BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe \u2014\u00a0The Algerian Air Force has ordered 12 Sukhoi\u00a0(Su-34) “Fullback” fighter bombers from Russian aircraft manufacturer Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association to replace an aged fleet of Soviet-era MiG-25s, which are long over-due for retirement from service, as part of an ongoing force modernization program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an interview published by Russian-language newspaper Vedomosti on New Year’s D d<\/span>ay, Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association Director General Chkalov Sergei Smirnov announced that Algeria has finally ordered the Su-34 after nearly eight years of continuous negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although he did not give any further details on the sale, Smirnov said the Algerian Air Force is also negotiating for the long-term purchase of upgraded versions of the company’s (Sukhoi) SuU<\/span>-24 “Fencer,” which would be in line with the changing needs of Algeria’s its <\/span>ongoing force re-orientation and modernization project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Su-34 order is believed to be a component of the $7.5 billion Algerian-Russian arms deal signed in March 2006\u00a0for the supply of anti-missile systems, aviation, sea and land-ward defense equipment and technologies in March 2006<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Late last year, top Russian military expert Igor Korotchenko told RIA Novostin that the deployment of the Su-34 in <\/span>on combat duty in Syria will help potential buyers in Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East to evaluate its performance and decide on whether to acquire it or not.:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n “Several countries in Africa, including Uganda and Nigeria, which [are]\u00a0is <\/span>waging a war (Islamist terrorist group)<\/span> against Boko Haram, could buy the Su-34. Such top of the range fighter bomber aircraft could also strengthen Ethiopia’s Air Force, which still operates a large fleet of aging Su-27 fighters,” Korotchenko said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Su-34 has also attracted the interest of Iraq, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan while Kazakhstan already operates a squadron recently\u00a0acquired from Russia recently<\/span>. Powered by a two Saturn AL-31F turbo-fan engines, and <\/span>the Su-34 is a fourth generation fighter bomber created from the frame of its (Sukhoi) Su-27 predecessor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It has a non-stop operating range of 4 000 kilometers and a maximum speed of up to 2,200 kilometerskilometer<\/span>\u00a0per hour. Its principal armaments include a 30-mm GSh-301 canon, and various caliber <\/span>surface to air-to-air missiles, cruise missiles, air-to-surface missiles, anti-ship and anti-radiation missiles in addition to guided and free-fall bombs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Algerian Air Force has ordered 12 Sukhoi (Su-34) “Fullback” fighter bombers from Russian aircraft manufacturer Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association to replace an aged fleet of Soviet-era MiG-25s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":116351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":33,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1981],"class_list":["post-60779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"HTFFFCJQF5A3JJAF2IMM3VWBFM","arc_canonical_url":"\/home\/2016\/01\/05\/algeria-orders-12-su-34-fullback-fighter-bombers-from-russia\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n