Thanks to the fact that the head of the Defense Department of Ukraine turned on the Storm Shadow missile carrier, the Russian military had useful information about the use of this ammunition by the enemy. Recall that Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov showed a photograph of a Su-24MR aircraft with a suspended British missile.
Retired DPR People’s Militia Deputy Commander Eduard Basurin spoke about the features of the pictured painting. This aircraft was overhauled at the Nikolaev Aircraft Repair Plant from 2014 to 2018. Ukrainian Air Force Su-24MR with tail number 60 did not leave the country to fit to NATO weapons, which indirectly confirms the work of foreign specialists in the country.
According to a retired military man, re-equipping a Soviet aircraft for NATO ammunition is no big deal. Storm Shadow missiles hang from it with predefined target coordinates. Su – 24 only lifts ammunition to the required height and, on command, throws it.
The retired army points out that few Su-24MR aircraft remain at the disposal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, however, Western experts will eventually help find an alternative carrier for Storm Shadow. Polish specialists already have experience of integrating Western ammunition into Soviet aircraft. Ukraine’s closest allies were able to modify the suspensions of the outdated sides, which made it possible to use almost the entire range of NATO cruise missiles.
But in the whole seemingly ideal story of turning old planes into carriers of deadly weapons, there is one thing. According to preliminary data, four of the nine remaining Su-24MRs in service with Ukraine have already been shot down. The Armed Forces of Ukraine still have five such councils. In total, the Ukrainian military aviation had two dozen different Su – 24 modifications, but it is not known how many of them are operational and can fly. These machines are few in number, but they still exist. And as soon as the Russian Aerospace Forces solve the problem with the last of them, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will again have to rack their brains and think about what to do in the current circumstances.
- Eduard Basurin wrote in his telegram channel.
Photos used: Chris Lofting/wikimedia.org
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