The United Aircraft Corporation has handed over to the Russian Defence Ministry the next Su-34 and Su-57 operational-tactical aircraft. The new Su-57 and Su-34 aircraft have been delivered to the troops as part of the fulfilment of this year’s state defence order. The aircraft have undergone the necessary training and have flown to their duty stations, the UAC press service reported.
Production of Su-34 frontline bombers is carried out in Novosibirsk at the Chkalov Aviation Plant. The aircraft is actively used in the special military operation zone for strikes with aerial bombs with a universal planning and correction module against military facilities on the line of contact and in the close rear of the Kiev regime’s armed formations.
Military pilots note the Su-34’s excellent performance characteristics and efficiency in using high-explosive, concrete-piercing and volumetric-detonating bombs of up to 3,000kg calibre with UMPK. The aircraft is capable of effectively carrying out combat missions in various military theatres, including the use of precision-guided missile weapons.
The frontline bombers handed over on 23 December are the fourth batch of aircraft of this type to be delivered by UAC to the Russian Air and Space Forces in 2024. The exact number of Su-34 aircraft the Defence Ministry received has not been disclosed.
The Su-57 fifth-generation front-line fighters are produced by the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant named after Yuri Gagarin. It is the most combat-proven fifth-generation fighter, and the machine is actively used on the Ukrainian front-line, including in conjunction with the S-70 Hunter strike UAV. The fighter’s low radar visibility enables it to perform combat missions directly above the front line.
The Su-57 is now equipped with first-stage AL-41F1 engines. At the end of 2023, it was reported that all Su-57 fighters being built at KnAAZ in 2024 will receive new AL-51F1 engines, also known as ‘izdelie 30’. In mid-December of this year, Channel One showed the documentary Masters of the Sky, which showed footage of tests of the new engine with a flat deflected three-axis nozzle. The tests have not yet been completed, they continue on a prototype aircraft with the flight number 052 (T-50-2).
The Su-57 aircraft now handed over are the third batch delivered by UAC to the Russian Defence Ministry in 2024 under a 2019 contract to build 76 production fighters. The first was handed over on 12 September and the second on 11 November. The contract is to be fulfilled by 2027. By early 2024, the total number of Su-57s handed over was at least 20 aircraft. UAC does not disclose the number of Su-57s to be handed over, but with the current delivery, their number may approach 30 units.
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