Su-24 Fencer
The Su-24 came as the Su-24M (Fencer-D) strike aircraft and the Su-24MR (Fencer-E) reconnaissance aircraft – both of which were in the original Soviet-era form when the war began. Despite having lost at least 17 Su-24s by now, 7th brTA is believed to still have at least 15-20 operational aircraft of both variants remaining – most, if not all, adapted to deploy Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG ALCMs. Many seem to be former stored aircraft returned to service as only a single aircraft (’09 White’) is known to have arrived from overhaul at the NARP plant at Mykolaiv-Kulbakino AB and most of the pre-war aircraft – including at least three of the overhauled aircraft (presumably ’08 White’, ’20 White’ and ’44 White’) – appear to have been lost in the initial period of the war. Operational Su-24s were damaged on the ground and during combat, but there are no reports of any of them being destroyed or written off.
It was in this period when all their deficiencies came to light, especially the lack of modern weapons. This was most obvious when UkrAF fighters were pitted against modern Russian fighters, armed with modern beyond visual range (BVR) air-to-air missiles (AAMs) with active radar homing (ARH) seekers, enabling them to engage UkrAF aircraft from safe distances, well out of reach of their Soviet-era AA-10 Alamo AAMs or UkrAF’s long-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems.
As the conflict progressed and the front line stabilized, direct contact with the enemy was brought to the minimum – strike aircraft conducted stand-off strikes with unguided air-toground rockets, while fighter aircraft supported them, with the use of AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) – the first Western-supplied weapon successfully integrated on UkrAF’s MiG-29s and Su-27s. Initial combat losses were soon replaced by stored aircraft and by Soviet-built aircraft provided by partner countries – the first were four Su-25s from North Macedonia arriving in 2022, followed by ten MiG-29s from Poland and 13 MiG-29s from Slovakia in 2023. Depending on their condition, some of these were pressed into service immediately, some underwent repairs/overhaul at the LDARZ and ZDARZ plants (in Lviv and Zaporizhzhia, respectively), along with a number of UkrAF’s stored aircraft, while the rest became a source of spare parts.
With Soviet-era weapons becoming scarcer – especially unguided air-to-ground rockets – in 2023 the UkrAF began integrating new Western weapons, predominantly precision-guided munitions (PGMs). First came the US-built Joint Direct Attack Munition – Extended Range (JDAM-ER) guided glide bomb, followed by the UK /French-built Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs), US-built Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) guided glide bomb. This not only provided much-needed range, precision and effectiveness on target – features that its Soviet-era weapons lacked – but also took care of the weapons shortage problem.
A Su-24M armed with a Kh-29L laser-guided AGM. Fencers are nowadays used almost exclusively to deploy the Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG ALCMs, but on occasion they also deploy these old Soviet-era AGMs as well
UkrAF Command
Ukraine Russia War Ukraine’s combat aircraft fleet A two-seat Su-25UBM1K during a training flight. The entire UkrAF two-seat Su-25 fleet is believed to be intact as it was used almost exclusively for pilot training
UkrAF Command
In 2024, the UkrAF had reached a new milestone – integrating a modern Western multi-role fighter aircraft in its inventory – the US-built F-16 Fighting Falcon (aka ‘Viper’), with the French Mirage 2000 expected to arrive in early 2025. Both aircraft are equipped with modern self-protection suites and use modern ‘fire-andforget’ long-range AAMs, which finally closed the technology gap between Ukrainian and Russian fighter aircraft – something that was unimaginable three years earlier.
UkrAF’s combat aircraft weaponry
In addition to a wide variety of Soviet-era unguided air-toground weaponry – bombs and rockets of various calibres, with multiple types of warheads suited for different types of targets – UkrAF’s strike aircraft also had at their disposal various Soviet-era air-to-ground missiles (AGMs). These include the Kh-25M (AS10 Karen) and Kh-29 (AS-14 Kedge) series, of which laser-guided variants – the Kh-25ML and Kh-29L respectively – were predominantly used.
