Aircraft-attack aircraft SU-25: technical characteristics, dimensions, description. History of creation

In Soviet and Russian aviation there are many legendary aircraft, whose names are known to everyone, who is more or less interested in military equipment. To such concerns and "Grach" - attack aircraft SU-25. The technical characteristics of this machine are so good that it is not only used to this day in armed conflicts around the world, but is constantly being upgraded.

General information

As already mentioned, this is a stormtrooper. The flight speed is subsonic; Has a good reservation. The machine is designed to cover the advancing troops or independent actions within the aviation units, it can strike at enemy enemy forces and armored vehicles, flies at any time of the day and practically in all meteorological conditions. What else can you give for the SU-25 description? The tactical and technical characteristics of this aircraft are so versatile that they can devote a whole book! However, let's try to do a fairly brief article.

The first flight was carried out in late February 1975. The machine has been intensively used since 1981, the planes were involved in all armed conflicts in the territory of the former USSR, and not only. The last episode of the application is the 2008 war in Ossetia. Today it is known that the stormtroopers of this series will be in service with our army at least until 2020, but - subject to the availability of modern modifications and the State order to continue their release - this period is clearly shifted indefinitely. At the moment, Russia has about 200 SU-25. The technical characteristics of vehicles on alert are maintained by constantly upgrading them to modern realities.

Background

Approximately in the mid-sixties the military priorities of the USSR and the United States underwent cardinal changes. At that time, it became finally clear that the cherished idea of crushing an enemy by means of nuclear weapons until then is a meaningless suicide on a global scale. Everyone came to the conclusion that one should focus on the use of conventional weapons. Therefore, the military of both superpowers again paid close attention to the development of frontline aviation as the main strike force in all the conflicts of recent years.

In those years, the USSR was armed with MiG-19, MiG-21, Su-7B, and Yak-28. These machines were very good, but for work directly above the battlefield was completely useless. They had too high a speed of flight, and therefore could not physically maneuver and hit small targets. In addition, the cross on their assault qualities posed a complete lack of reservation: for ground attacking ground targets for these aircraft, any machine gun could be deadly. It was then that the prerequisites for the appearance of SU-25 were laid. The technical characteristics of the new machine should have been something to repeat for the legendary IL-2: armor, maneuverability, low speed of flight and armament.

Development Summary

Thus, the troops urgently needed a specialized aircraft. Sukhoi Design Bureau soon provided a T-8 project, which was developed by engineers in an initiative. In addition to him, in 1969 the contest was attended by IL-102, but the future "Grach" favorably differed from it in small dimensions, armor and maneuverability. That is why the "kitchen" development was given a green light, and the new attack aircraft with honor passed all the tests. In many respects this was due to the fact that the designers used the principle of maximum survivability of the combat vehicle in all possible conditions when it was created.

Particular attention was paid to the ability of the attack aircraft to resist the action of MANPADS, which at that time began to appear massively in the troops of a potential adversary. It was the American Stingers that became a real headache for our helicopter pilots in Afghanistan, and therefore all the measures taken were not superfluous.

"Tank" option

The plane SU-25T was created a little differently. History, the characteristics of its weapons are directly related to the development of armored vehicles of that period. NATO made the final bet on heavy and well-protected tanks, and therefore required a special "subspecies" attack aircraft, which could lead the attack at even lower speeds, providing better defeat targets.

The modification was adopted in 1993. Differences from the standard "Rook" are small, but they are. General unification with the "parent" aircraft - 85%. The main difference is the improved sighting equipment and the complex of anti-tank missiles "Whirlwind". Unfortunately, with the collapse of the Union of 12 cars built, only 8 came to Russia. Further production and modernization of these aircraft was not carried out. It's sad, but SU-25T, whose performance characteristics allowed confidently to hit all the western tanks, no longer fly and are placed on an eternal parking lot in the Lipetsk center.

Main design features

The design was carried out using a well-proven normal aerodynamic scheme with a high arrangement of the bearing wing. Unlike fighters, due to this decision, the attack aircraft gets the maximum degree of maneuverability at subsonic speeds.

For a long time, specialists were struggling over the optimal aerodynamic layout of the car, but the effort was not exhausted: there are high lift factors in all types of combat maneuvering, excellent flight aerodynamics, excellent maneuverability when approaching ground targets. Due to the special aerodynamics of the SU-25, the technical characteristics of which are discussed in the article, it is possible to attack the critical angles, while maintaining high flight safety. In addition, the aircraft can dive at speeds up to 700 km / h, while having a slope of up to 30 degrees.

All this, as well as a wonderful complex of reservations, repeatedly allowed pilots to return to the base on an engine alone, with a fuselage pierced and blown up by explosions of MANPADS missiles and bullets of heavy machine guns.

