VIGIL CONSILIUM
Context, not headlines
PUBLIC ALPHAEvolving coverage — see the methodology and the corrections log.
Equipment Catalogue · Shared across conflicts

Su-25

Force Atlas / Equipment / Su-25

Recognition context, not a stat sheet. The catalogue covers major publicly documented systems relevant to the conflicts Vigil covers — not an exhaustive order of battle. No quantities, availability or current allocations are recorded. See the methodology.
Combat aircraft

Su-25

The Soviet “flying tank” — a rugged, heavily armoured close-support jet built to operate low, from rough fields, and absorb hits.

FieldedEvidence: Confirmed
Silhouette · not to scale

Record

FamilySu-25
VariantsSu-25
OriginSoviet Union / Russia
Era1981 service entry; fielded by both sides in Ukraine; delivered to Mali from 2022
Appears inUkraine–Russia · Mali

Conflict relevance

This is the catalogue's single record for this system. It is relevant to the modules below; each module's Force Atlas shows how it is used there.

Ukraine–Russia · Force AtlasMali · Force AtlasCaucasus · Force Atlas

Operators

Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) · Primary operatorGeorgia · Historical operatorAzerbaijan · Secondary operatorUkraine · Secondary operatorRussia · Secondary operator

Malian Armed Forces (FAMa): Small number delivered by Russia from August 2022; at least one lost in a 2023 crash. · Georgia: Georgia operated the type and hosted its Soviet-era production line at Tbilisi; employed in the 2008 war. · Azerbaijan: Long-standing operator; employment documented in the 2020 Second Karabakh War. · Ukraine: Flown in very low-level lofted-rocket attacks to survive dense air defence; losses have been heavy. · Russia: Su-25SM variants used in the same low-level attack profile.

DonorsRussia

Battlefield role

Close air support and armed overflight: effective against fixed positions and columns, and a blunt instrument against a dispersed enemy that does not mass.

Strengths

Rugged, simple to operate from austere fields; genuine payload; psychological weight over towns no insurgent aircraft can contest.

Limitations

Unguided-ordnance delivery demands exposure at low level, where the aircraft is most vulnerable; precision depends on the targeting process behind it, not the airframe.

Visual identification

Straight wing with wingtip pods, twin engines flanking the fuselage, single tail — the classic “flying tank” silhouette.

Documented conflict use

Publicly displayed at deliveries in Bamako from 2022 and reported in strike operations in the northern and central campaigns; one airframe destroyed in a September 2023 crash at Gao airport.

Branch & service operators

FullConfidence: moderateStatus as of 2026-06Reviewed 2026-07-16Sources: Established international media reporting · ACLED conflict data & analysis · Oryx visually-confirmed equipment documentationMethodology