While Soviet-era guided bombs are also available to the UkrAF – including the TV-guided KAB500Kr and laser-guided KAB-1500L – none seem to have been utilized in the conflict so far, no doubt due to the fact that they have to be released from high altitudes and near the intended target, which forces the aircraft to get within range of the enemy’s GBAD. Finally, there was also a Soviet-era anti-radiation missile (ARM) available – the Kh-58U (AS-11 Kilter) – its use from the Su-24M was reported, but pictures have not surfaced so far. Note that the Su-24M would have to carry the special Fantasmagoriya pod below the fuselage to employ these. With the introduction of Western weapons, the combat capabilities of UkrAF’s combat aircraft were significantly increased. The first weapon to enter service was the AGM-88 HARM, which appeared in the summer of 2022. It was used to great effect during the Kherson and Kharkiv counteroffensives in 2022, putting Russian GBAD systems out of action and clearing the path for UkrAF’s strike aircraft which now had the opportunity to revert to direct low-level bombing and strafing runs, as well as to deploy laser-guided AGMs.
A Su-27S departs on a combat mission in the early stage of the war armed with only four R-27ER BVR AAMs. The aircraft has the typical post-overhaul blue digital scheme applied at ZDARZ in the last decade. The unpainted replacement canopy suggests that this aircraft could be one of those damaged at Ozerne AB on March 7, 2022
UkrAF Command
This Su-25M1K of 299th brTA is seen in the summer of 2023, armed with a pair of four-shot LAU-10 rocket pods with US-supplied Zuni airto-ground rockets
UkrAF Command
Soon, a number of guided glide bombs were introduced – the US-built GBU-62 JDAM-ER (in February 2023), followed by the US-built GBU-39 SDB and French-built A ASM-250 Hammer (both in 2024). The JDAM-ER was initially integrated with the Su-24s, but with the introduction of UK /French-built Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG ALCMs in 2023, the Fencers became their exclusive launch platform, leaving glide bombs to the MiG-29 and Su-27. Simultaneously, fighters were also tasked with deploying the ADM-160B Miniature Air-Launched Decoy (MALD) in support of ALCM sorties.
After depleting its stocks of large-calibre unguided air-toground rockets, the UkrAF in 2023 received the last remaining US stocks of 127mm Zuni rockets and associated LAU-10 pods, which were integrated on the Su-25 and used in regular standoff strikes. By early 2024 these were already depleted and the Su-25s began converting on A ASM-250 Hammer bombs. Later in 2024, the delivery of US-built AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) glide bombs for use with F-16s was announced and work was underway on Ukrainian indigenous guided glide bombs. Finally, the Soviet-era fighters are armed with two basic types of AAMs – the close-range R-73 (AA-11 Archer) with infra-red (IR) seeker and the BVR R-27 (AA-10 Alamo). The latter come in four variants – R-27R and R-27ER with semi-active radar homing (i.e. requiring the launch aircraft to track the target the entire time) and R-27T and R-27ET with an IR seeker. The R-27ER/ET are extended range variants with a larger engine and, together with the R-27T, they can be used only by the Su-27s.
The F-16s have finally brought a BVR AAM – the AIM-120B Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), with an ARH. In addition to these, they also have at their disposal at least two variants of the IR-guided AIM-9Sidewinder – the AIM9M and AIM-9X, with the arrival of the German-built AIM-9L/I-1announced in December.
This fully armed aircraft is one of nine ex-Slovak modernized MiG-29AS which were transferred to Ukraine in the spring of 2023. They are easily distinguishable from original UkrAF MiG-29s by multiple additional antennas on the spine and on the nose (below and in front of the cockpit)
UkrAF Command
The single ex-Slovak modernized two-seat MiG-29UBS, former ‘1303’. This aircraft is believed to be ’80 White’ with 114th brTA
UkrAF Command
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