The Russian defense ministry is adapting four Sukhoi Su-34 aircraft with reconnaissance pods, but has kept its electronic version of the aircraft largely under wraps.
The ministry this month announced it plans to sign, next month, a $3.9 million contract to enable the Su-34s to use unified reconnaissance pods, including installing pylons, a contract that will be implemented this year and into 2019.
The contract is in addition to Russia’s overall fighter inventory upgrade of the last decade and the ongoing purchase and upgrade of the Su-34 fleet.
Initially, the military had planned to replace its only tactical reconnaissance aircraft, the Su-24MR Fencer-E, with the Su-27R, which would have featured reconnaissance equipment built into the airframe, but that program was never completed. The new approach under the latest contract allows the Su-34 to be fitted with the Bazovyi Kompleks Razvedki (BKR-3); the M400A, a reconnaissance suite developed by Moscow-based NII Kulon within the Antrakt research and development program will be carried in externally mounted Universalnyi Konteyner Razvedki (UKR) unified reconnaissance pods.
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