Against the background of the sky and above the water surface, the front-line bomber Su-34 is practically invisible. Painting technology of this aircraft, which is being built at the Novosibirsk Aviation Plant named after VP Chkalov (a branch of the Sukhoi company), solves the problem of anti-corrosion protection of aircraft and its appearance.
Aircraft corrosion protection is a multifaceted and long-term process that begins with painting the skin in detail. The creation of the "livery" - "clothes", the appearance of the Su-34 - takes place in the paint shop of the NAZ them. V. P. Chkalov. Previously, the entire surface of the aircraft is washed with soapy water, then with a mixture of solvents, and then degreased. Next, the surfaces that cannot be painted are insulated. Final painting takes place after completion of all assembly work and flight tests of the aircraft.
All painting work is carried out in a hangar equipped with supply and exhaust ventilation, at an air temperature of 12–35 ° C, and a relative humidity of 35–75%.
Priming and painting of the lower and side surfaces of the aircraft is carried out using airless spray equipment, and the painting of the upper surfaces is carried out using a paint sprayer. The work is carried out according to a well-established scheme: the bottom and side surfaces of the machine are painted by two people, starting from the nose to the tail, and the top of the product is painted by four people. “It is pleasant to feel that I am making my contribution to the creation of our military pride along with other employees of the enterprise,” says Vladimir Kochnev, master of the paint shop. - When the plane soars in the sky, I do not see any inscriptions on it, or symbols to which I put my hands, but I know that they are there. Then there is a feeling of pride in our work, the work of our painters, our plant, for our country."
The Su-34 paint scheme is determined by the design documentation agreed with the customer. The scheme can be changed at the request of the customer. At present, the Su-34 paint scheme is a light blue bottom color, camouflage spots of turquoise shades on the top, and a white nose cone. The front edges of the glider are painted light gray, the nacelle zones are painted with silver enamel. This color option is also called "marine", which allows the aircraft to be almost invisible.
The paint scheme also includes on-board information (technical inscriptions), it is applied with enamels of various colors through silk-screen stencils, which are made here, in the paint shop. With the same enamels of various colors, identification marks, emblems, side numbers are applied through stencils on a self-adhesive film. In particular, the application of the sign of national belonging - the star - is carried out as follows: the first stencil is glued, the background is applied in white, then the other two stencils are glued alternately, after which the red and blue colors are applied. This is a very laborious, complex process that requires artistic skill and the right hand of the performer.
The total final painting time is eight days, including intercoat drying of the coatings. And the weight of the used paints and varnishes is about 200 kg.
The thickness of the protective anti-corrosion coating is 60–90 microns. All primers and enamels used for painting the Su-34 are of domestic production, recommended by the All-Russian Research Institute of Aviation Materials. According to painters, these materials have a number of advantages over some foreign analogues: they are easier to apply and dry faster. “Our experience has shown that the coatings are durable and reliable in operation,” comments Natalya Ivanova, senior supervisor of the paint shop. - There are no complaints about the Su-34 at the moment, and only time will check the quality. We do our best not to be ashamed of our work. The quality of painting of our combat aircraft is a merit of the entire team of the shop."
"Digital" camouflage of the MiG
Photo: "digital" camouflage of the Slovak MiG-29AS
On December 20, 2007, the upgraded MiG-29AS No. 0921 was pumped out of the hangar of the aircraft repair plant in Trencin. the surface of the glider, which is also gray (of a different tone).
The painting of the first aircraft according to the new scheme was the beginning of the final stage of the modernization program for the Slovak MiG-29s. After the technical revision stipulated by the contract, all 12 vehicles were repainted according to the new scheme.
Masking an object and "breaking" the silhouette lines is the task of any camouflage. However, according to the developers, the “correct” pixel points do it equally well at different distances. "Digital" coloring is called because it was actually developed with the help of a computer. And these are not just randomly scattered pixels. At different distances from the object, they form groups of spots of different sizes. This is due to the special eye perception of the picture, divided into rectangular parts of the picture, as well as due to the absence of obvious color joints. Therefore, "digital" camouflage in theory more effectively breaks the symmetry of the outlines of an object, be it a person or military equipment.
True, for aircraft, "digital" camouflage is more of a tribute to fashion. Typically, the backdrop for aircraft is the runway, parking lot or sky. Against the background of the earth, the dynamics of "digital" painting does not work. Apparently, that is why, having painted the first MiG-29AS in classic “digital” camouflage, the customer already on the second copy (No. 0619) departed from the severity of such a “camouflage”: its keel over the “pixel” coloring was additionally crowned with a stylized image of the “tricolor” in honor of 15th anniversary of the Slovak Air Force.
"Sukhovskaya" coloring
In the photo: Painting of the aircraft 10M (tail number 711) in "sandy" colors.
From the point of view of complicating visual observation in the world, there are currently two main approaches to painting serial combat aircraft:
1. Monochromatic coloring, optimized to reduce the contrast of the aircraft against one typical background. The color of the paint is selected so that the surfaces of the aircraft have the same brightness as the background. A variation of this is a two-tone color, in which lighter enamel is used for shaded areas than for illuminated areas. This achieves a better alignment of the brightness of the aircraft surfaces with the brightness of the background.