Machine safety

All flight and technical characteristics of the SU-25 attack aircraft would be worth a little, if not for the degree of protection of the machine. And this degree is high. The take-off weight of Grach is more than 7% of the elements of booking and other protective systems. The weight of this good is more than a ton! All vital flight systems are not only maximally protected, but also duplicated. But the main attention of the developers from the Sukhoi Design Bureau was devoted to the protection of the fuel system and the cockpit of the pilot.

Its entire capsule is made of titanium alloy ABVT-20. The thickness of the armor is (in different places) from 10 to 24 mm. Even the frontal glazing is a monolithic block of TSK-137 with a thickness of 65 mm, which provides the pilot with protection against bullets, including a very large caliber. The thickness of the pilot's armor is 10 mm. The head is protected by a 6 mm plate. Not bad, is it? But that's not all.

In all directions, the pilot is reliably protected from firing from a gun with a caliber of up to 12.7 mm inclusive, and the frontal projection prevents his defeat from a barrel, whose caliber is up to 30 mm inclusive. In short, the SU-25 aircraft, whose technical characteristics are beyond praise, can stand up not only for themselves, but also for the life of the pilot who manages them.

About evacuation opportunities

In emergency cases, the catapulting chair K-36L answers for the pilot's rescue. It can be used in all flight modes, at any speeds and meteorological conditions. Before the ejection, the cab light is reset by using the pyro-cartridges. The chair is thrown out manually, for this the pilot needs to simultaneously pull two handles.

Assault aircraft

Of course, SU-25 Grach, whose tactical and technical characteristics are considered in the pages of this article, simply can not be badly armed. It is equipped with aircraft cannons, controlled and uncontrolled bombs, NURSs, and also guided air-to-air missiles can be hung on an external suspension. In total, the designers provided for the possibility of carrying at least 32 different types of weapons. The basic staffing is a 30 mm gun GSh-30-2.

Note that all this description of the aircraft SU-25K 8-th production series, which now stands in the arsenal of the Russian Air Force. There are other modifications (like SU-25T), but these machines are so small that they do not play any special role. However, let's return to the disclosure of the characteristics of the "Grach".

Other weapons - hinged, is installed depending on the characteristics of those tasks that during the battle the pilot of the attack aircraft must solve. Under each wing there are five suspension points for different types of weapons. Managed missiles are attached to the launchers of the APU-60 model, for the other bombs, missiles and NURSs are pylons of the type BDZ-25. The maximum weight of the weapons that can be carried by the attack aircraft is 4,400 kg.

Basic TTX

In order to better imagine what a Su-25 attack aircraft is capable of, the technical characteristics of the latter should be shown in the form of a list:

• The total wingspan is 14.36 m.
• The total length of the aircraft is 15.36 m.
• The height of the body is 4.80 m.
• The total wing area is 33.70 m.
• The weight of an empty aircraft is 9500 kg.
• The standard takeoff weight is 14,600 kg.
• The maximum take-off weight is 17600 kg.
• The engine type is 2хРД Р-195 (on the first planes - Р95Ш).
• The maximum speed at the ground is 975 km / h.
• The maximum range (with suspended tanks) is 1850 km.
• The radius of application at the maximum height is 1250 km.
• The limit of flight above the ground, in combat conditions - 750 km.
• The ceiling of the flight is 10 km.
• The effective height of combat use (max.) Is 5 km.
• Maximum overload in combat mode is 6.5 G.
• The crew is one pilot.

And do you know where the first time the Su-25 attack aircraft proved to be, the technical characteristics of which we just considered?

Afghanistan

In March 1980, the party of vehicles, despite the fierce protests of engineers who did not manage to bring them to the desired "condition", was sent to Afghanistan. The pilots did not have the proper experience of war in the mountains, the airfield itself was located much higher than the sea level. Therefore, for the first weeks the flight crews constantly improved tactics and identified "children's illnesses" of aircraft, which were especially pronounced in the difficult conditions of the mountains.

As early as the second week, new technology was used in the province of Farakh. And immediately it became clear that the USSR received excellent ground-attack planes. Despite the fact that the engineers did not recommend overloading the Rooks at first with ammunition weighing more than four tons, this need arose very soon. Unlike the Su-17, which could take a maximum of 1.5 tons of bombs, the new ground attack aircraft raised eight heavy 500-kilogram shells to the sky, which allowed forever sealing the pillboxes and caves in which the mujahideen were hiding. Even then, the military began to fervently advocate the speedy adoption of the machine into service.

Fighting MANPADS

By the efforts of Americans and Chinese, the Afghans quickly developed modern MANPADS. To combat them, suspended ASO-2 complexes were used, each cassette had 32 IR traps. Each aircraft could be hung on eight such complexes. This allowed the pilot with a minimum of risk to make up to nine attack planes at every sortie.