ordnance can include unoperated rockets, laser-guided rocket proprlrd bombs, "dumb" bombs of incendiary, anti-personnel, and chemical types, Air-to-Air missiles for self-defense, Air-to-Ground missiles, Anti-tank missiles. "Frogfoot" features a 24-mm welded titanium cockpit armor tub, an air mixing duct system to cool engine exhaust, and other survivability features like foam-filled fuel tanks and pushrod-actuated control surfaces. In addition, 256 flares or chaff dispensers are carried near the rear of the aircraft in the tailcone and above the engine exhausts. The laser designator and target indicating electronics are carried in the extreme nose. The Su-25T is an improved version of the Su-25. As "Frogfoots" flew some 60 000 combat sorties in Afghanistan and this experience led to a range of modifications applied to production aircraft from 1987. The need for an al-weather and night capable Su-25 with increased range, endurance and survivability led to the Su-25T ("T" for "Anti-tank"). This is based on the airframe of the Su-25UB two-seat trainer version with the humped rare cockpit faired over. This space now holds a fuel cell and extra avionics. An early batch of 20 Su-25Ts was built during 1990-1991 in Tbilisi (Georgia). Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot (Wallpaper 4)

image dimensions : 1200 x 800

Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot (three) Sukhoi Su-25, Frogfoot, Fighter, Jet, Sukhoi Design Bureau, Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing, Russian, USSR, Soviet, aircraft, airplane, military, defense, attack, widescreen, wallpaper, photo, picture, image
Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot (Wallpaper 3). Although the Sukhoi OKB expected to get full development of their T8 rolling quickly, an obstacle quickly popped up. VVS generals weren't happy with the design as submitted, insisting that the warload be increased to 4,000 kilograms (8,800 pounds) and that the aircraft be capable of Mach 1 at low altitude. VVS flyboys were simply uncomfortable with the idea of a subsonic jet combat aircraft. Sukhoi engineers could accommodate the request for more warload by scaling up the design, but supersonic performance was out of the question, though they were able increase its top speed. The redesign effort pushed the beginning of prototype construction to August 1971, with work conducted at State Factory 153 in Novosibirsk, well to the east of the Urals. This facility had long worked with the Sukhoi OKB on other aircraft. Mikhail Simonov was assigned as project manager. Oleg Samolovich was the chief designer from August 1972 to October 1974, when he was moved to work on the "T10" interceptor, which would emerge as the "Su-27 Flanker". Y.V. Ivashetchkin took Samolovich's place. While design work on the T8 continued, the design team obtained initial information about the Fairchild A-10. The A-10's engines were mounted in pods above the rear of the fuselage, protecting them to an extent from ground-launched heat-seeking missiles and from anti-aircraft fire. Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot (Wallpaper 3). The advantages of this configuration were substantial and some members of the Sukhoi design team lobbied to adopt the same configuration for the T8, but such pod-mounted engines created drag and reduced speed, and it was too late to make such a change without derailing the project anyway. Pavel Sukhoi died in 1973, having lived long enough to see a mockup of the T8. However, although two prototypes were under construction at the time, a formal order for them wasn't issued by the Ministry of the Aircraft Industry until 6 May 1974, with one to be used for static test. The prototypes were built on a shoestring, leveraging off available gear wherever possible. The static-test article, numbered "T8-0", was delivered on 12 September 1974. The initial flight-test prototype, "T8-1", was delivered to the Zhukovskiy flight test center in December 1974, though due to an engine failure the first flight was delayed to 22 February 1975. The flight was performed by Sukhoi OKB's chief test pilot, General Vladimir Ilyushin, one of the USSR's most prominent test pilots and by an irony son of Sergei Ilyushin, founder of the rival Ilyushin OKB. The T8-1 was fitted with a navigation-attack suite from the Su-17M2 and a GSh-23 twin-barreled "teeter-totter" 23 millimeter cannon. The cannon could be depressed for strafing. By this time, continued changes in service requirements for the T8 had resulted in further increases in weight. The twin RD-9 turbojets were replaced by twin Tumanski R-95Sh non-afterburning turbojets with 44.13 kN (4,500 kgp / 9,921 lbf) max takeoff thrust each. The R-95Sh was a non-afterburning version of the Tumanski R-13F-300 used on the MiG-21. It was far from a state-of-the-art solution and a more modern turbofan engine would have been preferable in terms of fuel economy, but in compensation that R-95Sh had plenty of power, and was very rugged and reliable as well. It was also not fussy about the grade of fuel it used, and could even burn diesel fuel in a pinch. Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot (Wallpaper 3)

