Su-34

Record

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.

Operators

Russia in Syria: Flown throughout the 2015–2024 Russian air campaign in Syria from Khmeimim — historical employment context for the Syria module.

Battlefield role

The workhorse of the Russian glide-bomb campaign — heavy standoff strikes from beyond most air-defence range.

Strengths

Large payload and range; UMPK glide-bomb kits turned cheap dumb bombs into standoff weapons, delivered in volume with low risk to the aircraft.

Limitations

Significant attrition when operating near the front, especially to Patriot ambushes; crew and airframe losses are publicly assessed as accumulating faster than production replaces them.

Campaign relevance

Derived: a participant organisation in these campaigns carries a typed equipment association with this system. That is not the same as documented use of the system in the campaign itself.

• The offensive that ended the Assad era Nov – Dec 2024

  via Russian military presence — Syria (Historically associated)

• The Ukrainian deep-strike campaign Since 2022

  via Air Force (Documented, high confidence)

• The strategic campaign against Ukraine's electricity system Since October 2022

  via Aerospace Forces (VKS) (Documented, high confidence)

Visual identification

Side-by-side two-seat cockpit in a distinctive flattened "duckbill" nose; twin engines and twin vertical tails; long tail "stinger" between the engines.

Documented conflict use

In documented combat use throughout the war; from 2023 the principal carrier of UMPK glide bombs. Open-source trackers document dozens of airframe losses.

Branch & service operators

• Air Force Documented
• Russian military presence — Syria Historically associated
• Aerospace Forces (VKS) Documented