2. Deforming coloration, applied at variable backgrounds of observation. The effect of deforming coloration is that each time a part of the coloration spots merges for the observer with a changed background area. This achieves the distortion and unrecognizability of the remaining visible part of the shape and contours of the object. In the paint schemes of the company's aircraft
Both of these approaches have been applied "dry". Deforming paint is used on modern production aircraft of the Sukhoi Design Bureau, which are in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Russian Navy.
The coloring of fighters of the Su-27 family is optimized for observation against typical backgrounds in close air combat, ship-borne fighters Su-33 - against the background of the water surface, fighter-bombers Su-34 - against the background of the underlying surface at medium and high flight altitudes, attack aircraft of the Su- 25 - against the background of the underlying surface when flying near the ground. The colors of the enamels for painting Su-25 attack aircraft are selected depending on the area of the intended base.
For the underside of aircraft, a single color is most commonly used to reduce the contrast of the aircraft when viewed against the sky.
According to the decision of the Minister of Defense, for all production aircraft produced in 2011-2013, a single-color dark gray color was used for the upper surfaces. Later, with the arrival of the new Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, it was decided to return to the previous deforming paint schemes and the old color scheme. In the paint schemes for the production aircraft of the Sukhoi company, supplied to a foreign customer, both monochromatic and deforming painting are used. Monochromatic coloring of gray tones is used in the painting schemes of the Su-30MKI of the Indian Air Force, the Su-30MKM of the Malaysian Air Force, and the Su-30MKI (A) of the Algerian Air Force. Two-color monochromatic painting is used in the painting schemes of Su-30MKK, Su-30MK2, Su-27SK of the PLA Air Force. Deforming painting is used in painting schemes for Su-27SK, Su-30MK2 aircraft of the Air Forces of Venezuela, Vietnam, Indonesia, Uganda, painting schemes for export versions of the Su-25 attack aircraft.
The type and design of the paint scheme, the colors and grades of paint and varnish coatings used for aircraft supplied to a foreign customer are determined based on the wishes of the customer and are approved during negotiations upon signing the contract. Often, the type and colors of the supplied aircraft paint scheme are chosen by the customer in accordance with those adopted by his Air Force for aircraft of a similar purpose.
In the coloring of experimental aircraft of the Sukhoi company, deforming coloring with the use of broken lines as the edges of the spots has become widespread. Broken lines serve to distort the visible shape and contour of the aircraft and thereby mislead the enemy in close air combat. This approach was most developed in the "fragmentation" paint schemes for prototypes of the Su-35 and T-50 aircraft.
Often, the color schemes of experimental vehicles are chosen in such a way as to maximize the interest of a potential customer. An example is the painting of the aircraft 10M, tail number 711. The painting was done in "sandy" colors and was designed to attract the attention of customers from the Middle East.
Separately, mention should be made of the paint scheme developed by Sukhoi for the Russian Knights aerobatics group operating on Su-27 aircraft. The paint scheme is made in the colors of the tricolor of the Russian Federation and the flag of the Air Force of the Russian Federation. This scheme allows you to more clearly visualize the aerobatics performed by the group.
The quality of the "livery"
In the photo: Painting of the Su-33 aircraft at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aviation Plant named after Yu. A. Gagarin.
The quality of the final painting determines the protective properties of coating systems, their durability and the overall appearance of aircraft. Currently, Sukhoi production aircraft are painted with coating systems based on both domestic and imported enamels.
For painting Su-34 aircraft, the AS-1115 enamel of domestic production is used. A specially developed AK-5178M camouflage enamel is used for painting Su-25 aircraft, and domestic production of KCH-5185 enamel for radio-transparent surfaces.
Currently, Sukhoi is working on the development of promising coating systems. So, for prototypes of the fifth generation T-50 fighter, radio-absorbing materials developed by the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Electrodynamics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, heat-shielding enamel, which protects the glider surface from damage at high temperatures, arising during the operation of weapons, have been tested and introduced.
Also, the Sukhoi company, together with domestic manufacturers of paints and varnishes (FSUE VIAM, NPK Yarli, Russkie Kraski, ITPE RAS), is working on the search and implementation of promising paints and varnishes instead of imported materials.
Aircraft paint scheme
Aircraft paintwork is designed to protect against the effects of various environmental factors, as well as to reduce the aircraft's optical signature.
Final painting is the final step in aircraft production. The document used for the final painting is the drawing "Aircraft painting scheme". The drawing defines the design of painting, colors and types of applied paints and varnishes, as well as the areas of their application. For military aircraft, this drawing is developed, as a rule, in the design bureau that created the aircraft project, and transferred to the manufacturer.
The main tasks solved when developing a paint scheme:
• the types of coatings and areas of their application on the aircraft should be selected so as to ensure the protection of the aircraft from corrosion, exposure to aggressive environmental factors, erosion, temperature and other influences on the aircraft while maintaining the operability of all its systems;
• the color, shape, size and location of identification marks of the aircraft's nationality, its side and serial numbers, and other graphic information must be determined;
• for serial combat aircraft, coloring should impede the visual observation of the aircraft in typical combat situations.
The paint scheme depends on the type of aircraft, the tactics of its combat use, the intended region of basing, and the features of the aircraft operation.
