What variant of the SU-25 is this

[foxl]

Hi.

 

I have done some reading on the history of SU-25 and there is so many variants, so i started wondering what we have in DCS, it does not say in the manual or ingame encyclopedia what model of the SU-25 we have ingame?

 

 

Su-25 (Frogfoot A) -- Original production ground attack aircraft with R-95 engines.

 

Su-25BM -- Enhanced ground attack aircraft with R-195 engines, this is the current production version, and the most numerous in Russian service

[joey45]

DCS world has the 25T as a free aircraft.

 

The DLC is the 25A.

[fjacobsen]

I actually think that it doesnt have the A prefix, but that this has been added here in order to seperate it from free T version.

 

So we have:

SU-25

SU-25T

 

In DCS-World

[theGozr]

is it not a dual place SU-25T ?

[silverofx441]

SU-25BM is a target tower not to be mistaken for the SU-25UBM which is the dual version with the said R-195 engines. And would rather say it's a enhanced trainer that can do some attack capabilities.

[Weta43]

The Su-25T is not dual seat - it looks like the 2 seat trainer derived from the Su-25, but where the back seat would be is where the additional avionics are...

[foxl]

Yes you are correct silverfox441, the bm is a target tower\trainer. I guess information was wrong on that site i got that information.

 

But according to wikipedia there are two seperate upgrade programs.

SU-25SM and SU-25KM. And also the SU-25T was cancled in 2000 with only 8 planes produced.

 

By 2020, 80 aircraft are to be modernised to SM version.

 

So i guess the most common variant is the SU-25A?

[theGozr]

Yes Silver the SU-25UBM :)

[splash]

Su-25BM Target Tug is a derivative of the single-seat Su-25. It was designed to provide towed target facilities for training ground forces and naval personnel equipped with surface-to-air weapons. By 1990 only 50 aircrafs were completed. They were never actually used for target-towing, but at that time, in the early 90s, they were the most up-to-date versions of the Su-25 (from Yefim Gordon's Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot).

Edited August 15, 2013 by splash

[eurofor]

(...)

 

But according to wikipedia there are two seperate upgrade programs.

SU-25SM and SU-25KM. And also the SU-25T was cancled in 2000 with only 8 planes produced.

 

By 2020, 80 aircraft are to be modernised to SM version.

 

So i guess the most common variant is the SU-25A?

 

SM is Russian and KM is Georgian. What we have aside from the T is the one without any postfix.

[GhostRider357]

SM is Russian and KM is Georgian. What we have aside from the T is the one without any postfix.

SU-25SM is a further modification and improvement of the T version (i.e. instead of Shkval targeting system to Shkval-M). SU-25KM is a Georgian modification of SU-25, which replace much of the inside instruments with 2 MFD's and overall becomes more westernized version of SU-25 (mostly because much of the modifications were supplies by an Israeli aviation company).

:smartass:

[Paganus]

SU-25SM is a further modification and improvement of the T version (i.e. instead of Shkval targeting system to Shkval-M).:smartass:

 

Just to clarify...

 

The SM is a modern upgrade program that does not use the T version airframe. They take the original SU-25 airframe, with the flat back, and modernize it. While lessons learned in the T - TM program and some systems are in both upgrade branches, they are separate upgrades.

 

Su-25SM features Panther fire-control system with Kopyo-25 radar in a rebuilt nose (not pod-mounted, as on Su-25TM), giving compatibility with a wider range of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons; Klen PS laser range-finder is relocated below fuselage. Revised cockpit with a new HUD and two large colour LCD MFDs, but retains standard analogue flight instruments. Irtysh EW system, with new RWR, MAWS and automatic control of chaff and flares. Structural changes limited to life-extension modifications and provision for nose-mounted radar.

 

The Su-25T has a hump back like the 2 seat version original. There were only a few made because it was a mid-upgrade designation. What was added to the airframes in the T upgrade became the TM also designated SU-39. There were additional upgrades that differentiate the T designation from the TM/39, while some of the airframes are the same. As far as I know this branch of the tree has never been exported although 1 export demo was built.

 

The KM was a Georgian attempt to modernize a handful of airframes left behind from the USSR days. I don't know that any were even completed.

 

The original (flat back) airframe is all over the world now and the addon systems that get stuffed in them are as different as the nations that fly them, but underneath they are based on the Su-25 single seat with a K designation or 2 seat UBK for those sold as exports. Some former USSR nations still have non-export versions of which some have had there own upgrade paths.

 

A handful of brand new airframes have been built in Siberia of the 2 seat U branch. They all have a little bear painted on the tail.

 

It's one of those aircraft that's been around long enough in large enough numbers that the history becomes complex. Which speaks to what a good aircraft it is.

[GUMAR]

Su-25SM does NOT have any radar. It has modern aiming and navigation system BARS.

[eurofor]

SU-25SM is a further modification and improvement of the T version

 

(...)

 

You are thinking of the TM, not SM.

 

(...)

 

overall becomes more westernized version of SU-25 (mostly because much of the modifications were supplies by an Israeli aviation company).

 

Don't you think Georgia's NATO aspirations have more to do with the westernised avionics rather than it being random?

 

(...)

 

The KM was a Georgian attempt to modernize a handful of airframes left behind from the USSR days. I don't know that any were even completed.

 

(...)

 

It was not merely an attempt. They have produced them and even exported them.

 

"SU-25KM is included in the military-air force armament of Georgia and Turkmenistan" http://tam.ge/scorpion.htm

 

Tests: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qrcqORETLs

Edited August 23, 2013 by eurofor

[Paganus]

Su-25SM does NOT have any radar. It has modern aiming and navigation system BARS.

 

So they didn't stuff a Kopyo in the nose after all.

 

The UBM in this pic has one belly mounted.

 

http://www.ruaviation.com/news/2011/4/19/261/

 

Looks like they went with a pod due to cost.

 

...and a Kopyo-25SM radar mounted in a pod. Early concepts envisioned a nose-mounted radar, but that proved too expensive.

 

It was not merely an attempt. They have produced them and even exported them.

 

Nice. Have they done more than the initial 6?

Edited August 23, 2013 by Paganus

[eurofor]

(...)

 

Nice. Have they done more than the initial 6?

 

Difficult to find information on that. Some sources say possibly 8 but the only official source says 6.