Luz verde para un grosso .
Manufacture of New Su-34 Fighter Starts in Novosibirsk
The first example of the super-modern Su-34 of a series ordered by the Russian Federation defense ministry has been assembled as the Novosibirsk V.P. Chkalov Aviation Production Association, they reported to Nakanune.RU at the press service of the AOS Byuro Propagandy” company.
The designing of this fighter bomber began at the start of the 1980s and the first flight of the experimental aircraft took place in December 1993. This project was a gleam in the eye at the V.P. Chkalov NAPO in operational development the following decade in view of the absence of financing, because air force commander-in-chief, Vladimir Mikhaylov, had not yet declared that the Su-34 was supposed to become the basis of tactical aviation’s striking power in the coming years. In 2005, defense minister Sergey Ivanov visited Novosibirsk and formulated a concrete task for the aircraft builders: assemble a whole regiment of these aircraft by 2010.
The twin-seat Su-34 strike complex (the “Fullback” by NATO classification), while not looking at the extended time in entering series production, has kept the position of the best combat aircraft in its class in the opinion of specialists. The Su-34’s main achievement is considered to be its ability to find, classify and destroy any, including submarine, targets in range up to 2,000 kilometers without refueling. It is no accident that journalists have christened it “the lord of large spaces,” ironically renaming the “Fullback” to “Full beck” ((in English)) (“great regards”) ((in Russian)).
As a fifth generation combat airplane, the Su-34 is integrated with ground and space support systems (for example, it can use satellite guidance for precision destruction of individual targets) and at the same time it possesses a high level of autonomous electronic and armor protection, successfully overcoming an enemy’s active fire resistance and the use by him of jamming. The unfamiliar level of comfort for Russian combat airplanes, the ability to use the whole range of aviation weaponry and ideal maneuverability complete the portrait of this aerial predator, the most formidable in the whole history of worldwide military aircraft construction.
We shall note that the Novosibirsk aircraft builders have timed the ceremonious rollout of the initial example of the series-built Su-34 from the assembly hall for 30 June. In particular, the V.P. Chkalov NAPO begins to mark its anniversary from this day: 75 years, over which the plant has produced 29,000 combat airplanes.
((Your friendly translator doesn’t get the joke, either, about “Fullback” and “Full beck.”))
Source: 29.06.06, Nakanune.RU
