The Su-34 met real combat operations in August 2008 during the operation to force Georgia to peace. The scope of the aircraft was reconnaissance and strikes against ground targets. In particular, one Su-34 disabled the Georgian radar station of the Buk-M1 and Osa-AKM complexes. Also, the Kolchuga-M passive radio-technical reconnaissance complex (the village of Shavshvebi near Gori), modified by the Ukrainians, was destroyed from the air. In this operation, the Duckling worked in conjunction with the Mi-8PPA electronic warfare helicopters equipped with Azalia jamming stations, and the Mi-8SMV-PG with the Smalta-PG suppression complex.
Interestingly, the Russian army used the Su-34 in a combat situation even before its official adoption. This was due to the specifics of the electronic warfare systems of the newest fighter-bomber, "sharpened" for a wide range of applications, while the standard systems of that time were powerless against the modernized Soviet air defense systems. In this regard, the statement by the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsin:
“We used electronic warfare systems, but they are of the Soviet model. Georgian troops used Buk and Tor air defense systems to combat Russian aviation. When opening their positions as targets (and these are our Soviet models), our aviation experienced certain difficulties. At the same time, at first we suffered losses and only then did we draw the appropriate conclusions."
Mi-8SMV-PG, which supported the work of the Su-34 in Georgia
Mi-8PPA - partner of the Su-34 in the electronic warfare business
Five years later, in 2012, in South Ossetia and Dagestan, a combat vehicle again took part in a local military operation against bandit groups. It is noteworthy that for such relatively light targets, fighter-bombers worked with high-precision weapons, obviously testing their effectiveness.
A real "duck" invasion happened and continues to this day in the Syrian Arab Republic from the moment Russia was included in the conflict on the territory of this state. The first swallows were six Su-34s from the 47th mixed air regiment, which took to the skies on September 28, 2015 and headed from Nalchik to Syria. At the head of the six was the Tu-154 from the 223rd air detachment of the Ministry of Defense. A group of aircraft passed over the Caspian Sea, Iran and Iraq, landing in the Syrian Khmeimim. According to aviation historian Nikolai Yakubovich, the route of the air group has existed since 1940, when the Soviet Union was preparing for a confrontation with France and England. Bomb strikes on the territory of Syria, which was dependent on France, were then considered as one of the options for the development of the war. But we did not have to fight with France, and the route remained. It is noteworthy that for conspiracy, the identification marks from the sides of the Su-34 in that flight were removed - only the side numbers remained. The first strikes on terrorist targets in Syria were launched by fighter-bombers four days after their arrival. This may indicate a thorough preliminary work that the pilots and navigators did long before the arrival of the combat vehicles.
The first victims of the Su-34 were the headquarters and command posts of IS militants (an organization banned in Russia) in Deir Khafir and El-Bab (Aleppo). With the development of the situation, the workload on the crews only increased - the list of destroyed targets included an oil refinery in the Raqqa region, as well as many strongholds of the militants. A series of attacks by our aviation against the areas adjacent to Raqqa gained fame, as a result of one of which a bunch of terrorist leaders were destroyed. In this regard, General Igor Konashenkov said:
“After confirming the information about the arrival of the leaders of the militants at the gathering place for the building where the meeting was held, an air strike was made by a Su-34 aircraft. As a result of a direct hit by a corrected aerial bomb, the building with all its contents was destroyed."
Of course, the use of expensive guided bombs in a conflict of this profile is the exception rather than the rule. Often, the arsenal of the Su-34 includes, among others, high-explosive fragmentation OFAB-500, as well as concrete-piercing versions of the BETAB-500. Igor Konashenkov commented on the use of the latter type of aerial bomb:
“Near Damascus, a shelter was destroyed where the Osa anti-aircraft missile system was seized by terrorists from the Syrian army, and a Su-34 bomber was used to destroy it. As a result of direct hits from the BETAB-500 air bomb, the structure with all its contents was destroyed."
BETAB-500
With such a busy rhythm of work of the Su-34 crews, the rotation of personnel became inevitable. And on February 22, 2016, it was announced that a part of the 47th mixed air regiment from Buturlinovka, Voronezh region, was sent to Khmeimim. Having accepted the replenishment, a group of six Su-34s, the first to master combat work in Syria, went to Russia ten days later. The rhythm of work during September 2015 - February 2016 is very eloquently indicated by 20 red stars on the fuselage of one of the returned vehicles. One star - ten sorties. In 2016, the tactics of using fresh "ducklings" changed slightly - now free hunting has been added to their tactical piggy bank.
Below is a summary of the most resonant Su-34 strikes in the Syrian theater of operations. On June 1, 2016, illegal oil production facilities were destroyed by an air strike in the Et-Taura area near Raqqa. On August 25, in the course of joint work with the Tu-22M3, front-line bombers attacked the Islamists in Aleppo, Idlib and Deir ez-Zor. The bombing was so massive that it led to the destruction of five warehouses with weapons and fuels and lubricants, a terrorist training camp, three command posts and a mass of militants' manpower. The bombing groups were covered by the Su-30SM and Su-35S fighters. On September 3, such attacks continued only on Deir ez-Zor. In both the first and second cases, combat vehicles took off from the Iranian Hamadan airfield, located near the targets for bombing. An agreement with Iran regarding the provision of an airfield allowed combat vehicles to take on a greater combat load with less fuel. At the expense of the glorious victories of the Su-34 and its crews, one can count the destruction of Abu Muhammad Al-Adnani, who was responsible for working with the media in the IS hierarchy. He came under a bomb attack on August 30, 2016 in the Maarat-Umm-Khaush area along with 40 "comrades in arms." According to some reports, Al-Adnami was the second person in the most sinister terrorist organization in the world.
Su-34s worked on targets mainly from high altitudes
The Su-34 was also used in conjunction with our "partners" of the Turkish Air Force. So, on January 18, 2017, in the Al-Bab area, one Su-34 front-line bomber with eight Su-24M and Su-25 launched a missile and bomb attack on the accumulation of enemy manpower and heavy equipment. In total, after careful reconnaissance by Eleron and Orlan drones, as well as the Persona satellite constellation, 36 targets were destroyed from the air. From the Turkish side, four F-16s and F-4s took part in the operation.
Here are some statements by the commander of the 277th bomber regiment, Colonel Alexander Gorin, dated March 24, 2017:
“All planes delivered to the unit perform flights according to the combat training plan. In addition, six aircraft have been performing tasks in the SAR since February 2017. There are no complaints about the quality of the equipment. The Su-34, in comparison with its predecessor, the Su-24, previously operated in the regiment, is a supersonic fighter-bomber designed to destroy enemy ground targets in tactical and operational depth, concentrating the main efforts up to 600 kilometers from the line of contact … Unlike its own its predecessor, the Su-34, is designed to destroy air targets day and night in various weather conditions."
Over time, at the Khmeimim base, they began to be more attentive to the protection of aircraft. Although it is far from ideal …
The work of the Su-34 in conjunction with army aviation is indicative. On May 27, 2017, the "ducklings", together with the Su-24M, smashed a column of militants moving from Raqqa to the Palmyra area with rockets and bombs. The unfinished terrorists were shot from low heights by the Ka-52 shock. And literally the next day, the Su-34, with the support of the Su-35S, sent about 30 field commanders and more than 300 militants to the next world.
