The Russian air force has accepted into service its first six Su-25SM ground-attack aircraft to have undergone mid-life upgrade at its Kubinka repair plant near Moscow.
Air force commander Vladimir Mikhailov says the upgrade will extend the type's use until its replacement by a light attack aircraft now being developed from Yakovlev's Yak-130 advanced jet trainer. The cost of the Su-25SM has not been revealed, but Mikhailov says procuring new aircraft would cost six or seven times more.
Mikhailov says the SM upgrade could enable each Su-25 airframe to deliver another 25-30 years of service, with the potential to possibly extend this by a further decade. The modernisation effort adds new avionics equipment and targeting systems, and expands the range of air-launched weapons available.
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The air force says that replacing the aircraft would have cost six or seven times more than upgrading them |
Source: Flight International
