su-39
- Thread starter ahho
- Start date
The Q-5 can use replacements, but China needs to make her own attack plane. CAS will become important in the future. Fighters doing their sweeps aren't armoured and are vulnerable to groundfire. You can't find the terrorists or rebels in the air. They are on the ground. And copters needs maintence and one blow in the shaft......
Well for start, Su-25 was later on devolped to more dedicated anti-tank aircraft and more potnet attck platform, and that end product has been called whit various names, depending on its devolpment stage, and i think that Su-39 is the current term. The plane was made from the two seater trainer variant of Su-25 Frogfoot.
But the purpose of these so called 'close support' aircraft required the massive ground struggle that was estimated to happen in german plains. There major desing elements were the ability to fly in very low altitude and slowly enough to engage 'hard' ground targets such as MBTs and fortivications. Thus they required big wings of little ange but lots of armament stores to carry all the nessesery equipment and weaponloads. But flying slow and low, they came at the indemediate range of normal ground troops AAAs and SAMs, so planes were have to build as strong as possible, armoured in the same way as old Il-2 Sturmoviks were. (Russians returned to legendary Sturmovik name whit the Su-25, and in my opinion, its the best name to escripe these kind of planes) The heavy amoury has at least in Frogfoot's case made some remarkable survival storyes from the Afganistan-campaing and planes hitting multible AA fire, stinger SAMs and even Pakistanese Sidewinders have been able to return base and appear in Paris Airshows after minor repairs!
Whit their capapilityes they offer ideal platform to deal whit other lowflying missions and A-10s has been used for foward air controlling and artillery firedirection and Su-25 to counter-insurgency fligths (which were the main missions for it in the Afganistan) and their stiff appeareance have made them less vunerable than other planes usually flown in these kind of missions.
But does China needs them? Well i think they do. In any future conflict, PRC most likely would face 'true' enemy, not insurgents or 'terrorists'. And warfare, happened it in the central asia, or in Taiwan, requires fast advancing chinese land formations and most effective, direct air support for them comes from the barrels of Su-25 type planes guns. And chinese airforces are in the doorsteps of big changes, when all existing aircraft types are in the need of urgent replacement. In Fighter field it has been already started, but in attack/bombing field, big steps needs to be taken and proven Russian platform like Su-25/39 isent going to be anyway or anyhow burden to PLAAF. Thougth chinese aviation industry lives its renesanse, Reality is that it cannot cope whit such large replacement operation whitout affecting the quality. whitout foreing desings as basis for new techonoligal devolpment and innoative, isee it very hard to deal the stiuation
Su-27 Pilot
Junior Member
I agree with Migleader. The Jh-7s cannot perform these support missions.. The Su-25 Frogfoot is the Russian answer to the A-10 back in the Cold War.MIGleader said:
I think the Su-39 will be somewhat superior to perform these land-support missions.