Any fighter design in the past forty years has experienced its share of problems. Anyone remember the days when the F-16 was referred to as the Lawn Dart? Or the F-22 as the “Craptor?” The F-35 is our most recently example of a new MDS experiencing some pretty ugly glitches and growing pains.
Well, FighterSweep Fans, such problems aren’t limited to American designs. It appears as though a series of technical glitches were found in the flight control systems of the newest Sukhoi jets–specifically the Su-34 Fullback and Su-35S Flanker-E. That is according to defense industry sources.
Malfunctions were detected in the flight control system and engines of the aircraft, the sources told RNS news agency. They added that the malfunctions were “not critical” and had no impact on the course of the campaign.
Specialists from the Sukhoi Design Bureau as well as two Russian aircraft manufacturers were at the Hmeymim airbase, the centerpiece of the military campaign.
The sources said that maintenance and details replacement were carried out at the base. All glitches were minor and fixed within a very short time.
The Sukhoi Su-34 Fullback fighter-bomber. (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
Last October, Strategy Page reported that the Russian military faced difficulties with maintaining its modern warplanes in the sand and dust of the Middle East. Russian maintenance crews worked overtime to adapt the aircraft involved in the operation to the environment.
The Su-34 is one of Russia’s most advanced combat jets. The Syrian campaign involved six Su-34 bombers. The development of the aircraft began during the Soviet era, and the first prototype conducted a test flight in 1990. In 2006 the Su-34 began its flight tests and on March 21, 2014, the aircraft entered service with the Russian Armed Forces.