In the post-Soviet space, they love the narrow specialization of winged combat vehicles, although world practice shows that it is gradually becoming a thing of the past. First, let's take a look at the depths of history. The Second World War approved the main types of bombers at that time, dividing them into light, medium and heavy. Although, for example, already at the beginning of World War II, the concept of a light Su-2 showed that such an aircraft would not last long in a real battle (unless, of course, it had the speed of the British De Havilland Mosquito). The end of the war consolidated the main subtypes of fighters, attack aircraft and bombers, but many decades after its end, the air forces of the Western countries and the USSR will have a "vinaigrette" of a variety of machines, a significant part of which will be, of course, supersonic fighters and bombers.
Why did it happen? First, during the Cold War, military technology developed incredibly quickly, albeit not as fast as during World War II. So several generations of aircraft could be in the air force at once, and this has been so for a long time. Secondly, tactics were changing, and this required the presence of highly specialized machines. At one time, the low-altitude breakthrough of air defense by flying at ultra-low altitudes with rounding the terrain was extremely popular. So, in the 60s and 70s, the American F-111, equipped with a terrain enveloping system, capable of operating at low altitudes, seemed to be the "ultimate" weapon. In turn, the fighters had to operate at high altitudes, providing cover and gaining dominance in the skies.
However, modern realities have made some adjustments. As shown by the Panavia Tornado during Desert Storm, a low-altitude penetration is fraught with serious risks and losses, even if the enemy is not equipped with the latest technology. More importantly, modern aviation weapons allow aviation to effectively act against air defense without flying close to the ground. Therefore, aircraft such as the F-111 have become of little demand, although no one says that this aircraft or its direct analogue in the face of the Su-24 was initially bad. Not at all.
The firstborn of a new era
The appearance in the late 80s of the McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle marked a qualitatively new stage in the development of strike aircraft, despite the fact that the combat debut in 1991 turned out to be "blurry" and the creators had to eliminate childhood diseases characteristic of the new technology for a long time.
And although the F-15 was originally created as an air fighter, the large range and good combat load indicators made the Strike Eagle a real multifunctional complex. One of the new photos shows this aircraft carrying 20 (!) New GBU-39 SDB (Small Diameter Bomb) bombs. And in May 2015, for Strike Eagle, a new version of it was delivered in the person of SDB II, capable of striking not only stationary (like GBU-39), but also moving targets.
In general, if we look at modern fighters such as the Dassault Rafale or the Eurofighter Typhoon, we will see how these machines differ in terms of functionality from third generation fighters. One of the loading options for the Eurofighter, for example, involves the suspension of eighteen of the latest Brimstone air-to-surface missiles. We are no longer talking about the fifth generation fighters, which have not only broad functionality, but also stealth.
"Duckling" named Fullback
In this situation, Russia continues to buy the Su-34 front-line bomber - the brainchild of the Cold War. Recall that in February of this year it became known that a new contract for the supply of the Russian Aerospace Forces Su-34 will be signed in the summer of 2020. The exact number is unknown, but it is likely that the total number of these machines will greatly exceed a hundred: this is how much has already been built for the Air Force.
It would seem that one can only be glad for the Russian air force, but, in truth, the plane raises too many questions. Here are just a few of them.
Airplane concept. The Su-34 was created with a clear eye on the American F-111 and Su-24 aircraft, which, as we saw above, have become the swan song of highly specialized tactical bombers. Now, due to the development of modern high-precision aviation ammunition, there is no need for such a machine. Its role may well be assumed by a multifunctional fighter. Simply put, the Su-34 has no real advantages over the Su-30SM or Su-35S, which have practically the same combat radius as the Su-34 and an identical payload mass (comparison with the Su-24 is incorrect - these are machines from different eras) … At the same time, it is difficult to use the Su-34 as a fighter. This is not facilitated either by the huge mass of the vehicle as for a fighter (normal take-off weight is 39 tons!), Nor by the associated low maneuverability, nor by the side-by-side placement of the crew members that restricts the view, and the poor view of the rear hemisphere for both crew members. For some reason, it is not customary to talk about this in the Russian-language media, but the old F-15E is completely devoid of such restrictions. As, however, and the new Russian multifunctional fighters.
Obsolescence of avionics. Developed back in the Soviet years, the Su-34 is outdated not only conceptually, but also in terms of "stuffing", although it was updated as the complex was brought to serial production. The "Platan" optical system, which has very limited viewing angles and is far from the best "picture" quality today, if not worse, evokes a sharply negative reaction from specialists. There are claims to the radar. It is known that the Sh-141 radar station supports the simultaneous tracking of up to ten targets when firing up to four of them, but this is already difficult to surprise anyone. But the plane does not have an active phased antenna array (which, by the way, will not surprise anyone either). Most likely, it will simply be ineffective against stealthy vehicles: although, as we wrote above, it was not created for air battles and is unlikely to be able to fully conduct them, having received even the most advanced radar station in the world.
Unification of the aircraft fleet. This is a very sore subject for the modern Russian Air Force, and it does not directly relate to the shortcomings of the Su-34. However, without considering the situation, it is impossible to understand why the procurement of the Su-34 is not only senseless, but also harmful. Recall that now the Russian Aerospace Forces are already operating hundreds of new-built aircraft Su-35S, Su-30SM, Su-30MK2, Su-27SM3 and MiG-29SMT, as well as fifty modernized Su-27SM. And that's not counting the MiG-31 interceptors! Needless to say, all these machines have completely different sets of on-board electronics and, what is most surprising of all, different engines, although all Sukikh engines are based on the Soviet AL-31F. Such de-uniformization clearly does not paint the Air Force, but these are all trifles against the background of new supplies of the Su-34 - aircraft that are de facto late for an entire epoch, and taking into account the inconspicuous fighters - by two at once.
At the same time, the advantages of the Su-34, as they say, are sucked from the finger. As one of these, they point to "the ability to operate day and night, in any weather conditions" (meaning the defeat of ground targets). The problem is that now any Western modern fighter of the 4+ generation and any Russian fighter of the same generation can do this, provided that a suspended sighting container of the LANTIRN type is used. Fortunately for the rather successful Su-30SM and Su-35S, they do not carry an extra load in the face of the old built-in Platan, like the Su-34, but they have many potential points of suspension for modern sighting containers. But what kind of containers they will be is a completely different topic for discussion.
