That is not much of an issue due to todays joint command.
The Su-34 is not designed to operate over the front lines in any capacity... it is a medium range strike aircraft... not a combat air support aircraft.
Yes, i remember that well, Mig AT derivate, Yak131 and that Sukhoi two cockpit monster i forgot its designation. I recall A16 it had huge issues with cannon, they used them during Desert Storm but only as missile platforms since cannon wasnt very safe to be used
It was a failure because to get close enough to use the cannon meant ground fire became an issue and the A16 had no armour to speak of. Adding armour and it loses its flight performance.
they didn't use them anywhere AFAIK.
This is first time i hear about PAK SH-a to be honest, i assume it will be something based on Jak130? US might start using Textan Scoprion in CAS role, it seems to be quite cheap platform, extremly cheap actually, somewhat of the JF17 Thunder price.
There was the same talk in Russia about what could replace the Su-25 and the Yak-130 was considered with the pilot flying the aircraft and the second crewman operating remote UAVs to find targets that could be engaged with missiles from standoff distances... it was a failure too.
the decision seems to have been an upgrade of existing Su-25s followed by a brand new armoured stealth design manned aircraft.
Lots of funny pics were shown but nothing official.
Mmm... yeaah i guess Mig29SMT could do so but SU34s armed with someting like Brimstone with dual seekers or that Russian future Hermes would be insane platform, it has 12 hardpoints i belive, but lets say 10 would be able to hold triple Brimstone launcher..
The Russians don't really have anything like brimstone, Hermes will likely be carried 8 to a pylon but likely with only two pylons able to carry the weapon like the Su-25TM with Vikhr.
thats 30 missiles that wont just drop anywhere like 500kg bomb, but with 1m CEP, i am not saying it should be only CAS platfom, but it could be very good in this role in some bigger scale combat. Still some very cheap platform that would use unguded ammunition would be required. Well, there were talks about developing UCAV on the Jak130 platform, or if they ever finish Mig SKAT, those two could be used for CAS im
I think a dedicated HALE UCAV designed to support ground operations would be the ideal solution orbiting 10km above the front lines carrying guided FAB-50s in large numbers and the odd heavier bomb for use when needed would be the most cost effective solution... with large numbers of light bombs it could loiter for hours or days and be able to deliver HE rapidly and precisely... not the same as CAS butrapidly available on call support ready when needed and in COIN situations relatively invulnerable. the key would be powerful sensors that can find targets and friendlies in all weathers and being able to hit targets 24/7 in all weathers.
Fastest true but very slow muzzle velocity below 700 m/s vs 1050 m/s Vulcan better advantage in aiming when you got very short time window in dogfight. 30mm gun with muzzle velocity 900m/s is mucxh better alternative IMHO. is better option in this case
The soviets and Russians have always had good aircraft guns.... muzzle velocity is no advantage when you take into consideration the increased recoil throws the aim off quicker and the higher muzzle velocity comes from much lighter projectiles that simply punch small holes through the target while the slower much heavier 23mm shells contain HE that blow enormous holes in the target and is much more effective at bringing down aerial targets.
Think of what sort of weapon a hunter uses against fast moving birds.... it is not high velocity 223 ammo moving at almost a kilometre a second... it is subsonic shotgun pellets because lots of shots at the target all scattered around the aim point is vastly more effective at bringing down a manouvering target than a single fast projectile that does not manouver after being fired.
Pls correct me if I am wrong but there were some problems with exploding ammo that's why those guns are not used in Russian AF anymore.
there were issues with propellent gas building up and exploding, but revised external mounts tended to deal with the problem.
Recently a land based platform with a 23mm gatling gun with the gun mounted externally would solve the potential problems... as would the mounting on the armata BMPT model in an external mount.
The single barrel gun mount on the MiG-29 is even more efficient as it is computer controlled so during combat the pilot locks the target and pulls the trigger and manouvers the aiming pipper onto the target. When the computer calculates a likely hit it fires the gun and stops it when it thinks it has fired enough. the computer stopped the gun after 3-4 rounds had been fired but the targets were still getting destroyed. The designer is reported to have said if he had known the system would be so effective he would only have designed an ammo capacity of 100 rounds instead of 150.