Recently, the Su-34 fighter-bomber, which has always been regarded as a "chicken rib" by all countries in the world, has become a "thorn in the side" of the Ukrainian army, what happened?
According to the Ukrainian army, at the beginning of this month, the Ukrainian army launched a large-scale air raid on many bases of the Russian army, and the Ukrainian army used at least 50 drones to strike at the Russian air base, according to the Ukrainian army's war report, 14 Su-34 fighter-bombers were destroyed or seriously damaged in this strike, far exceeding other equipment, which shows that the Ukrainian army hates the Su-34 to the core.
What did the Su-34 do to make the Ukrainian army launch such a large-scale attack against it? This has to mention the characteristics of the Su-34 aircraft and a new tactic of the Russian army.
The Su-34 fighter-bomber, just by hearing the name, everyone knows that this is not a simple bomber.
True, just by appearance, this is a standard fighter, but it takes on bombing missions. Its most recognizable feature is its side-by-side cockpit design, which gives it a wide and flat cabin, hence the nickname "platypus".
It has to be said that Russia, which inherited the legacy of the Soviet Union, still has ingenious ideas in many weapons design. While two-seat helicopter gunships and fighter jets in various countries have adopted the front and rear cockpit design, Russia's Ka-52 armed helicopters and Su-34 fighter-bombers still use the side-by-side cockpit design, which has advantages and disadvantages and is difficult to evaluate objectively.
But the focus of today's talk is not on the design of the Su-34, but on the weapons on which the Su-34 is mounted.
In the early days of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Su-34 suffered a lot of damage, except for the battle damage caused by the personal factors of the Russian pilots, most of them were shot down by the Ukrainian air defense system or even portable anti-aircraft missiles when performing bombing missions on the front line, the reason is that the Russian army is reluctant to use expensive air-to-ground missiles, and can only let the Su-34 hang an iron bomb to bomb closely, in order to avoid radar and improve the accuracy of bombing, the Su-34 has to fly at ultra-low altitude, and it is naturally possible to be shot down by portable air defense missiles, which is also the chicken rib of the Su-34。
But this situation was completely reversed at the beginning of this year, due to the Russian army's use of a "universal gliding and guidance kit", known in the West as "UMPK". To put it simply, it is to put "wings" on the iron bomb, install "eyes", and carry out long-range precision strikes on ground targets by gliding and with the help of the global positioning system. In this way, while improving the strike range, it can also effectively ensure the safety of the bomber.
Therefore, since the beginning of this year, in a large number of combat videos released by the Russian army, the Su-34 has a very high appearance rate, and 1 Su-34 can carry 4 gliding guided bombs at a time, and the yield of carrying bombs is also increasing. The most terrifying is the ODAB-500 thermobaric bomb, in its strike range, even with a solid bunker, the survival rate is still basically 0. This not only gave the Su-34, which is becoming more and more "chicken", a new life, but also allowed the "iron bomb" in the Russian army's inventory to be upgraded to a precision-guided bomb.
In fact, this kind of technology and tactics are not the first of the Russian army, and the US military's Jedam series of guided bombs have been put into use during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Russian army used a large number of precision-guided bombs to attack Ukraine's energy facilities, which not only cut off Ukraine's energy, but also consumed the Ukrainian army's anti-aircraft missile stocks, and the Ukrainian side could only ask the West for help, asking for more "Patriot" air defense missiles. Before the arrival of Western aid, Ukraine was basically helpless, and could only watch the Su-34 drop bombs from afar and turn around and fly away, and watch the bombs blow up hydropower stations and thermal power stations.
According to the Russian army and the subsequent news released by the US media, the Ukrainian army's war report is a lot of water, and the Russian army's Su-34 is likely to have no losses, and according to the news of the Russian military industry, a new batch of Su-34 is about to be delivered to the Russian Aerospace Forces, which means that Russia's air strike capability will become stronger and stronger, strictly speaking, this new tactic of the Russian army, effectively using the limited air supremacy of the Russian army, has formed a tactical and psychological double suppression of the Ukrainian army, and is likely to be an important turning point in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict。
So the question is, does the PLA have similar technologies and tactics, and do we have effective countermeasures in the face of such precision-guided bombs?
First of all, whether it is the Jedam series of the US military or the FAB series of precision guided bombs of the Russian army, they are the product of compromise and are essentially cheap precision-guided weapons.
The precision-guided artillery shells and precision-guided long-range rockets in the hands of the PLA can achieve this extent, and the technical content of this kit is not high, and it can be produced again if necessary. After all, the PLA likes to hide clumsiness, and this is already a kind of consensus, and who will show off a really good baby?
As for the way to deal with it, the PLA also has at least 3 ways.
First of all, although the range of gliding bombs is long, there are certain limitations, and it is okay to bully an army that has no air defense capability, or whose air defense capability is not strong, and in front of the PLA, I am afraid that the planes carrying the bombs will not have time to drop the bombs and will be shot down.
Secondly, even if the bomb is dropped, we can still make the guided bomb "blind" by blocking the GPS signal. This is the so-called electromagnetic supremacy, which is also the focus of both the PLA and the US military at present. The good news is that the PLA has gained the upper hand in several encounters with the US military in the recent period.
Finally, this kind of gliding bomb, which is not powered by itself, does not fly fast, and it is not very difficult to intercept, and for the PLA with complete air defense means, it is a moving target.
This is the means of interception that I know, but as far as the current situation is concerned, the chances of the PLA encountering such gliding bombs are not great, on the contrary, there are many opportunities to use similar products.
In the final analysis, the battlefield is changing rapidly, no equipment, any tactics are omnipotent, "UAV omnipotence" is not advisable, "beast chess thinking" is even more undesirable, according to the reality of the battlefield to self-adaptation and innovation, is the way to win.