Aircraft attack aircraft SU-25: specifications, dimensions, description. History of creation

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

In Soviet and Russian aviation there are many legendary aircraft, the names of which are known to every person who is more or less interested in military equipment. These include the "Grach" - the SU-25 attack aircraft. The technical characteristics of this machine are so good that it is not only actively used in armed conflicts around the world to this day, but is also constantly being upgraded.

General information

As mentioned, this is a stormtrooper. Flight speed - subsonic; has good armor. The machine is designed to cover advancing troops or independent operations as part of aviation units, can strike at concentrations of enemy manpower and armored vehicles, flies at any time of the day and in almost all meteorological conditions. What other description can be given for the SU-25? Tactic althe technical characteristics of this aircraft are so versatile that they could devote a whole book to them! However, let's try to get by with a rather brief article.

First flight made at the end of February 1975. The machine has been intensively used since 1981, the aircraft have been involved in all armed conflicts in the territory of the former USSR, and not only. The last episode of the application was the 2008 war in Ossetia. Today it is known that attack aircraft of this series will be in service with our army at least until 2020, but - subject to the availability of modern modifications and the State order for the continuation of their production - this period is clearly shifted indefinitely. At the moment, Russia has about 200 SU-25s. The technical characteristics of the vehicles on combat duty are maintained by constantly upgrading them to modern realities.

Prerequisites for occurrence

Approximately in the middle of the 60s, the military priorities of the USSR and the USA underwent cardinal changes. At that time, it became finally clear that the idea, cherished until then, of crushing the enemy with nuclear weapons, was senseless suicide on a global scale. Everyone came to the conclusion that the focus should be on the use of conventional weapons. That is why the military of both superpowers once again paid close attention to the development of front-line aviation as the main strike force in all conflicts of recent years.

In those years, the USSR was armed with: MiG-19, MiG-21, Su-7B, and Yak-28. These cars werevery good, but they were completely unsuitable for working directly on the battlefield. They had too high a flight speed, and therefore they could not physically maneuver and hit small targets. In addition, the complete lack of armor put an end to their assault qualities: when attacking ground targets for these aircraft, any machine gun could be a mortal danger. It was then that the prerequisites for the appearance of the SU-25 were laid. The technical characteristics of the new machine were supposed to somewhat repeat those of the legendary IL-2: armor, maneuverability, low flight speed and armament.

Development Brief

Thus, the troops urgently needed a specialized aircraft. The Sukhoi Design Bureau soon provided the T-8 project, which was developed by engineers on their own initiative. In addition to him, in 1969 the Il-102 was present at the competition, but the future Rook favorably differed from it in its small dimensions, armor and maneuverability. That is why the "kitchen" development was given the green light, and the new attack aircraft passed all the tests with honor. This was largely due to the fact that the designers applied the principle of maximum survivability of a combat vehicle in all possible conditions when creating it.

Especially much attention was paid to the ability of the attack aircraft to resist the action of MANPADS, which at that time began to massively appear in the troops of a potential enemy. It was the American Stingers that became a real headache for our helicopter pilots in Afghanistan, and therefore allthe measures taken were not superfluous.

"Tank" variant

The SU-25T aircraft was created somewhat differently. The history and characteristics of its weapons are directly related to the development of armored vehicles of that period. NATO made the final bet on heavy and well-protected tanks, and therefore a special "subspecies" of the attack aircraft was required, which could conduct an attack at even lower speeds, providing better target destruction.

This modification was put into service in 1993. The differences from the standard "Rook" are small, but they are. General unification with the "parent" aircraft - 85%. The main difference is the more advanced sighting equipment and the Vikhr anti-tank missile system. Unfortunately, with the collapse of the Union, out of 12 cars built, only 8 ended up in Russia. Further production and modernization of these aircraft was not carried out. Sadly, the SU-25T, whose flight performance allowed it to confidently hit all Western tanks, is no longer flying and has been permanently parked in the Lipetsk center.

Main design features

Design was carried out using a well-established normal aerodynamic scheme with a high location of the rotor wing. Unlike fighters, due to this solution, the attack aircraft receives the maximum degree of maneuverability at subsonic speeds.

For a long time, experts struggled with the optimal aerodynamic layout of the machine, but the efforts spent did not sink in vain: there are high lift coefficients in all types of combat maneuvering, excellentflight aerodynamics, excellent maneuverability when approaching ground targets. Due to the special aerodynamics of the SU-25, the technical characteristics of which are discussed in the article, it has the ability to attack at critical angles, while maintaining high flight safety. In addition, the aircraft can dive at speeds up to 700 km/h while tilting up to 30 degrees.

All this, as well as an excellent reservation system, more than once allowed pilots to return to base on only one engine, with the fuselage pierced through and torn apart by explosions of MANPADS missiles and bullets from heavy machine guns.

