Su-25 Frogfoot (Sukhoi Su 28) Close-Support Aircraft, Russia

The Su-25 and Su-28 single-seat, close-support aircraft, known by the NATO reporting name Frogfoot, is manufactured by the Sukhoi Design Bureau Joint Stock Company, based in Moscow, and the Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association, in Novosibirsk, Russia.

The Su-25 is designed to defeat small mobile and stationary ground targets and to engage low-speed air targets at the forward edge and in the nearest tactical and operational depth.

A two-seater variant, Su-35UB (Frogfoot-B), is a weapons training aircraft manufactured at Ulan-Ude. The Su-25UTG is the two-seater aircraft carrier variant fitted with an arrester hook under the tail. The Su-25UTG is deployed on the Russian Navy 50,000-ton aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov.

Variants of the Su-25 are operational with the Russian Air Force, the Russian Naval Aviation forces, Afghanistan, Angola, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, North Korea, Peru, the Slovak Republic, Turkmenistan and the Ukraine. The export variant of the aircraft carries the designation Su-25K.

An upgraded version for the Russian Air Force, the Su-25SM entered service in January 2007. The upgrade includes new navigation computer, Pastel countermeasures suite, SUO-39 fire control system and Phazotron Kopyo-25M radar.

SU-25K SCORPION

An upgraded Su-25K, the Scorpion, has been developed by Tbilisi Aerospace Manufacturing (TAM) of Georgia with Elbit of Israel. Scorpion has a new advanced avionics system with a weapon delivery and navigation system for both NATO and Eastern European weapons and pods, and a new glass cockpit with two multicolour LCD displays and a head-up display (HUD).

COCKPIT

The aircraft has an all-welded, 24mm titanium alloy cockpit with transparent windscreen armour block to protect the pilot, and is equipped with a single K-36L Zvezda ejection seat.

WEAPONS

The wings have ten pylons for carrying a range of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapon systems selected for the mission. Air-to-ground missiles include Kh-23 (NATO codename AS-7 Kerry), Kh-25ML (AS-10 Karen) and Kh-29l (AS-14 Kedge). The air-to-air missiles carried on the smaller outboard pylons are the R-3S (AA-2D Atoll) and the R-60 (AA-8 Aphid).

The aircraft can be fitted with UB-32A pods for 57mm S-5 rockets, B-8M1 pods for 80mm S-8 rockets, S-24 240mm guided rockets and S-25 330mm guided rockets.

The Su-25 can be armed with 350-670kg laser-guided bombs, 500kg incendiary devices and cluster bombs.

The aircraft's twin-barrel gun, the 30mm AO-17A, is installed in the underside of the fuselage on the port side. The gun is armed with 250 rounds of ammunition and is capable of firing at a burst rate of 3,000 rounds a minute. SPPU-22 gun pods can also be installed on the underwing pylons. The pods carry the GSh-23 23mm twin-barrel guns, each with 260 rounds of ammunition.

TARGETING

The aircraft is equipped with an integrated navigation and aiming system, including ASP-17 BTs-8 gun / bomb sight with an AKS-750s camera installed in the nose. The nose also houses a Klyon PS laser ranger and target designator, manufactured by the Urals Optical and Mechanical Plant (YOM3).

COUNTERMEASURES

The electronic warfare suite includes an SPO-15 Sirena-3 radar warning receiver and a Gardeniya radar jammer. The ASO-2V decoy dispenser can deploy chaff and flares for protection against radar and infrared guided missiles.

NAVIGATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

The aircraft is equipped with an RSBN Tactical Air Navigation system (TACAN), MRP-56P marker beacon receiving unit, RV-1S radio altimeter and various air data and acceleration indicators.

The communications systems include an SRO-2 Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) transponder and a SO-69 air traffic control transponder, together with VHF/UHF transceivers and an air-to-ground radio.

ENGINES

The Russian Air Force Su-25 aircraft is powered by two Soyuz / Gavrilov R-195s turbojet engines rated at 44.18kN. Cooling air is introduced at the end of the tail cone to reduce the temperature of the exhaust gases and minimise the infrared signature of the aircraft.

The aircraft is equipped with self-sealing, foam-filled fuel tanks with a total capacity of 3,600l of fuel. The range of the aircraft can be extended by the provision of four PTB-1500 external fuel tanks, which are carried on the underwing pylons.