Sukhoi Su-24

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Su-24

The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, all-weather
attack aircraft developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep
wing, twin-engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for its two crew. It
was the first of the USSR's aircraft to carry an integrated digital
navigation/attack system. It remains in service with the Russian Air Force,
Ukrainian Air Force, Azerbaijan Air Force and various air forces to which it was
exported.

The Su-24 has a shoulder-mounted variable geometry wing outboard of a relatively
small fixed wing glove, swept at 69°. The wing has four sweep settings: 16° for
take-off and landing, 35° and 45° for cruise at different altitudes, and 69° for
minimum aspect ratio and wing area in low-level dashes. The variable geometry
wing provides excellent STOL performance, allowing a landing speed of 230
kilometers per hour (140 mph), even lower than the Sukhoi Su-17 despite
substantially greater take-off weight. Its high wing loading provides a stable
low-level ride and minimal gust response.

The Su-24 has two Saturn/Lyulka AL-21F-3A after-burning turbojet engines with
109.8 kN (24,700 lbf) thrust each, fed with air from two rectangular side
mounted intakes with splitter plates/boundary-layer diverters.

In early Su-24 ("Fencer A" according to NATO) aircraft these intakes had
variable ramps, allowing a maximum speed of 2,320 kilometers per hour (1,440
mph), Mach 2.18, at altitude and a ceiling of 17,500 meters (57,400 ft). Because
the Su-24 is used almost exclusively for low-level missions, the actuators for
the variable intakes were deleted to reduce weight and maintenance. This has no
effect on low-level performance, but absolute maximum speed and altitude are cut
to Mach 1.35 and 11,000 meters (36,000 ft). The earliest Su-24 had a box-like
rear fuselage, which was soon changed in production to a rear exhaust shroud
more closely shaped around the engines in order to reduce drag. The revised
aircraft also gained three side-by-side antenna fairings in the nose, a
repositioned braking chute, and a new ram-air inlet at the base of the tail fin.
The revised aircraft were dubbed "Fencer-B" by NATO, but did not merit a new
Soviet designation.


Role
All-weather attack aircraft

National origin
Soviet Union / Russia

Manufacturer
Sukhoi

Designer
Ye. S. Felsner (from 1985)
L.A. Logvinov

First flight
T-6: 2 July 1967
T-6-2I: 17 January 1970

Introduction
1974

Status
In service

Primary users
Russian Air Force
Ukrainian Air Force
Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force

Produced
1967–1993

Number built
Approximately 1,400

Unit cost

US$24–25 million in 1997

Substantial numbers of ex-Soviet Su-24s remain in service with Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine. In 2008, roughly 415 were in service with
Russian forces, split 321 with the Russian Air Force and 94 with the Russian
Navy.

The Russian Air Force will eventually replace the Su-24 with the Sukhoi Su-34

2015 Russian military operation in Syria

The long-range striking power of the Russian aerospace forces in the region
comes from the twelve Su-24M2 bombers that Russia sent to its base in Latakia,
Syria. On 24 November 2015, a Russian Su-24M was shot down by a flight of two
Turkish F-16s near the Turkey–Syrian border. The two crew ejected before the
plane crashed in Syrian territory. Russia claimed that the jet had not left
Syrian airspace while Turkey claimed that the jet entered their airspace and was
warned 10–12 times before being shot down. A deputy commander in a Syrian
Turkmen brigade claimed that his personnel shot and killed the crew while they
were descending in their parachutes, while some Turkish officials subsequently
stated that the crew was still alive. The weapon systems officer was rescued by
Russian forces but the pilot was killed by rebels, along with a Russian marine
involved in a helicopter rescue attempt. Russian president Vladimir Putin warned
Turkey of serious consequences. It has been reported Russian fighter jets would
escort bomber missions and S-400 advanced anti-aircraft systems were deployed in
Syria and a Russian anti-aircraft cruiser were sent to Syria to protect Russian
aircraft. Following the incident, Russia announced that Su-24s in Syria had been
armed with air-to-air missiles on operational sorties.

Specifications (Su-24MK)

General characteristics
Crew: 2 (pilot and weapons systems operator)
Length: 22.53 m (73 ft 11 in)
Wingspan:
With wings spread: 17.64 m (57 ft 10 in)
With wings swept: 10.37 m (34 ft)

Height: 6.19 m (20 ft 4 in)
Wing area: 55.2 m² (594 sq ft)
Empty weight: 22,300 kg (49,165 lb)
Loaded weight: 38,040 kg (83,865 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 43,755 kg (96,505 lb)
Fuel capacity: 11,100 kg (24,470 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × Lyulka AL-21F-3A turbojets Dry thrust: 75 kN (16,860 lbf) each
Thrust with afterburner: 109.8 kN (24,675 lbf) each


Performance
Maximum speed:
At sea level: Mach 1.06 (1,315 km/h; 815 mph)
At high altitude: Mach 1.6 (1,654 km/h; 1,030 mph)

Combat radius: 615 km in a low-flying (lo-lo-lo) attack mission with 3,000 kg
(6,615 lb) of ordnance and external tanks ()
Ferry range: 2,775 km (1,725 mi; 1,500 nmi)
Service ceiling: 11,000 m (36,090 ft)
Rate of climb: 150 m/s (29,530 ft/min)
Wing loading: 651 kg/m² (133 lb/ft²)
Thrust/weight: 0.6
Maximum g-load: 6 g

Armament

Guns: 1 × internal 23 mm Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-6-23M rotary cannon with 500
rounds
Hardpoints: 9 hardpoints with a capacity of up to 8,000 kg (17,635 lb) and
provisions to carry combinations of:

Rockets:
S-5
S-8
S-13
S-24B
S-25-OFM/LD

Missiles:
Air-to-air missiles: 4 × R-60MK
4 × R-73E

Air-to-surface missiles: 4 × Kh-23M
4 × Kh-25ML
Kh-59ME
Kh-29L/T/D


Anti-ship missiles: Kh-31A

Anti-radiation missiles: 2 × Kh-28
2 × Kh-58E
Kh-25MP
2 × Kh-31P
Kh-27PS

Bombs:

KAB-500KR TV-guided bomb
KAB-500L laser-guided bomb
KAB-500OD guided bomb
KAB-500S-E satellite-guided bomb
KAB-1500KR TV-guided bomb
KAB-1500L laser-guided bomb
ODAB-500PM bomb
RBK-250 cluster bomb
RBK-500 cluster bomb
2 × BETAB-500 bomb