Fencer: the Su-24 at War

[Matt Wiser]

The Soviet answer to the F-111 and Tornado, the Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer was the Soviets' main deep-strike aircraft during the war, and after, in the air forces of many former Soviet Republics as well as the Rump Soviet State itself.


The Su-24 Fencer in World War III


The Sukhoi Su-24, NATO Code Name “Fencer” was the Soviet Union's primary tactical all-weather strike aircraft during the Third World War. Conceived as a counterpart to the General Dynamics F-111 and later on, the Panavia Tornado, the aircraft was very effective in its deep-strike mission, and served Soviet forces in all theaters, up until the outbreak of the Second Russian Civil War. Versions of the aircraft are still in service in former Soviet states today. This work covers the Su-24's service during the war.


Variants:

T-6-1: Initial prototype with clipped delta wings and STOL engines in fuselage. Rejected by SAF.

T-6-2/3/3: Prototype for variable geometry aircraft, which was ordered as the Su-24.

Su-24 “Fencer-A”: Preproduction version with twin Saturn/Lyulka AL-21F engines,single Gsh-30-6 30-mm Gatling gun, Puma nav-attack system with Orion pulse-doppler search and mapping radar, and Relief terrain-following radar. Basic ECM and Sirena RWR. Warload up to 14,000 pounds of ordnance.
External pod needed for laser designation or for use of anti-radiation missiles.

Su-24 “Fencer-B” Initial production version with modified rear exhaust and rounded fuselage, additional antennas on the nose and three-part nose probe. Identical ECM/RWR, gun, nav-attack system and payload as A.

Su-24 “Fencer-C”: Same as B with with improved ECM and RWR.

Su-24M “Fencer-D” Modernized version with new nav-attack system, multimode radar and ECM/RWR. New INS and laser designator and LLTV system. Inflight refueling probe fitted as standard. Capable of carrying and designating laser and TV-guided bombs and ASM. ECM/ESM pod required for use of AS-11 or AS-12 antiradar missiles. Export version (Su-24MK) with downgraded avionics sold despite the war to Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, and Algeria. Cuban and North Korean requests for the aircraft were refused. East German pilots known to have trained on Su-24s, but no known East German use of the aircraft.

Su-24MR “Fencer-E: Tactical reconnaissance version, replacing Yak-28 recon aircraft. Most avionics retained from M, including TFR, but attack radar, TV/Laser system, and cannon deleted in favor of two panoramic camera installations, TV camera, IR Reconnaissance system, and SLAR. Other sensors, including NBC sensors, carried in pods. AA-8 AAMs retained for self-defense.

Su-24MP “Fencer-F” Dedicated EW version, replacing Yak-28PP. Additional sensors and antennae for EW/ELINT mission, TV sensor deleted but cannon retained and AA-8 self-defense missile capability.



Users:

Soviet Air Force (Frontal Aviation, FA) The Su-24/Su-24M saw combat from the first day of war, striking out of Mexico and the Chukuchi Peninsula against American targets. The aircraft served in both Northern and Southern theaters, from the first day of war to the last.

Soviet Naval Aviation (AV-MF): The SNAF operated several regiments of Su-24s in the naval strike role in the Baltic, Northern, and Pacific Fleets, seeing action against Allied ships on several occasions. The Su-24 replaced the Tu-16 Badger in SNAF service, a plan that was accelerated by the war.

Libya: 12 Su-24MKs were delivered in 1988 to the Qaddafi regime, which promptly lost six of them in an attempted strike on a Haifa-Norfolk convoy escorted by the carrier U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt.
The survivors were expended during the fall of the Qaddafi regime in 2011.


Postwar Users:


Far East Republic: Three Air Force Regiments and one Naval Strike Regiment remain in service. Avionics upgrades performed by Japanese and South Korean firms since 2000.

Kazakhstan: One regiment (40 aircraft) in service. Combat in fall of Rump USSR.

Russian Republic: Primary Russian AF deep-strike aircraft. Combat during fall of Rump USSR

Rump USSR. Retained in service after Second Russian Civil War. All expended or captured in fall of Rump Soviet State.

Ukraine: Ukrainian AF has 95 in service. Combat in fall of Rump USSR.

Mexico: A number of Su-24 and Su-24M aircraft were left behind in Mexico, and with covert assistance via Cuba from the Rump USSR, the Revolutionary Air Force of Mexico (FARM) was able to keep a dozen Su-24M in service prior to the Baja War in 2010. All destroyed during the war.


Captured Examples:

A number of Su-24 or Su-24M aircraft fell into Allied hands at various stages during the war, with the foreign technology evaluation done on the aircraft at Edwards AFB, CA and Tonopah TTR, NV, while aircraft systems were evaluated at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. One aircraft known to have been photographed at Edwards. Several now in museums, including the USAF Museum, the National Air and Space Museum, the Pima Air Museum, and the National Museum of Naval Aviation, among others. Several examples also exist in Canada and the UK, with at least one flown at Boscombe Down, and the Empire Test Pilots' School. All now believed to be in museums.

[Wolfman]

Someone once said on a previous incarnation of the board, that the FENCER would go down with a sufficiently dirty look…

[Poohbah]

Someone once said on a previous incarnation of the board, that the FENCER would go down with a sufficiently dirty look…

That was me. Wasn't like the Frogfoot. Before ADATS, you could throw everything INCLUDING the damn kitchen sink at a Frogfoot and it would fly away, the pilot probably laughing his ass off. ADATS loved to make contact hits, and the warhead was butch enough to kill a tank. An airplane would just come apart.

We had a Fencer that took ONE 7.62 bullet go in. Unfortunately, it plowed into the HQ shelter for 28th Marines.

[Wolfman]

Double ouch!