Against the Ukrainian F-16! Russian Air Force Receives New Su-34 Fighters

Russia's state-owned United Aircraft Corporation has delivered a new batch of Su-34 fighter jets to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, following previous additions to the air fleet in April and June. In October 2023, the Russian Defense Ministry ordered arms makers to expand production of the Su-34, while also ramping up production of the Su-57 fifth-generation fighter. Novosibirsk Aviation Plant "Chkalov" not only produces new fighters under government orders, but is also responsible for the modernization of the existing Su-34 fleet, writes Military Watch Magazine in a material presented without editorial intervention by "Focus“.

In ordering the production increase in 2023, then-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu noted the Su-34's role in the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS): "This military aircraft is the main workhorse, it flies four to five flights per day, so it is necessary to speed up the production". Since the end of the Cold War, the Russian Air Force has been buying Su-34s in unprecedented numbers compared to other fighters, and expanding production will bring the total fleet to 250 aircraft or even more. The first Su-34 entered service in 2014, the same year as the Su-35 air superiority fighter.

The Su-34 remains widely used for both nuclear deterrence and operational strikes in all theaters of war from Syria to the Arctic to the Western Pacific, but it played a particularly important role in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict: its effectiveness in dropping strategic bombs was widely noted by Western sources with undisguised alarm. Aircraft have been seen in the Ukrainian theater carrying 500 kg ODAB-500 homing bombs with thermobaric warheads, which are excellent for neutralizing well-fortified enemy positions.

Several Ukrainian military personnel told The New York Times in January 2024 of the "additional destructive potential” of bomb planners: thanks to their 500 kg warhead, they can even destroy underground bunkers. One serviceman likened the effect of such bombings to the "gates of hell", noting that the Russian Aerospace Forces "are dropping up to eight of these bombs an hour... It sounds like a jet plane is coming down on you.