Sukhoi Su-24M2 – Russia
The Syrian Air Force has received 10 Sukhoi Su-24M2 ‘Fencer-D’ attack aircraft from Russia, the Arabian Aerospace news website reported on April 13.
“A contract to upgrade all 21 bomber versions to the latest Russian air forces Su-24M2 standard was signed in 2009 and work at the 514th ARZ (aircraft repair plant) at Rzhev began in 2010. The contract also covered the training of Syrian pilots and maintenance personnel on the new variant and its systems.
The upgrade will bring the aircraft up to the same standard as Russian ‘Fencers’ that have been modernised under the ‘Gefest’ and ‘Sukhoi’ programmes, which began in 1999 and 2000, and completed in 2009.
The upgrade will significantly enhance the capabilities of the Syrian Su-24s, and promises to improve availability and maintainability, as well as combat effectiveness.
Highlights of the upgrade include a new weapons control system, allowing the carriage of a greater range of weapons, including modern precision-guided missiles, a new SVP-24 navigation and weapons aiming system incorporating both GPS and global navigation satellite systems (GLONASS), and a new ILS-31 head-up display (HUD).
Though the upgrade allows a significant improvement in bombing precision and accuracy, in practice, the Syrian Su-24M2s continue to rely most heavily on unguided freefall FAB, OFAB and RBK series bombs.
It has been reported that most of the upgrades were completed in 2013 and that “more than half of the 21 upgraded Su-24s made it back to Syria”, though it has also been reported that up to 10 aircraft were not re-delivered, thanks to international embargos against Syria.Satellite photos showed between five and eight aircraft in Syrian camouflage parked on the flightline at Rzhev, swathed in tarpaulins, late last year.
It remains unknown as to whether the ‘new’ deliveries are actually additional aircraft, or whether they are simply the balance of the aircraft upgraded under the 2009 contract,” the artice reads.
Rumors about possible supplies of attack aircraft to the Syrian Air Force have been circulating since the start of the week.
#Russia has just delivered 10 Sukhoi-24 M2 tactical bombers to #Syria. thnx #Trump or should i call by ur AlQaeda name Abu Ivanka Al Ameriki
— Partisangirl ?? (@Partisangirl) April 13, 2017
SF has not been able to confirm these rumors independently.
UPDATE (14:50 CET): Moscow denied reports about the delivered of Su-24 attack aircraft to Syria, Russian media outlets reported citing Mariya Vorobieva, a representative of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation.
Syria very much need this planes
very awesome!!! how about su-25 or su-34? they are even better ground attack jets, or Hind and Mi-28 attack choppers
Syria already operates su-24 so it makes sense to give them more.
Sadly, only one weird website has reported this. So it may be wrong.
Why buy expensive toys when a Su-24 does the same bang for a buck? Syria needs more Su-24 and Russia can easely provide them along with refurbished Mi-8 and Mi-24.
Could someone confirm they were at Rzhez base?
Su-25 fulfills a different roles than Su-24 or Su-34.
What different role? night perhaps? I thought SU-25/39, in quantity, was the ultimate in simple, field maintained, ground attack bang for the buck, other than A-10 or OV-10. That swing wing must add complexity and maintenance cost, for what purpose? Russia should keep the planes and bomb Wahabists themselves so that Assad can never bomb YPG.
such as what?
I think syria could use 50 more of each: 50 attack planes, 50 fighter/bombers 50 helicopters, and 500 tanks…
=)
They received over 2000 T-54/55 tanks I believe a little while ago, Russia otherwise would’ve destroyed them anyway so they gave them to Syria. The problem is that it costs a load of fuel to have them all run.
Syria has a TOTAL of 2000 T-55’s, but that is pre-war numbers. Who knows how many they have now. They received an unknown amount of T-90’s recently however.
No, Syria does NOT have a fuel problem for their tanks, they have a personnel/social problem. Currently, the only group in the SAA that gets the latest gear, including tank,s is the Republican Guards, Desert Hawks Brigades, and the Tiger Forces(plus unknown/unnamed special forces) . All other SAA forces do with what they can find.
This is a unit cohesion problem that is fragmented across political, social, and religious lines. The Republican guards are a shia/alawite unit only. And the Desert Hawks/Tiger Forces are actually a Private Army ironically(their main interests is keeping certain oil fields operating, along with Assad in power).
This is the way it has been ever since the Assad Family/Baathists came to power in Syria back in 1963 and it also ensures that the Assad Family/Baathists stay in power as well. Which is good for all of us however. Also, despite perception brought on by various parties that have an interest in destroying syria, Assad/Baathists are a Right Wing type of government. They enjoy religious/political freedom that is on par with normal western countries, unlike other middle eastern countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, where you could be sentenced to death for being a woman driving a car….
Very good , accurate post. Thank you.
T-55 is hardly the latest. They don’t have enough of them for regular SAA? How about T-44 then?? can they resist RPGs? I would rather see the abortion banning Syrians stay on the ground, and Russian pilots who will never bomb YPG abortion rights, but they do need plenty of T-44s for all SAA groups. T-44s still beat pickups.
Really? You are gonna be that fuckin retarded???
That’s what the preceding comments implied. You answered a question about T-55s by saying tiger forces had the best equipment. So what else am I to think of your answer??? Perhaps compared to an AK-47, a T-55 is the best?
No man, muskets are the best…
They… Are… Tank busters….
So pit a brand new toyota pickup against a t-44 (that works).
So then a BTR-80 can take more RPG hits than a t-44?
Assad family have no say in who should become Syria’s president. It is Syrian people who chose Assad to be their president. Because he have done an excellent job for the majority of the Syrian people, he was reelected again and again.The last election about 94% of the voters chose him. The 7 years of fighting in Syria is not about Assad or his family or his Baathist Party. It is about the Axis of Evil led by the Zionist Israel regime who want to destroy the Resistance of Axis.
You moron,he was re-elected because a million citizens are refugees! Damascans are his only supporters! If you really love your puppet dictator,have the Russians give him sanctuary in Moscow ASAP or he will become a martyr
For a few Wahabi mercenaries? Why not just cut off the Turkish route? $3 million US for AbuMuhammed al Shimali,Arab ISL recruiter,Azaz and Jarabulus//Rewards for Justice//info@rewardsforjustice.net
What happened to Yak-130 SyAF ordered years ago. Low cost, low maintenance and very good for anti insurgency missions.
Probably swapped for helos, Su-24 and spare parts for the rest of the fleet since Syria has no use for them right now. VKS still buiyng Ya-130 and could easely absorb those birds.
As the op stated, Yak-130s would be good for COIN missions, after all the Syrians are using lots of L-39 Albatros in the same role.
How many L-39 does Russia have to give? since they are Czech.
Wikipedia lists Su-7 for simple, cheap ground attack. though it’s still faster than needed.
Russian Sputnik has announced this as false news.