Machine security

All the performance characteristics of the SU-25 attack aircraft would cost a little if not for the degree of security of the machine. And this degree is high. The take-off weight of the Grach consists of armor elements and other protective systems by more than 7%. The weight of this goodness is more than a ton! All vital flight systems are not only maximally protected, but also duplicated. But the main attention of the developers from the Sukhoi Design Bureau was paid to the protection of the fuel system and the cockpit.

Its entire capsule is made of titanium alloy ABVT-20. The thickness of the armor is (in different places) from 10 to 24 mm. Even the windshield is a monolithic TSK-137 block 65 mm thick, which provides the pilot with protection from bullets, including very large caliber ones. The thickness of the armored back of the pilot is 10 mm. The head is protected by a 6 mm plate. Not bad, right? But this is alsomore to come.

In all directions, the pilot is reliably protected from fire from weapons with a caliber of up to 12.7 mm inclusive, and the frontal projection prevents him from being hit by barreled weapons with a caliber of up to 30 mm inclusive. In a word, the SU-25 aircraft, whose technical characteristics are beyond praise, is able to stand up not only for itself, but also for the life of the pilot who flies it.

About evacuation options

In emergency cases, the K-36L ejection seat is responsible for rescuing the pilot. It can be used in all flight modes, at any speed and weather conditions. Before ejection, the cockpit canopy is reset through the use of squibs. The seat is ejected manually, for this the pilot needs to simultaneously pull the two handles.

Stormtrooper armament

Of course, the SU-25 "Rook", the performance characteristics of which are discussed on the pages of this article, simply cannot be poorly armed. It is equipped with aircraft guns, guided and unguided bombs, NURS, as well as guided air-to-air missiles can be hung on the external suspension. In total, the designers provided for the possibility of carrying at least 32 types of various weapons. The main regular - 30-mm gun GSh-30-2.

Note that all this is a description of the SU-25K aircraft of the 8th production series, which is now in service with the Russian Air Force. There are other modifications (like the SU-25T), but these machines are so few that somethey do not play a special role. However, let's return to the disclosure of the characteristics of the Rook.

Other weapons - mounted, set depending on the characteristics of those tasks that the pilot of the attack aircraft will have to solve during the battle. Under each wing there are five suspension points for various types of weapons. Guided missiles are mounted on launchers of the APU-60 model, for other bombs, missiles and NURSs, pylons of the BDZ-25 type are used. The maximum weight of weapons that an attack aircraft can carry is 4,400 kg.

Basic performance characteristics

To better imagine what the SU-25 attack aircraft is capable of, it is better to list the technical characteristics of the latter:

• Full span - 14.36 m.
• The total length of the aircraft is 15.36 m.
• Hull height - 4.80 m.
• Total wing area - 33.70 m.
• The weight of the empty aircraft is 9500 kg.
• Standard takeoff weight - 14600 kg.
• Maximum takeoff weight - 17600 kg.
• Engine type - 2xTRD R-195 (on the first aircraft - R95Sh).
• Maximum ground speed is 975 km/h
• Maximum flight range (with external tanks) - 1850 km.
• Use radius at maximum altitude - 1250 km.
• The limit of flight over the ground, in combat conditions - 750 km.
• Flight ceiling - 10 km.
• Effective height of combat use (max.) - 5 km.
• Maximum overload in combat mode - 6.5 G.
• The crew is one pilot.

Do you know where the Su-25 attack aircraft, the technical characteristics of which we have just reviewed, first proved itself?

Afghanistan

In March 1980, a batch of cars, despite the fierce protests of engineers who did not have time to bring them to the desired "condition", was sent to Afghanistan. The pilots did not have the proper experience of war in the mountains; the airfield itself was located much above sea level. Therefore, during the first weeks, the flight groups constantly improved their tactics and identified the "childhood illnesses" of the aircraft, which were especially pronounced in difficult mountain conditions.

Already in the second week, new equipment was used in the province of Farakh. And it immediately became clear that the USSR received excellent attack aircraft. Despite the fact that at first the engineers did not recommend overloading the Rooks with ammunition weighing more than four tons, such a need arose very soon. Unlike the Su-17, which could take a maximum of 1.5 tons of bombs, the new attack aircraft lifted eight heavy 500-kilogram shells into the sky, which made it possible to forever seal pillboxes and caves in which the Mujahideen were hiding. Even then, the military began to fervently advocate for the speedy adoption of the machine into service.

Fight against MANPADS

Through the efforts of the Americans and the Chinese, the Afghans quickly got modern MANPADS. To combat them, ASO-2 suspension systems were used, in each cassette of which there were 32 IR traps. Eight such complexes could be hung on each aircraft. This allowed the pilotwith minimal risk, make up to nine attack attacks on each sortie.