Su-39 Frogfoot (Su-25T or Su-25TM) - Program
The military already realized then that the future belonged to aircraft equipped with a wide range of high-precision weapons and capable of using them effectively. Therefore, work on the project for the “advanced” version of the Su-25 started in 1979, that is, even before the end of state tests of the base aircraft, which ended in 1981. Although the Su-25T is considered only a modification, in fact, it is a different aircraft with much greater capabilities. The classic Su-25 was a very simple aircraft with an aiming system, which was intended to operate primarily with unguided weapons. For an accurate hit, it was necessary to work from low altitudes and within the range of MANPADS and anti-aircraft artillery.
The Su-39 (also known as the Su-25T or Su-25TM) is a Frogfoot variant incorporating post-Afghanistan lessons-learned. Considering the combat experience of using the attack aircraft, the Su-25 modification conception was designed and implemented, and realized in Su-39 attack airplane. The conception provided the extension of its combat functions, and high level of effectiveness in achieving the main purpose destruction of single mobile targets of "tank", "armored troop-carrier" and "ship" types.
In 1976 Design Bureau started work to produce a "tank buster" version of the attack aircraft Su-25T (T-8M) designed for antitank warfare. In the course of subsequent work, efforts were focused on making the plane capable of round-the-clock deployment. With this end in view, it was equipped with a highly automated electro-optical aiming system Shkval and a sophisticated antitank weapons system Vikhr. The first flight on the prototype aeroplane, T8M-1, was performed on 17th August 1984 by the design bureau's test pilot A.N. Isakov. In the period 1984-87, the three prototype planes were used to perform flight development tests, and official testing of the aeroplane took place in 1988-92. In 1989-91, Tbilisi produced a development batch of planes, with the first production Su-25T flight tested at the plant on 26th July 1990 by test pilot V.P. Korostiyev. At the beginning of the '90s, NPK Shturmoviki Sukhogo, or the Sukhoi Attack Aircraft Research-and-Production Facility, attempted to launch a project to develop a Su-25T-based attack aircraft under the name of Su-39. The Ulan-Ude factory put in place production arrangements and made first two pre-production planes.
Despite the earlier shortcomings, in the form of the Su-25T the domestic air force could receive a universal aircraft that could use a wide range of unguided and guided weapons. But fate decreed otherwise. By 1990, the aircraft was ready for mass production at the TAPO plant in Tbilisi, where at that time the basic Su-25 was produced. In the future, it was planned to remove them from production and gradually begin to replace them with a more advanced version.
Production started in 1990 at a plant in Tbilisi and continued until the end of 1991, during which time about ten aircraft were produced. After the collapse of the USSR, it turned out to be impossible to maintain production in the now independent Georgia and it was moved to Ulan-Ude, where the Su-25UB was made. At the new location, four improved Su-25TM (export designation Su-39) were made from the reserve left over from the twins, after which production ceased, since their Air Force did not have the money, and foreign customers did not show much interest. Six production aircraft, produced back in Tbilisi, in 1996, after modifications, were transferred for military testing to the Lipetsk Air Force Combat Use Center. In 1999, these vehicles took part in the campaign in the North Caucasus, carrying out targeted strikes. As a result of this trip, the military highly appreciated the results of using attack aircraft, but there were some complaints on the technical side.
At the end of 1999, two aircraft from the Lipetsk center, after conversion, were sold to Ethiopia, which at that time was involved in an armed conflict with Eritrea. Attack aircraft, designated Su-25TK (K - commercial), were actively used not only to work against point targets, but also to suppress air defenses. At the same time, one of the attack aircraft proved its high survivability by returning to base after being hit by a Kvadrat air defense missile.
The Russian Air Force no longer operates aircraft of this type. Of the four remaining serial ones, one is installed as a monument at the training ground in Crimea, the other is an exhibit of the Long-Range Aviation Museum at the airfield in Engels, and another can be seen in the Patriot Park near Moscow.
The Russian Aerospace Forces still have Su-25s in service. Most of them have been modernized to the level of the Su-25SM, but there are also aircraft in the basic version, which by 2023 are already seriously outdated. There is also a modernization program for the Su-25SM3, according to which the aircraft receives the SOLT-25 optical system (analogous to Shkval) and an optical-electronic missile countermeasures system with an infrared seeker. Thus, the aircraft is approaching the capabilities of the Su-25T developed more than 30 years ago, but cannot use Whirlwinds.
The modernized Su-25TM (Su-39) traveled to exhibitions and never interested anyone. It was not accepted into service. Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant (U-UAP) participated in FIDAE-2006 air show March 27 - April 2, 2006 in capital of Chile - Santiago. Countries of Latin America are interested in the aircraft technics produced by U-UAP. First of all, these are the attack aircraft Su-25UB and Su-39. FSUE "Rosoboronexport" was negotiating with a few customers referring the matters of these aircraf. The Su-25UB attack aircraft is the combat-training version of the legendary Su-25 "Rook" attacker, it is very actively used within recent years in many "hot points" of the different regions of the world. Multipurpose impact complex of all-weather use Su-39 is the "relative" of "Rook", it is its deep modernization. The Su-39 aircraft equipped with more modern in comparison with Su-25 system of armament and airborne radio-electronic equipment. The interest of Latin Americans to Su-25UB and Su-39 attack aircraft is quite understandable. According to the world practice the aircrafts of the Su-25 family are adapted for use during dimensioned military operations and local conflicts, including anti-terror missions.
By 2012 the fate of assault aviation was uncertain. On the one hand, the Air Force made a bet on small numbers of the modernized Su-25SM fighter version. On the other hand, according to Air Force Commander Viktor Bondarev, a new assault aircraft should become available in late 2010s and replace the modernized machines. The production of the Su-25TM (Su-39) was still a possibility. The design of this fighter had been largely unified with the Su-25UBM dual control flight simulator, which was scheduled for production at the Ulan-Ude aircraft plant or the Sokol plant in Nizhny Novgorod. However, no concrete decisions have been made yet.
The deliveries of new close air support aircraft to the Russian Air Force will start by 2020, Air Force spokesman Col. Vladimir Drik said. “The Air Force units will start receiving this aircraft by 2020,” Drik said on 21 February 2012 . “It will gradually replace highly-reliable Su-25SM Frogfoot attack planes.” According to Drik, the new aircraft will meet the demands of modern warfare and feature elements of “stealth” technology, the whole range of tactical weaponry, modern radar and navigation equipment.
Russia had decided (so far) not to invest into Kazan Su-39 production, just Su-25SM upgrades, and this meant empty spot (CAS) may be filled by more attack helicopters instead of fixed wing. In 2011, Russian Helicopters announced that it had landed a long-term order from the Russian Defence Ministry for “more than 140” Ka-52 helicopters.
This is the sad fate of this interesting aircraft. If the Su-25T had appeared at least five years earlier, it might have managed to sell out in a relatively large series, but history has no subjunctive mood.
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