image dimensions : 1200 x 800

Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot (two) Sukhoi Su-25, Frogfoot, Fighter, Jet, Sukhoi Design Bureau, Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing, Russian, USSR, Soviet, aircraft, airplane, military, defense, attack, widescreen, wallpaper, photo, picture, image
Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot (Wallpaper 2), which is no longer in serial production, made its first flight in 1979. This single seat ground attack aircraft is a very durable airplane - it is fairly heavily armored -- and easy to service - all service equipment can be stored in a container and transported by the airplane itself. It is armed with one twin barrel 30mm gun in the bottom of the fuselage with 250 rounds. There are 8 pylons under the wings which can carry about 4,000 kg of air-to-ground weapons, including 57mm to 330mm rockets. There are two small outboard pylons for AA-2D/ATOLL or AA-8/APHID AAMs. The wings are high-mounted and back-tapered with straight trailing edges. There are pods mounted at the square tips. There are two turbojets mounted alongside the body under the wings. There are semicircular air intakes forward of the wings leading edges. Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot (Wallpaper 2). There are exhausts to the rear of the wings trailing edges. The fuselage is long, and slender and has a rounded nose. The body tapers to the rear section that overhangs the exhausts. There is a stepped canopy. The tail is swept-back and fin is tapered with a square tip. The flats mid-mounted on the fuselage, unequally tapered with blunt tips. The Su-39 (also known as the Su-25T or Su-25TM) is a Frogfoot variant incorporating post-Afghanistan lessons-learned. It is based on the Su-25UB two-seat trainder, with the rear seat and cockpit replaced with a fuel cell and extra avionics. The Su-39 carries the Kopyo-25 multi mode radar in a pod under the fuselage. Armament includes ground attack missiles such as the AT-16 Vikhr, anti-ship missiles, and AAMs such as the R-27, R-27ER, R-60, R-73 and R-77. A four-fold reduction in thermal signature has been achieved through cooling intakes on the upper surface of aircraft, and a new center body which masks hot turbine blades. Only a few dozen of these aircraft have been built. Reports in the mid-1990s that the Su-39 designation had been assigned to a primary trainer derived from the Su-26 and Su-29 aerobatic competition aircraft, designed to replace the Yak-52, are apparently incorrect. Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot (Wallpaper 2)

image dimensions : 1200 x 800

Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot (one) Sukhoi Su-25, Frogfoot, Fighter, Jet, Sukhoi Design Bureau, Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing, Russian, USSR, Soviet, aircraft, airplane, military, defense, attack, widescreen, wallpaper, photo, picture, image
Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot (Wallpaper 1) (NATO reporting name: "Frogfoot") is a single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft developed in the Soviet Union by the Sukhoi Design Bureau. It was designed to provide close air support for the Soviet Ground Forces. The first prototype made its maiden flight on 22 February 1975. After testing, the aircraft went into series production in 1978 at Tbilisi in the Soviet Republic of Georgia. Russian air and ground forces nicknamed it "Grach" ("Rook"). Early variants included the Su-25UB two-seat trainer, the Su-25BM for target-towing, and the Su-25K for export customers. Upgraded variants developed by Sukhoi include the Su-25T and the further improved Su-25TM (also known as Su-39). By year 2007, the Su-25 is the only armoured fixed-wing aircraft in production except the Su-34 whose production had just started. It is currently in service with Russia and various other CIS states as well as export customers. During its more than 25 years in service, the Su-25 has seen combat with several air forces. It was heavily involved in the Soviet war in Afghanistan, flying counter-insurgency missions against the Mujahideen. The Iraqi Air Force employed Su-25s against Iran during the 1980–89 Iran–Iraq War. Most of them were later destroyed or fled to Iran in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. In 1993, Abkhazian separatists used Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot (Wallpaper 1) against Georgians during the Abkhazian War. Eight years later, the Macedonian Air Force employed Su-25s against Albanian insurgents in the 2001 Macedonia conflict, and in 2008, Georgia and Russia both used Su-25s in the Russo-Georgian War. African states, including the Ivory Coast, Chad, and Sudan have used the Su-25 in local insurgencies and civil wars. In early 1968, the Soviet Ministry of Defence decided to develop a specialised shturmovik armoured assault aircraft in order to provide close air support for the Soviet Ground Forces. The idea of creating a ground-support aircraft came about after analysing the experience of shturmovaya (ground attack) aviation during World War II, and in local wars during the 1950s and 1960s. The Soviet fighter-bombers in service or under development at this time (Su-7, Su-17, MiG-21 and MiG-23) did not meet the requirements for close air support of the army. They lacked essential armour plating to protect the pilot and vital equipment from ground fire and missile hits, and their high flight speeds made it difficult for the pilot to maintain visual contact with a target. Having taken into account these problems, Pavel Sukhoi and a group of leading specialists in the Sukhoi Design Bureau started preliminary design work in a comparatively short period of time, with the assistance of leading institutes of the Ministry of the Aviation Industry and the Ministry of Defence. Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot (Wallpaper 1)